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Quintessential Mid 90's Loser Cars - READ ONLY

197 messages,  Last post on Oct 06, 2010 at 9:43 AM

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What is this discussion about? Car Comparisons

Messages Page 17 of 20

#158 of 197 Re: Beretta [tjc78] by fezo

Sep 19, 2009 (9:30 am)

Replying to: tjc78 (Sep 19, 2009 8:32 am)
I had a Corsica, while not the most exciting car it certainly wasn't a loser car. It had decent acceleration and gas mileage ran pretty much trouble free for me until about 140K miles when I sold it and the buyer (a friend) drove it close to another 100K with little trouble.
 
I can vouch for that. Had one for a rental back in the day and managed a speeding ticket in it.
 
Cadillac of minivans - almost cost me a keyboard.
 
The Yugo is its own little category. Didn't they only go to 1992? Not quite mid-nineties. One of the best arguments against Reaganomics was the fact that it produced Yugos in the marketplace.... Fiats without the world famous Italian quality control....

#159 of 197 Re: Beretta [corvette] by boomchek

Sep 19, 2009 (9:50 am)

Replying to: corvette (Sep 19, 2009 6:50 am)
They made the Astro and Safari vans up to 2005.

#160 of 197 Re: Beretta [fintail] by uplanderguy

Sep 19, 2009 (11:31 am)

Replying to: fintail (Sep 18, 2009 1:07 pm)
I'd definitely vote for the Metro and Aspire. The name 'Aspire' always cracked me up...like, "Next time I'll aspire to move up to an Escort"!
 
The GM dustbuster minivans...at least they were original and had dent-resistant body panels. The 'softening up' of the front end near the end of the model run, was an improvement IMHO.
 
I'd better watch it..my Edmunds 'handle' was put out there some time back when I couldn't think of anything else. I'm sure my wife's Uplander will be on a similar list for the decade after the '90's!
 
Bill

#161 of 197 Re: Beretta [uplanderguy] by extech2

Sep 19, 2009 (4:09 pm)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Sep 19, 2009 11:31 am)
I can't believe that no one mentions the Honda del Sol (or was it del Stol) can't remember

#162 of 197 Re: Beretta [extech2] by uplanderguy

Sep 19, 2009 (4:39 pm)

Replying to: extech2 (Sep 19, 2009 4:09 pm)
I'm amazed at how many cars on this 'list', I've owned or had close contact with.
 
I bought a brand-new bright red '89 Beretta GT, which I enjoyed (before they started putting large graphics to differentiate the GT model); I also bought a new '90 Corsica 4-cyl. 5-speed which was reliable and still good-looking after 108K miles (in fact I think Corsicas looked good for a four-door; better than the Beretta), and I bought a new '93 Caprice Classic with F41 suspension. I was 35 and my wife 28 when we bought that car; I'm sure we were Chevy's youngest Caprice customers that year!
 
My mother-in-law had a bright blue Honda delSol bought by her gentleman friend because he thought she looked 'cute' in it. Yes, I had a Caprice when my mother-in-law had a Del Sol!
 
Bill

#163 of 197 you wound me... by steine13

Sep 19, 2009 (5:32 pm)

i just found this discussion.
wow, you guys are rough...
 
i've owned two of the vehicles on the list, and i liked both of them... an 89 LeMans that my wife drove for 2-3 years, and a 92 aerostar that, mile for mile, was probably the most expensive car i've owned... it leaked something different every 3 months, it seemed. so yeah it was a piece all right.
 
for all that, i really liked the aerostar for hauling, traveling, and canoeing. a very pleasant vehicle for a family with a small child.
 
And the LeMans was cool because (i) it was a carbon copy of the mid-80s Opel Kadett (E); (ii) i got it for $1,500 bucks, and (iii) it was dirt-cheap to run, easy to fix, and fairly reliable. of course, ours had no p/s no a/c no cruise no nuthin.. there wasn't much left to break.
 
i'm gonna also have to disagree with the suzuki sidekick someone mentioned; those are considered excellent off-roaders. not that i'd want one myself.
 
most of the others, esp. the corsica/beretta/skylark/... are just foul.
cheers -mathias

#164 of 197 Re: you wound me... [steine13] by steve_ HOST

Sep 19, 2009 (7:41 pm)

Replying to: steine13 (Sep 19, 2009 5:32 pm)
wow, you guys are rough...
 
Notice that there's little, if any, consensus.
 
My neighbor has an Aerostar and it is a good hauler, 4x4 to boot. His drives like a sick pig however.
 
OT - I haven't thought about an Opel Kadett for years. Wasn't there a Miata-like one that had flip up headlights?

#165 of 197 Re: you wound me... [steine13] by boomchek

Sep 20, 2009 (10:08 pm)

Replying to: steine13 (Sep 19, 2009 5:32 pm)
I agree with you about the LeMans. I was too young to apprecaite the original, and having just moved here from Europe, it reminded me of the Opel Kadett, which was a decent hot hatch back then. So here as a teen I actually wanted to get a LeMans.
 
I wonder if the car would have more success under a different name. Maybe the fact that GM took a legendary name and slapped it onto a Korean subcompact ticked off and turned off people from trying it that otherwise would have bought it if it were named something else.
 
And steine, don't worry if you had these before. The whole discussions is whether anyone drives these cars now, and how they're perceived by others for doing so.

#166 of 197 Re: you wound me... [boomchek] by otto8

Sep 20, 2009 (10:13 pm)

Replying to: boomchek (Sep 20, 2009 10:08 pm)
Those Lemans were just rebadged kias!
And a POS to boot...........You must of been lucky!

#167 of 197 Re: you wound me... [boomchek] by fintail

Sep 20, 2009 (10:14 pm)

Replying to: boomchek (Sep 20, 2009 10:08 pm)
I have to believe the Opel built cars were better than the Daewoos. There were tuner versions of that car in Europe, as you mention - none ever came to NA!

Messages Page 17 of 20

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