Man, I'd love the chance to find an old carbureted vehicle and get it running. I love challenges like that. The vacuum operated stuff? No thanks. Been there done that and it's a pain in the butt.

 

My advice Rube - find an early 80s Ranger. Seriously, they aren't bad to work on unless you end up with the emission choked 2bbl carb(like I did) or the anemic 2.8V6... Finding a 1bbl 2.3 truck is definitely for the best, in that regard...

 

I'm actually a Mopar guy, Jerama. IF if had to make a choice between another GM or Ford, I'd take the Ford, though. I've not had much luck with GM junk in the past except for the Saturns. Anyway, I'm probably going to have to have a hernia repair in a couple of weeks, so all projects will be on hold indefinitely.

 

Well, I hope all goes well with your hernia repair...

As for the brand preference, well, I have little to none... I have owned ford and GM, and am considering trading my wife's Cruze for a similar year Subaru(AWD)... I do like picking on my co-worker about his dodge though, mainly for his reaction...

I keep telling him, that HEMI is one of those four lettered words that we try not to say around the ladies to keep from offending them...

 

I've had good luck for the most part with Mopar. But there has been bad and good ones. I have owned a Camero, one of the few cars I wish I had never sold, a Fiero an Olds all good. The worst car I owned was a new 87 Lincoln Continental, I have had better cars purchased from junk yards. The second worst was a Chrysler T&C (used) that had almost as many problems as the Lincoln. But it never left me on the side of the road like that Lincoln did. And the Chevy engine I built came out great. I can not complain about a Mitsubishi I owned, I put 300,000 miles on it before I sold it.
I dunno, as the number of American car choices disappear yearly it makes me wonder what I will buy next if I live long enough. My First car was a Ford, the 2nd was a Desoto. gone since 1961

 

Since we've always driven older stuff, and the only foreign made was years ago a compilation of 3 70's style Hondas, I can say that my preference is for GMC/Chevy trucks (pre 1987), GMC/Chevy vans, and Ford SUVs or small pickups. The Saturn is the first car I've owned since around 1995, so it wins on cars. I've never owned Mopar.

Any more, with so much being outsourced to foreign countries, finding ANYTHING made in USA is a treat!

 

If you are in the market for a newer car, you need another Saturn, for sure... You could probably find a good deal on a nice 06-07 ION, and have it last as long as your SC2 has...

 

I prefer the Ions.
Stay away from Slowbalts though. Theyre slow. And short bus riders own em XD

 

Never owned a Mopar. The Consumer Reports Annual reliability ratings were nothing but black circles for every single Chrysler and Dodge vehicle, every model, the same exact issues, year after year. Made me realize they didn't give a **** about fixing known issues. So when I got old enough to drive, I checked one of those annual reviews to see if they had made any progress. Some, but not much.

I understand they seem to have come along well since they went bankrupt and are now controlled by a non-American company that apparently does see value in offering a better quality product to the public.
How do you increase sales of the Dodge Ram Truck? Remove DODGE from the name.

Need I say more?

Coincidence? I think not.

Quality. What a ****ing novel idea.

 

I've had MINIMAL problems with my Mopars over the years. The trade magazines are all slanted towards imports for the most part, so I don't pay any attention to those idiots anyway. I won't buy Eurotrash because of the hype and outrageous prices for parts when they need repair. And they ALL need repairs from time to time. I don't care what country they're from. I've had more problems out of most of the GM junk I've foolishly tried over the past 40 years. The ONE exception being the Saturn brand, of course. Otherwise, I wouldn't be a member of this forum.