[Spridgets] Reliable Cars

[David Lieb]

Well, Larry, I don't know how many miles your ten years equates to, but the 
first actual new car that I bought was a 1987 Plymouth Horizon Turismo 
Duster with the 2.2 4-banger and a 5-speed. I only drove that one for eight 
years and I had a lot more problems than your Japanese cars. I had to 
replace the battery, a set of tires, a shifter fork in the transaxle, a 
timing belt, a clutch cable, the muffler twice, and the sensor in the dizzy 
for the points, three sets of front brake pads and two sets of shoes. All 
told, I suppose I spent around $500 to $600 for these items. Not nearly so 
impressive as yours, but that did equate to 235,000 miles on the original 
clutch. The only time it actually stranded me was when the timing belt broke 
at 202,000 miles. Heck, it was still on the original DOT3 brake fluid that I 
had never even had to bleed. I have no complaints other than that I could 
not buy another one at that point.

My second new car was a 1995 Escort Wagon with the 1.9 and the 5-speed. I 
only put 180,000 miles on that one in seven years and I did have to replace 
the fuel pump and the spark plug wires as well as the tires and the timing 
belt. It done good by me.

My third new car was a 2002 VW GTi with the VR6 and the 5-speed. My mileage 
has slowed down and I only have 50,400 miles on it in five years. I will 
need a new battery soon, I have replaced two of the tires (and acquired a 
second set of rims with snow tires for the winter), I have had the water 
temperature sender fail twice and I currently have a problem with the 
secondary air injection system which is probably a small hose on the front 
of the engine which is even more inaccessible than the water temperature 
sender. Strangely enough, it gets better gas mileage with the CEL on than 
off. If I had the sense, I would get rid of it now.

Trish's daily driver is a 2001 PT Cruiser with the 2.4 and the 5-speed. We 
have replaced the crank angle sensor and the clutch (talk about weird 
clutches!!!), and the tires. About 75,000 miles.

That adds up to about 540,000 miles in the last 21 years with a couple grand 
or so in actual repairs (not counting antifreeze, oil and gas). No, I have 
not had to pay someone else to fix them, but none of the repairs were any 
more difficult than keeping a Spridget operational. I have been more 
satisfied with my American cars than with my German car, but the only 
Japanese cars that I might be tempted to buy have been Miatas (Trish's Miata 
is doing fine, thank you) and a CRX (you aren't helping, Billy). If I were 
to find the right deal on a nice CRX...
David Lieb
1972 RWA Midget
1960 RWA Bugeye