Cameraman Jenn's Workplace

[dANdeLION]

The Le Car was the Americanized version of the Renault 5, wasn't it?

Don't ask me, I'm still trying to decide what's more like my divorce; the first 5 minutes of LOST, or the last 3 hours of Titanic. Anyway, one of my girlfriends had a Renault, and it was the worst car ever made.

I had an '80 Ford Fiesta that was a huge luxury car compared to the Le Car.

My brother had a Fiesta. It broke down and he asked me how to get it to may dad's shop. I suggested sticking a stamp on the hood and parking it next to his mailbox.......

[Cail]

Don't ask me, I'm still trying to decide what's more like my divorce; the first 5 minutes of LOST, or the last 3 hours of Titanic.

Mine's still dragging on, so it's sort of a cross between Hostel and Ishtar. Torture and pain.

I had an '80 Ford Fiesta that was a huge luxury car compared to the Le Car.

My brother had a Fiesta. It broke down and he asked me how to get it to may dad's shop. I suggested sticking a stamp on the hood and parking it next to his mailbox.......

I never had a problem with the Fiesta I couldn't fix with a hammer, a pair of pliers, and a knife. For all I know, that car's still running somewhere. I beat the piss outta that car and it wouldn't quit.

If your brother had attempted to mail his Fiesta, he would have had to put it in a box so it wouldn't get lost.

[Cameraman Jenn]

HAHAHAHAHA! put it in a box.... I used to own a Ford, but it was a 1967 F250 HD with a 352 motor in it. It lacked the luxuries of power steering and power brakes. Oh how I loved that truck....sigh

[Cail]

I really loved that car. I have no idea what it weighed, but it was a lot less than 2000 pounds, so the 86hp engine wasn't overtaxed pushing it around. The thing got better than 30mpg no matter how I drove it, and it was a blast to toss around. That little Fiesta proved the truism that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

I'd love to find another one for commuting, but they are few and far between, and the parts are a bitch to find.

No B.S., the best car I've ever owned.

[bloodguard bob]

Yeah, a friend of mine in high school had a Fiesta; it was sharp.

Get's me thinkin' of my first/favorite truck: The 1979 Chevy LUV.
I've been lookin' for one forever but when I come across one it's always rusted out. They were known for rust, cracked dashboards, and torn vinyl seats. Still, best auto ever.

[Cagliostro]

I've experienced Chevy LUV before. But I'd probably not discuss it here, as it is a family site.

[Cameraman Jenn]

Wow, just WOW. I didn't think there were any left on the road but low and behold a 1981 Volkswagon Rabbit Diesel Pickup just came in off the hook. Looks like it needs a clutch. What a beauty. I'll take pictures tomorrow and post em up.

[The Laughing Man]

I knew someone who drove a VW Thing, heh. mint condition. weird. do you see many of them?

[DukkhaWaynhim]

I drove a Fiesta once as a loaner while my Saturn was in the shop. I had no problems with it, but many jokes were made about being able to do wheelies by wedging a penny in the license plate.

dw

[Cameraman Jenn]

There is a VW Thing that I see parked in Noe Valley here in the city but I haven't seen one up close in the shop ever.

DW, I thought you were supposed to use a dime....

[Wyldewode]

heh! The first car I ever had was a 1984 Renault Encore. My parents bought it new--from a car salesman/huckster, and they let us kids have it when we got old enough to drive. I'm telling you, that thing had more adventures than you can imagine! I skidded off the road several times (once going too fast around a curve, and a few times on ice). I hit a couple of squirells with it, and almost took out a deer once (I lived 11 miles from the closest town). Toward the end, the heater and air conditioner wouldn't keep working for more than a couple of weeks at a time. Once I was sent home from work early because of an ice storm, and I'd drive for a few miles before having to stop and scrape the windshield clear of ice. Oh, the crazy times I had in that car! Ours was black, and it was named Mortimer, but my friends called it "the Roach." Good times!

Here's a very similar one:

[Cameraman Jenn]

I stink. I really really reek. I had to help Igor with this tricky GM limited slip differential today and I got used differential oil all over me. There is nothing stinkier in automotive than positrac additive. I swear even the stinky homeless crackheads are gonna move away from my stench on the bus ride home. Ugh. I can barely stand to be near myself....

[Wyldewode]

Go get a shower then!

[Cagliostro]

Yeah, stinky! I can smell you from here!

[sgt.null]

jenn: Falmouth, Mass? I am from Concord, NH.

worst car we have owned? Dodge 400 most likely. a whale of a car. some kids stole it, realized how much it sucked and abandoned it. had to star it with a screwdriver.

