[Numbchux]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this was a question of reliability, not speed. also...this isn't just about trucks, the big three domestics make more cars than just the trucks.

blacksky: you're points are completely irrelevant. just cause they haven't changed the body style, doesn't mean they're not reliable. all fullsize trucks have a crappy turning radius, so one's comparable to a large battle ship, and the other to a small aircraft carrier....they both suck. and sales have no bearing on anything. just cause more people got suckered into buying them before, doesn't mean they're any good.

the domestic vs import question isn't a matter of where it's made, but where/how it's engineered. American workers have no trouble making a quality product, but apparently, they can't design it.


in my experience. fords have an unusually high likeliness of catching on fire. I've only known 3 people to ever have a car spontaneously burst into flames, 2 of them were fords, the other was a 70s triumph.

we have a caravan....160k miles and we're now looking at our second tranny rebuild. that's just the tip of the iceberg.....I hate mopar.

my buddy has an early 90s Caddy, it has 380k miles (that's not a typo!!) on it, and the tranny just went out. it's a bit on the rusty side, but we're doing a 5-speed swap into it, and fixing up the rockers, and it should kickass!!

if you do get a GM, however, avoid the 305! that is not a very good motor at all!

bottom line, go to a junkyard. There's one near my parent's house that we go to alot.

GM section: LOTs of older cars with lots of parts still left on them.

Mopar section: virtually every FWD car there, has had it's tranny pulled (among other things), or it's obviously not worth pulling.

Ford: newest cars on the lot (i.e. first to die) lots of parts missing, rarely a pattern to it.

Imports: wide range of years, no predictable pattern of missing parts (unless it's a honda....wow), except headlights/turn signals. most of them are either rusted out or crashed.


if you want to know which way to go, find the bluebook value on the car you're looking at, and comparable competition. same year, options, mileage, condition, and see which one's higher. that's a pretty darn good start