I just found out something that has me really thinking…..
Toyota is taking a lot of heat over the sticky accelerator pedals and the car companies are piling on to kick Toyota when they are down. I have heard quite a few comments about it being Toyota’s fault and you wouldn’t see that here in the US…

The company that made the accelerator pedals is an American company…the pedals were made here in the US by UAW workers….

I don’t think you will see that gem published very often!

I think the smoking gun would be whether it's a design issue or a build quality issue. I suspect it's a design issue and therefore shouldn't be pinned on the part manufacturer. Then again, it could be a combination.

One thing I've learned from this reported episode, Never rent or buy a car with push button starter. Because they are a "fly by wire" system, you can't shut the car off unless the preconceived conditions are met. This is scary even for a gear-head like me. The computer won't let you turn the engine off, the computer won't let you take it out of gear or downshift, and the throttle is stuck down....yikes!

Give me a good old fashioned key please. I'm OK coasting to the side of the road when I consider the above scenario.

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Originally posted by noble97monarch:

Give me a good old fashioned key please. I'm OK coasting to the side of the road when I consider the above scenario.

With your steering locked....

You would be surprised how many modern cars are drive by wire. The key or button are just the user interface. That doesn’t mean you actually have physical control anymore.

quote:

With your steering locked....

Good point!

I'll still take a guard rail at 65 over a guard rail at 110 any day

Geez, and I just want to find a good car with big comfortable seats. Once had a 1960 Mercedes 220 sedan. It had the most comfortable seats you can imagine. And they laid all the way back to the back seat. So you could do that, put your feet up, have a pizza and a beer, and watch a movie at the drive-in(which I did). Wish I still had it. They were very straightforward cars not too complicated and built very well.

Have you considered a Mercedes 220 sedan. I hear they're quite comfortable....and have a real key

Got just the car. My wife is selling her second car, the second car she has owned. She bought it in 1982 and is now willing to sell it. 1979 Mercedes 240D. It starts, it runs,it drips, given a headstart it can get out of its own way. It can be yours for the low price of $1200. It comes with dead air conditioning, new radiator, recently (within memory)replace vacuum pump and tires that are about one year old. It might even be able to be delivered on its own wheels.

quote:

Originally posted by ccctimtation:
Got just the car. My wife is selling her second car, the second car she has owned. She bought it in 1982 and is now willing to sell it. 1979 Mercedes 240D. It starts, it runs,it drips, given a headstart it can get out of its own way. It can be yours for the low price of $1200. It comes with dead air conditioning, new radiator, recently (within memory)replace vacuum pump and tires that are about one year old. It might even be able to be delivered on its own wheels.

Dibs.

Come on Down. Seriously, I think the car is good long as you are willing to put up with diesel drips and check fluids with some regularity. My wife could always tell by the sounds what needed checking. I bet it took the first 15 years to develop that talent though.

ccctim, are you serious? I always admired the Mercedes diesel and since I drive like a little old lady, acceleration is no problem. Reliability, low cost of maintenance and decent fuel economy are. Any pics of this gem? I don't care how old it is as long as it's simple to work on, and doesn't have a lot of mileage. I always thought the Mercedes had all kinds of computers and stuff that I know nothing about. Believe it or not, we are even looking at Volvos from '90 to maybe 97 because they were simple, dependable, comfortable, and made great station wagons.

Serious as heart failure. It is not low mileage, probably about 300K but the engine was rebuilt about 100K ago. Simple it is especially now that the a/c died. Windows roll up with a crank, oil is checked with a dipstick and presence of all fluids is checked by looking under the car or moving it to a new spot occasionally. There is rust in all the regular places but some has been fixed. Especially the one under the drivers seat! Wife wondered why all the mirrors were screwed up until she tried looking forward. Trip to the mechanic, a little welding of additional metal and she was good to go.
There are lots of pictures but they are on my laptop. It is a baby blue 1979 240D. If you still want pics I can pm them to you next time I fire up the laptop.
Tim

Well, we finally got a car, a 1981 Volvo 240 DL
No, it is not American made. It's a Volvo(Sweden)
No, it's not a hatchback, it's a station wagon
Yes, it gets 25+ on the highway, in fact it gets that around town
Yes, it's safe, legendary Volvo safety
Yes, it's dependable. The old Volvo 'Bricks', are simple, straight forward and Tere and I can do most of the maintenance
Yes/No, it doesn't have a 6-way power seat, but it has manual lumbar, manual tilt for seat bottom and back, and forward and back. The back does fine in it.
Yes, it was under $4000, in fact it was under $2000
I've owned a lot of Volvos over the years and we discovered that my back does quite well in their seats. We are very familiar with the marque and this one is a 2 owner California car with a manual transmission with overdrive. It's almost out of a time machine. About $1000 and it will be close to showroom. No, not a little old lady going to church, but a Swedish girl whose dad grew up in the shadows of the Volvo plant in Sweden. It will arrive in Tennessee while we're in Milford.
J

And those old Volvos are incredible in snow. I'd take one over any front wheel drive car. I can remember commuting in my one hour in NH winters with a BMW 328is. I'd pass Mass and Ct SUVs that were all over the road every storm. It's all about the tires and driver skill in my view.

At college in Denver in the '50s, I had a Citroen "Traction Avant," I brought back from overseas. Several of us who lived in the veterans' shanty town on campus, car-pooled to evening jobs in town. They derided my "foreign iron," but at work one night, a typical Denver blizzard blew up. A lot of the crew decided not to try to go home, but one of the gals in our bunch had kids to take care of. I put chains on all 4 wheels of the Citroen, & we took off. We made it home dodging stuck & abandoned cars. Oh how they loved the Citroen after that.

It was the most unreliable car I ever owned, but it's the only car of 40, or so, I have owned over the past 63 years, that I wish I still had.

For me it's my Hugger Orange 1970 Mach 1 or my 1969 Z-28 that I miss most. Both suck in snow, but who cares!!!