Japanese,Koreans give three cheers for 'cash for clunkers'

Thats what I thought too, until I got this 06 Kia Spectra. It only has 50k miles on it now and so far nothing has gone wrong. It is more ergonomic, easier to work on, and just as compfortable as any other car I have owned (except for the old US cars from the 1960's). Whether it will go 225k miles like my old US cars, I dont know. Only time will tell. My last car was a 1992 Pontiac and it cost about $200 in parts per month to keep it going from when I first got it in 1993. So far the parts cost for the Kia has been zero.

3 years and still on the original alternator and transmission!!! Can't say that for the Pontiac.

Yup, my Studebaker-loving friend has become a Korean convert. His wife drove VWs for years and now they're definitely a Hyundai family (his wife loves hers and his son is on his second.) He used to look down his nose at anything requiring metric tools, but he just got rid of his F*rd pickup for a Kia something or other (CFC program) I don't know that I would have done it, but I drove it, and it's not a completely horrid little car.

nate

Back around 1972, I bought a used Honda Moped, it had a 4 stroke engine and bicycle pedals on it, I paid $35.00 for it.About 20 years ago, I bought a used made in Germany Hercukes Moped, it has a 2 stroke engine and bicycle pedals, I paid $350.00 for it.I haven ridden that Moped in about 20 years.It needs new tires and tubes and a new transmission gasket.Someday I will make a new gasket, but I doubt if I will ride it around.Too many crazies around here nowadays,,,, if you know what I mean? That is also why I don't drive my 1914 Model T Ford car. cuhulin

Dude, I LOVE Jap cars. They're cheap to run, run forever, for the most part are easy to work on, and you can usually change the spark plugs without lifting the engine...

Don't count on it.

At a Toyota/Kia dealer I worked for we had ZERO Toyota heads in stock, and

4 Kia heads. They chew 'em up bad.

However, if you made it to 50K, you're probably good.

Ever driven a Hyundai Pony or the other one they used to sell in Canada?

The Pony was actually a cool car. The other one (Executive? Something like that) was the EXACT SAME CAR with a bigger body. Talk about handling (UGH!)

Oh. the Stellar.

This was the Pony

"Dood," perhaps you don't care about he fact that the Japs conducted a vicious sneak attack on this country, and perhaps you don't have relatives who were shot up by the Japs during the war, but I can assure you there are those of us who do. I avoid Jap crap like the plague whenever possible.

Same with my 100% American-made buggy.

When World War Two was over, (actually, World War Two didn't Officially end untill 1951) America helped Japan build new auto factories, and with American technology and that kind of stuff. cuhulin

I am aware of that. Big mistake on our part.

The most frightening thing about the Japs is that we have atom-bombed them twice and it does not seem to have had much effect. They have gone on to achieve economically what they were unable to do militarily.

About six years ago, Nissan built a new factory not far from me.Nissan in Japan wanted to fly their rice flag over the factory building.That idea of theirs got shot down Big Time! cuhulin

I have, and THAT is why I've avoided them ever since. I won't say "never", though. I've had some rental Hyundais that were extremely tempting.

The second and third best things that ever happened to the Japanese auto industry were W. Edwards Deming and OPEC. Detroit shunned the former and did a lot to enable the latter.

I'm six days away from a cross country trip in a 4-cylinder '89 Camry, though alas it won't quite reach a quarter million miles on my watch, as a young friend of the family eager for his first car wishes to buy it when i get there. Never had the head or the pan off. We didn't drive like maniacs but didn't baby it either -- the only special treatment the car got was fresh motor oil and a quality filter every

3000 and a tuneup at the usual intervals. Still gets 30+ mpg highway and neither dirties nor burns its oil.

(Its replacement as my commute beater will be a US-built '90 Corolla that used to belong to my mother. It only has 70k on it, and extrapolating from the other half dozen Toyotas in my extended family, I'll probably have to replace the silly thing by 2015 or so.)

--Joe

That's good. It's making up for the Corolla I had with only 100K with a blown head gasket and blown transmission. Or the F10 my sister in law had that fell apart before 100K. Or the 4runner a friend of mine had that needed $2000 worth of injectors and other work at about 100K.

I still drive my mopeds around.. Yeah their are some crazies out there, that's why I'm always checking my surroundings when I'm riding.

I wrote a 20 page paper on the attack on Pearl Harbor for a college history course.

Oh. I love Japanese cameras, too.

They got their payback August 6th and August 9th. People in the House of Representatives want to apologize to the Japanese. I say vote them out.

Must not be a Cheby....

The shame is, Ford showed Toyota how to build cars...

Toyotas thrive on this.

I've had 3 over 250,000 miles.

Changing the fluid every so often helps avoid this.

I drove one 110,000 miles when I was a kid. Why change the oil? There's plenty in there.

It was up to 185,000 when it got 'retired' to a junk yard, and then was used as a yard car for 5 more years.

BTW, Japan makes quality goods. Toyotas Yamahas Fender basses (yup) Cameras Consumer electronics

You want junk, look for Made In China.