Goodbye :-(

[Sheldon]

Well, my Subie finally blew up -- threw a rod. It's not worth the money
putting another engine in it, as the car will never be worth the repair
cost. So, since the local Subie dealer here is an ass, I'm getting a Ford
Escape. Drove the car and like it a lot, and I haven't had an American car
since 1967. I must say both my Outbacks ran great and served me well for
peanuts, but if anyone tells you Subaru's last forever I can tell you they
don't.

In the car's defense it had about 250,000 miles on it, and I tend to keep
cars way too long.

I just wanted to thank you all for the help I've received here, and you guys
definitely helped me get my cars as far as I did. First car I ever had that
broke the 200,000 mile mark.

 

[johninky]

Hope you like the Ford. I use to drive a bunch of them when younger.
Post back and let us know how you feel about the Ford.

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

Well, my Subie finally blew up -- threw a rod. It's not worth the money
putting another engine in it, as the car will never be worth the repair
cost. So, since the local Subie dealer here is an ass, I'm getting a Ford
Escape. Drove the car and like it a lot, and I haven't had an American
car since 1967. I must say both my Outbacks ran great and served me well
for peanuts, but if anyone tells you Subaru's last forever I can tell you
they don't.

In the car's defense it had about 250,000 miles on it, and I tend to keep
cars way too long.

I just wanted to thank you all for the help I've received here, and you
guys definitely helped me get my cars as far as I did. First car I ever
had that broke the 200,000 mile mark.

What year/model and how far are you from Mass?

Looking for parts...

 

[nobody >]

Well, my Subie finally blew up -- threw a rod. It's not worth the money
putting another engine in it, as the car will never be worth the repair
cost. So, since the local Subie dealer here is an ass, I'm getting a Ford
Escape. Drove the car and like it a lot, and I haven't had an American car
since 1967. I must say both my Outbacks ran great and served me well for
peanuts, but if anyone tells you Subaru's last forever I can tell you they
don't.

In the car's defense it had about 250,000 miles on it, and I tend to keep
cars way too long.

I just wanted to thank you all for the help I've received here, and you guys
definitely helped me get my cars as far as I did. First car I ever had that
broke the 200,000 mile mark.

Hey, "not a problem".

Glad we were of help.

As far as Ford goes, I had an '88 Bronco II that made it to the 318K
mark (but with one engine and 2 auto trans rebuilds). If I hadn't loaned
it to my kid, I'd probably still have it.

I'm also one of those folks who tends to drive 'um till they drop...

I think you'll be reasonably happy with the Escape. "We" have a bunch of
them at work, and the fleets manager has said they've been decent. Some
of them have hit 90K already with no major problems.

But.. I've driven them.
They are OK, but they do have a fair amount of "seat pucker" factor when
you "throw them around". Even though the Outback is not supposed to be a
great handler because of height, I can get quite enthusiastic with my
2000 OB Limited and not find any real faults with the handling.

Come back when you decide Soobies are the better idea (or you find a
better dealer<g>).

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

Hey, "not a problem".

Glad we were of help.

As far as Ford goes, I had an '88 Bronco II that made it to the 318K
mark (but with one engine and 2 auto trans rebuilds). If I hadn't loaned
it to my kid, I'd probably still have it.

I'm also one of those folks who tends to drive 'um till they drop...

I think you'll be reasonably happy with the Escape. "We" have a bunch of
them at work, and the fleets manager has said they've been decent. Some
of them have hit 90K already with no major problems.

But.. I've driven them.
They are OK, but they do have a fair amount of "seat pucker" factor when
you "throw them around". Even though the Outback is not supposed to be a
great handler because of height, I can get quite enthusiastic with my
2000 OB Limited and not find any real faults with the handling.

Come back when you decide Soobies are the better idea (or you find a
better dealer<g>).

yeah, my wife's Outback will carve fairly tightly but after some
serious body roll settle in.

I think Ford's engineering is good, just depends on the execution.
Have had a lot of disappointments in reliability of American-made
cars. But GM and Chrysler were worse than Ford overall. Just anecdotal
I know.

 

[Frank]

yeah, my wife's Outback will carve fairly tightly but after some
serious body roll settle in.

I think Ford's engineering is good, just depends on the execution.
Have had a lot of disappointments in reliability of American-made
cars. But GM and Chrysler were worse than Ford overall. Just anecdotal
I know.

