R. Mark Clayton wrote:
> Back in 1985, I hired a Buick Park Drive and a Pontiac Grand Am while in the
> USA.
>
> The Buick was passable, but with very sloppy suspension etc.
>
> The Grand Am was appalling, one of the worst cars I have ever driven and
> certainly the worst new one.
>
> At the time back in the UK I was driving a 1983 BMW 735i. Obviously this
> was better than most EU cars of that era, however the US cars of the time
> were laughable in comparison.
>
> The trouble [for the US car industry] is that 25 years after that 735i was
> built it is probably still better than most US cars sold today in almost
> every department. Some of them are still laughable e.g. the Chrysler PT
> Cruiser - poor drive, poor ride, poor handling, poor performance, poor trim,
> poor seats, poor reliability and so on. You would be better off in a ten
> year old base entry model 3 series than a new one of these.

A BMW 735i probably cost about 3 times as much money as most American
cars of the era, too.

You get what you pay for, especially considering the high cost of
maintaining such a vehicle.

jeff

Jeff