Bye 1992 Grand Am :(

Why is that?

The difference between American and Asian automobiles is that on American cars, you need to buy cheap parts often. On the Asian cars you rarely buy parts, but they are expensive as heck!

FYI... most of my vehicles have been domestic. My next car will be new and it will be an import of some sort.

| > | > Paul wrote: | > | >> Purple Heart came and got the 1992 Grand Am today. It had 220k miles | >> and was one of the | >> best cars I have had. However, no reverse for 3 years, intermittent | >> radio, bad battery, | >> and lately runs at 3500 rpm all the time got me to looking for a | >> replacement. | >> I got a 2006 Kia Spectra with 47k miles. Seems to be a decent car... I | >> will find out eventually I guess. | >> It is all Hundai Elantra except for some body parts. | >

Maybe it's time to stop believing that myth.

I used to think that parts for foreign brand cars cost more, but then I bought a Ford and learned the joys of paying 2-3 times as what Nissan and Toyota dealers charged. Not only that, but the Ford dealers, including what was the 7th-highest one in the US, were less likely to have the parts in stock.

It depends a lot on the particular model.... engine parts for a generic

300 block are very cheap... but try and get interior trim parts for any recent American car and it'll cost you a fortune. The key is to pick a car that is popular so that a lot of them were made, which means there will be a lot of spare parts in the pipeline.

The American manufacturers tend to be better about continuing to make available parts for older cars, but often that means only engine parts. The Europeans, though, are far better than either the Americans or the Japanese in this regard.

--scott

I recently bought a bumper brace for my Ford pickup. $70 for a small piece of stamped steel! Unfortunately, while aftermarket *front* bumper hardware is readily available, I couldn't seem to find any online source for the *rear* - at least not for a truck with a factory step bumper. You'd think that would be a common "crash part" but I guess not. I know that the braces had already been replaced once as the truck was rear-ended twice before I got it. Fortunately the bumper seemed to work as designed; no damage to frame or bumper, the braces took all the impact.

Next time I feel like wasting money on that thing, I do need a front bumper for it, just can't justify it at the moment... rear was more important because bumper was hanging down interfering with planned trailer hitch installation.

nate

My experience is that they both need parts about equally often, but Asian cars have stupid-expensive parts and are stupid-difficult to work on yourself (except for certain aspects of Hondas, which like Chrysler products of the 60s seem to be designed by people who LIKE designing cars rather than people who design cars just to make money).

FWIW, my guess is that the Kia will last between 1/3 and 1/2 as long as the Grand Am did. GM front-drives of that era weren't flashy or exciting, but damn would they keep running and running especially if they didn't have a Chevy-built v6 engine. I'll even bet that an investment of around $2k and some elbow-grease would have made the GA run for a lot longer.

Never EVER buy parts from the dealer unless no one else has them.

Same goes for Autozone and Pep Boys, by the way. Stick to NAPA or Carquest and all will be well (and far more affordable).

Would have liked to keep the G/A, 3.3 cast iron engine, but the entire car was pretty worn out. The Kia is a lot thinner material and lightweight and appears to be put together well. It looks a lot easier to work on but I know it won't take the abuse like the old Pontiac did. It's pretty much a throw-away car. I parked by a Hundai today and the two are almost identical.