Overall Consumer Reports had Ford ahead of Chrysler and GM but the
American cars were at the bottom.
Think Subaru was number 2, a point or two off the leader which may
have been Honda.
My last American car, back in the 80's was a Mercury Lynx that turned
out to be a real lemon and I had to sue Ford and the dealer to get it
fixed properly. I believe the car was assembled in Mexico.

 

[Sheldon]

What year/model and how far are you from Mass?

Looking for parts...

About as far away as you can get without kissing the ocean. Colorado.

 

[Sheldon]

yeah, my wife's Outback will carve fairly tightly but after some
serious body roll settle in.

I think Ford's engineering is good, just depends on the execution.
Have had a lot of disappointments in reliability of American-made
cars. But GM and Chrysler were worse than Ford overall. Just anecdotal
I know.

Overall Consumer Reports had Ford ahead of Chrysler and GM but the
American cars were at the bottom.
Think Subaru was number 2, a point or two off the leader which may
have been Honda.
My last American car, back in the 80's was a Mercury Lynx that turned
out to be a real lemon and I had to sue Ford and the dealer to get it
fixed properly. I believe the car was assembled in Mexico.

My neighbor has a 2003 Escape and they love it. Bought it new and no
problems except the paint is falling off one fender. As I said, I've had
two Outbacks for quite awhile, and as much as I love them I was very
impressed with the Escape.

 

[Sheldon]

yeah, my wife's Outback will carve fairly tightly but after some
serious body roll settle in.

I think Ford's engineering is good, just depends on the execution.
Have had a lot of disappointments in reliability of American-made
cars. But GM and Chrysler were worse than Ford overall. Just anecdotal
I know.

Overall Consumer Reports had Ford ahead of Chrysler and GM but the
American cars were at the bottom.
Think Subaru was number 2, a point or two off the leader which may
have been Honda.
My last American car, back in the 80's was a Mercury Lynx that turned
out to be a real lemon and I had to sue Ford and the dealer to get it
fixed properly. I believe the car was assembled in Mexico.

PS. My last American car was a new '67 Old 442. Verrrrry Cooooool!

 

[weelliott]

Overall Consumer Reports had Ford ahead of Chrysler and GM but the
American cars were at the bottom.
Think Subaru was number 2, a point or two off the leader which may
have been Honda.
My last American car, back in the 80's was a Mercury Lynx that turned
out to be a real lemon and I had to sue Ford and the dealer to get it
fixed properly.  I believe the car was assembled in Mexico.

PS. My last American car was a new '67 Old 442.  Verrrrry Cooooool!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I've actually been fairly impressed with Ford the last few years. I
have neighbor that bought a new taurus in 02, and last I talked to
him he already had 125k on it with no problems at all. Not one. A
coworker of mine has an escape. I'm not sure the year, but it is the
first generation, and when I rode in it a few months ago he had 160k
plus miles on it. He has had to replace the rear differential on it
after going off roading and smashing it on a hard landing. It still
worked, but was leaking fluid from a crack. He loves that thing. I was
a little surprised at how small it was though. It compares more to a
forester than an outback.

Too bad you don't still have the Olds. It woudl be worth a fortune
now. I had a friend who had a '70 442 convertible with the 455. I had
a 71 Lemans with a heavily modified 350, and he'd blow me away. That
was back in the mid nineties when the faster stock Camaros and
Mustangs were playing with about 300 to 325 horses. That Olds had no
trouble disposing of them in style. That was the only car I've ever
been in that made you feel as though the front wheels were actually
off the ground when it launched. He had it appraised back in 1996 at
23k, which would probably be a steal nowadays for a numbers matching
stock example.

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

About as far away as you can get without kissing the ocean. Colorado.

Yeah, that's far.

I'm so close I can dig my own clams and catch my own lobsters...

 

[David R.Birch]

Well, my Subie finally blew up -- threw a rod. It's not worth the money
putting another engine in it, as the car will never be worth the repair
cost. So, since the local Subie dealer here is an ass, I'm getting a Ford
Escape. Drove the car and like it a lot, and I haven't had an American car
since 1967. I must say both my Outbacks ran great and served me well for
peanuts, but if anyone tells you Subaru's last forever I can tell you they
don't.

In the car's defense it had about 250,000 miles on it, and I tend to keep
cars way too long.

I just wanted to thank you all for the help I've received here, and you guys
definitely helped me get my cars as far as I did. First car I ever had that
broke the 200,000 mile mark.

My last care before I switched to Subarus was a '95 Ford Probe. I
believe that every driver should own a Ford. Once. So they know. Some
learn slowly, so they buy more than one Ford.

David

 

[John Varela]

About as far away as you can get without kissing the ocean. Colorado.