[lurch]

Hi!.. My name is MEL.. and I have a 02 Tacoma Sr5 ,,overdrive and Cruise control,, and soon after a mile or so after starting,,it " squiggles" when I leave off the gas pedal.. It gets louder the more miles I go but only makes the noise when I leave off the accelerator..I took it to the local Toyota shop and they said it was the fan belt,,So I let them replace it. By the time i got home.. it was squiggling again..It sounds like hamster wheel... Its sounds like..Squiggle Squiggle Squig....Squiggle..About 1600 rpm and lower it stops. But that may be because I can't hear it..I think its a bearing or bushing in the drive shaft train going south. The drive shaft is like sectional,,Theres two shafts attached..Its a Pre runner not a 4WD. The truck has 96 k miles and the warranty expires at 100K...What should I do?

[Nav]

Tough call, if you can't convince them to replace it based on the noise then maybe you could push it til it failed? That's easier said than done though, I remember spending a whole day trying to 'induce' gearbox failure in a Yamaha outboard, only for the damn thing to explode a week later when we weren't expecting it.

There's a lot of love for the Ford Fiesta here, which is fitting as Ford are about to replace it after nearly 30 years. When a car's been around as long as that, you get good and bad revisions. The MkI and MkII were great cars, the MkIII not as good and the MkIV terrible. Then Ford got their act together and brought the platform in line with the Focus, so the MkV and MkVI are excellent cars again.

I think all of my cars have had enough redeeming features to counter any faults that they had. My first was an old Mini, it was slow, badly put together and leaky but it was so cool (orange with a black roof and white steel wheels) that none of it mattered. I've had a couple of rather boring VWs (a Polo and a Jetta) that were faultlessly reliable and an Audi that, although a very good car in itself, was terrifying to own as any fault could potentially require Audi dealer attention at £97 per hour.

My favourites are actually the ones that were unrealiable, impractical, uncomfortable and ill-tempered in traffic, but came alive on the open road. My Fiat Strada Abarth was a typical mid-80s Italian rotbox, but its Fiat/Lancia twincam was one of the best engines of its generation and the power was insane for such a small car. My party piece was to floor it in 1st and turn the wheels from lock to lock and back to the middle before the tyres warmed up and bit. Nowadays I just wish I could own another Alfa Romeo without risking my job!

[Cameraman Jenn]

First off, I am not a fan of dealership service. I think they are seriously overpriced. I gave this advice on another thread but it is worth repeating here. Go to a local parts store. Tell the guys in the wholesale department that you are looking for a reliable shop to send your mom to. Ask them who to use. They will know who around town is an honest shop.

I am not a fan of the fiat. However, I am well aware that European cars built for use in Europe are far different than ones built for export to the US.

On the toyota issue, take it back. Tell them it is NOT fixed. Make them fix it while it is still under warranty and then find a reliable independant shop to use for future work and maintenence. It does sound like you might have a u-joint going out but it's hard to diagnose without the vehicle in hand and experiencing the problem.

[Nav]

My current dealer is pretty good, but I've found an independent workshop just round the corner from my house that specialises in French cars so once the warranty is up in September I'll start using him instead.

I'm not sure if exported European cars are actually very different, but I think in the case of non-German ones it's really a mismatch of product and market as far as America is concerned. Europeans drive smaller cars in general and are more accepting of poor build quality as long as it's reflected in the price. There's also the way cars are driven:

As I've always understood things, there is only one way to drive a small Fiat, and that is without mercy. Here's how to do it. Select first, lift the clutch abruptly, mash the throttle pedal to the floor and when, and only when, the valve gear bursts through the bonnet, select second. Repeat the process until all the gears are used up.

I don't think cars are generally driven as furiously in the States and this deprives Fiats, Peugeots, Séats and to a lesser extent Renaults and Citröens, of much of their charm. Fiat have really smartened up their act in the last year or two though, with much improved build quality and some really good looking cars. I'd expect the Fiat 500 to do quite well if it's exported, as it's really pretty with bags of retro cool and there's an excellent small car hiding underneath.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I'm all excited as only the dorky can get. I had a new customer come in this morning with his Jeep Grand Cherokee with a hemi engine. I made a joke as we were going back to the office to make the paperwork about him not loving the gas prices right now. He laughed and said he didn't but on the other hand is other car is a Smart Car. I got all excited and told him I am obsessed with the smart cars and begged him to bring it by so we can check it over. He laughed and said he would. About halfway through the paperwork, Igor came in the office and I said to Igor, "David has a SMART CAR!!!" Igor's immediate reaction was, "Oh yeah??? You must bring it by so we can look at it!" David laughed. We yammered about Smart Cars some more and Igor showed pictures from his online files of his trip to Paris in which he had taken a bunch of the Smart Cars there. It's got to be pretty gratifying when you go to the auto shop and the guys and gals working there are ranting about how cool your car is.

Apparently there was a Smart Car rally and here is a link to a forum with pictures of the Smart Cars going down Lombard St...

www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f56/lo ... ead-12717/