"Charlie Self" > wrote in message
...
> dreas writes:
>
> >I find mine to be a much better car than any of the K-car based
> >models being produced at the same time, and it would be very hard
> >to convince me to trade it in for anything else. I prefer it to the '95
> >Crown Vic taxi that I drive daily, and I doubt that such a no-nonsense
> >car will ever be built again...
> >
> >It was also cheap.
>
> Had a Crown Vic, hated it. Seating was impossible for a 240 pounder who
was
> also 6'2"...about like a Saturn.
>
> Your last line indicates exactly why it will be some time before we see
low
> end, good cars again. They are cheap, thus the margin is low (relatively).
Look
> at models like the Geo and the Escort. Models either grow in size and cost
or
> die.

Well, the abovementioned car sat on a used car lot for several months before
I
came along, and the salesman nearly begged me to take it off his hands.
AFAIC,
it was the best car on the lot for the same reasons nobody else wanted it.
The
public is convinced that RWD V8's are bad, power everything and air
conditioning
are a must, and the car must look like a jelly bean. I remember when power
brakes
and steering were a big deal...

> Look around and check out the number of smaller, lower cost vehicles that
are
> worth having these days. Then check out the number of bloated SUVs and
pick-up
> trucks. For some real fun, try to buy a real working farm pick-up truck,
with
> rubber floor mats, 3 on the floor (hell, even on the column) and a
straight 6
> or small V8 and NO fancy crap.

I could probably get one easily when U-Haul flips over its current pickup
fleet...

Heh. A few years ago I was in the market for a truck. I looked at Suburbans,
but I wanted one like the '79 I once had. I was told that I had to special
order
rubber floor covering, I had to take the automatic, and still the price was
way
too high. I also looked at Dakotas. The one I wanted with the two-door ex-
tended cab, V6, 5-speed, and few options would have to be special ordered,
but for just a little more I could have the one on the lot with all kinds of
crap
on it that I didn't want. All of it was too expensive...

-'dreas