I don't know about oceans in Colorado... Denver is as far from the
Pacific as the Mississippi River is from the Atlanic. One tends to
think of the Mississippi as being in the middle of the country and
Denver as 'way out West, but it ain't so.

 

[S]

Hi Sheldon!

Well, my Subie finally blew up -- threw a rod. It's not worth the money
putting another engine in it, as the car will never be worth the repair
cost. So, since the local Subie dealer here is an ass, I'm getting a Ford
Escape. Drove the car and like it a lot, and I haven't had an American car
since 1967. I must say both my Outbacks ran great and served me well for
peanuts, but if anyone tells you Subaru's last forever I can tell you they
don't.

In the car's defense it had about 250,000 miles on it, and I tend to keep
cars way too long.

I just wanted to thank you all for the help I've received here, and you guys
definitely helped me get my cars as far as I did. First car I ever had that
broke the 200,000 mile mark.

Sorry to hear the OB finally bit the dust. Don't scrap the car; put it
on craigslist. Someone will scoop it up and stuff another motor in it.
I'd be interested myself, but the tax man is taking a larger than
usual bite this year It was a '98 car? Probably worth ~$1500
assuming everything else is OK.

One of my students bought an Escape last year; he likes it a lot.

Pitkin County get any snow out of those last couple storms? We've
probably seen close to two feet in Palmer Lake over the last week or
so.

C'm'on springtime.

ByeBye! S.
Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101

 

[bugalugs]

I don't know about oceans in Colorado... Denver is as far from the
Pacific as the Mississippi River is from the Atlanic. One tends to
think of the Mississippi as being in the middle of the country and
Denver as 'way out West, but it ain't so.

Depends where you're standing when you're looking

 

[Sheldon]

Hi Sheldon!



Sorry to hear the OB finally bit the dust. Don't scrap the car; put it
on craigslist. Someone will scoop it up and stuff another motor in it.
I'd be interested myself, but the tax man is taking a larger than
usual bite this year It was a '98 car? Probably worth ~$1500
assuming everything else is OK.

One of my students bought an Escape last year; he likes it a lot.

Pitkin County get any snow out of those last couple storms? We've
probably seen close to two feet in Palmer Lake over the last week or
so.

C'm'on springtime.

I've had it with the snow. Enough already, and yeah, we got dumped on the
last two storms.

Anyway, I've had a few days to see what the Escape is like. I like it.
It's more of an SUV, but it handles quite well and the V6 is quite peppy.
Runs uphill with a lot less effort than the Subie, and my last mileage check
was over 20 mpg. That's around town and up and down the valley. If I drove
it more "gently" I'm sure I could do better. As for space, it has plenty of
room up front, and the back seats are way roomier than the Subie. With that
I'd say the cargo area is a bit smaller than the Outback, at least depth and
width. I'm sure the cargo area is higher.

With so many cars in this category I'm not sure I'd say this is the best,
but I feel I got a "fair" deal and I like the dealer a lot and I like the
looks of the car, even better than the latest model. Looks a little more
masculine. I also don't like the looks of the new Outback either. They're
all starting to look alike.

 

[Zeppo]

My last care before I switched to Subarus was a '95 Ford Probe. I believe
that every driver should own a Ford. Once. So they know. Some learn
slowly, so they buy more than one Ford.

David

After swearing I would never get another American car I inherited an '88
Grand Marquis that I kept just to tow my camper. I ended up loving that car
which gave me another 100K mile (on top of the 60 it had when I got it)
before being rear-ended by a tractor trailer, and having to junk it. I'd
probably still have it if it hadn't met a bad end.

Jon

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

Anyway, I've had a few days to see what the Escape is like. I like it.
It's more of an SUV

I'm just the opposite. I'd rather have a capable wagon.

BTW, how much did you get for the Soob?

 

[Sheldon]

I'm just the opposite. I'd rather have a capable wagon.

BTW, how much did you get for the Soob?

I gave it away. I probably should have sold it on Craig's List, but I just
wanted it gone. I have two cars and I only have room for two cars.

 

[Sheldon]

After swearing I would never get another American car I inherited an '88
Grand Marquis that I kept just to tow my camper. I ended up loving that
car which gave me another 100K mile (on top of the 60 it had when I got
it) before being rear-ended by a tractor trailer, and having to junk it.
I'd probably still have it if it hadn't met a bad end.

Jon

I hear ya. I'm loving this car. I'm starting to personalize it and it's
fun having a car you can buy all kinds of junk for.