Renting a Jetta or Passat?

In rec.autos.driving John S. > wrote:
> Actually the Lumina is pretty roomy - I've rented them several times.
> The point of mine and other messages is that the VW cars the OP is
> looking at are not roomy. If he has some sort of back problem then one

Lumina has a transverse engine. Be afraid of anything with a crosswise
V-6 or V-8 since getting to the rear cylinder bank for plug replacement,
etc, will be a bitch. The possible exception to this rule are engines
like VW's VR6 that have a very narrow V angle and are almost inline
motors.

-Andrew

"John S." wrote:

> Andrew Szafran wrote:
> > In rec.autos.driving John S. > wrote:
> > (about the Crown Vic)
> > > That's an excellent choice, as is Chevy's counterpart.
> >
> > By Chevy's counterpart, you mean the 1992-1997 Caprice, not the new
> > "Impala" which is basically a glorified Lumina, right? The first car is
> > awesome (I had a 1992 Caprice wagon for a while, it lasted 190k miles, got
> > stolen, and is probably still runnin' around somewhere), but the second is
> > a stop-gap pile of dreck thrown together by GM so they'd have *something*
> > to sell to cops after they discontinued the Caprice so they could build
> > more SUVs.
> >
> > Unfortunately, I think the original poster is looking for a new car. If
> > he weren't, I'd highly recommend any Volvo 940 made up to 1996 or so.
> > Same bulletproof engine as the 240 wagons (good amount of power if you get
> > a turbo), comfortable inside, huge interior, etc... Unfortunately, not
> > available with a manual tranny, but the auto trannies that came with those
> > cars (71L made by Aisin-Warner or Borg-Warner IIRC) were very strong and
> > troublefree.
> >
> > A 90s Bimmer 5-series also wouldn't be a bad choice (this was before
> > Bimmers got obscenely overcomplicated).
> >
> > -Andrew
>
> Actually the Lumina is pretty roomy - I've rented them several times.
> The point of mine and other messages is that the VW cars the OP is
> looking at are not roomy. If he has some sort of back problem then one
> of the larger american-size cars like the Avalon, or the Ford/Chevy
> products are viable alternatives because of their interior dimensions.

I would stress the *quality* of the seat over sheer size to avoid back trouble.

Another problem I've experienced in a Ford was thigh ache due to insufficient
leg support ( the seat squab wasn't 'long' enough ). It was horribly painful.
Had the journey involved ( ~20 mi ) been any longer I'd have insisted we stop
for me to stretch my legs.

Graham

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005, Andrew Szafran wrote:

>> It's a shoddily-engineered, shoddily-built piece of garbage from Ford.
>
> Certainly simpler and more maintainable than the 500 or Taurus.

I can't argue with that, but you're saying here that one pile of ****
stinks slightly differently and maybe a tetch less than two other piles of
****.

> (the basic design is 20+ years old)

The basic design is nearly 30 years old.

> I thought your philosophy was K.I.S.S., Daniel,

It is. However, the corollary is "Never buy a Ford".

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005, Bob Ward wrote:

> How many Yugos have you seen that survived 200,000 miles of police
> patrol car duty

Exactly as many as I've seen Fords that survived 200,000 miles of police
patrol car duty: Zero.

> Your ignorance speaks volumes.

Even the most hard-up police department doesn't keep their cruisers much
past 70k miles. But you knew that...right?

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005, Andrew Szafran wrote:

> In rec.autos.driving John S. > wrote:
> (about the Crown Vic)
>> That's an excellent choice, as is Chevy's counterpart.
>
> By Chevy's counterpart, you mean the 1992-1997 Caprice,

The Caprice went off the market after the 1996 model year, and the
bathtub-shaped one you're thinking of was introduced as a 1991 model.

Around 12/18/2005 11:33 AM, Daniel J. Stern wrote:

> On Sun, 18 Dec 2005, Bob Ward wrote:
>
>> How many Yugos have you seen that survived 200,000 miles of police
>> patrol car duty
>
>
> Exactly as many as I've seen Fords that survived 200,000 miles of police
> patrol car duty: Zero.

He should have said taxi fleet duty; It is not at all uncommon to see a
Crown Vic (or Lincoln Continental) taxi with 300k, 400k, or even 500k
hard-driven miles.


>> Your ignorance speaks volumes.
>
>
> Even the most hard-up police department doesn't keep their cruisers much
> past 70k miles. But you knew that...right?

Yeah, they turn their fleets over fairly often. Not much reason for it,
either. At least around here, the state patrol is budgeted a certain
amount for new cars every year, and if they don't spend it they lose it
in the next year's budget. All the better for those few weirdos who like
to freak other drivers out with their ex-police CV Interceptors.


--
~/Garth |"I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie.
Almgren | I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave.
******* | And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant."
for secure mail info) --H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

Hi!

GeoffP wrote:
> "Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
> > With enough parts replacement,
> > you can make anything last that long
>
> Yep! Even a Volkswagon. LOL

Y'know, people who misspell "Volkswagen" generally are not
the most reliable source of information about Volkswagens.

Yours,
Erik, and an '87 GTI 16V with 352k kilometres on its 1st engine
--
Everything counts in large amounts.

Garth Almgren > wrote:
> in the next year's budget. All the better for those few weirdos who like
> to freak other drivers out with their ex-police CV Interceptors.

Well, *some* power-hungry wierdos. Others just want a big American car
with RWD and a V-8 that handles well. CVPIs fit all of the above
conditions.

-Andrew

On Mon, 19 Dec 2005, Erik Meltzer wrote:

>>> With enough parts replacement, you can make anything last that long
>>
>> Yep! Even a Volkswagon. LOL
>
> Y'know, people who misspell "Volkswagen" generally are not the most
> reliable source of information about Volkswagens.

....and people who make mountains out of typos generally are not the most
reliable source of *anything*.

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005, Garth Almgren wrote:

>>> How many Yugos have you seen that survived 200,000 miles of police
>>> patrol car duty

>> Exactly as many as I've seen Fords that survived 200,000 miles of
>> police patrol car duty: Zero.
>
> He should have said taxi fleet duty

He did. He claimed Clown Victorias with 200K of cop service AND 200K of
taxi service. Which, of course, is ferretpoop. His ignorance speaks
volumes.