A tale of three cars.

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 3 Feb 2007 00:22
A tale of three cars. - AlanGowdy
In response to an earlier posting on the Auris - reliability IS important but not ALL-important.

In 1977 I bought a Fiat 128 3P. It was great fun to drive with an eager engine and sharp handling and I enjoyed every trip. Trouble was it had lousy paintwork and rusted prematurely and was none too dependable (the clutch cable snapped at 15,000 miles and the driver's seat upholstery parted company with the frame). Nevertheless, after 3 years I was sorry to see it go.
Its replacement was a Toyota Corolla 30 - the first designed for the European market they said - and bought mainly because the Fiat's quality shortcomings made me want Japanese reliability above all else. This was a mistake. Yes it was reliable but the suspension was underdamped and bouncy (I often hit my head on the roof), the steering woefully imprecise, the handling skittish, the noise unbearable at anything over 60 mph.
After a few disappointing months the Toyota was replaced by one of the then-new first generation of FWD Mazda 323's, a 1.5 GT. This was just as well made as the Toyota and nearly as much fun to drive as the Fiat. On my very first drive I caught sight of myself in the mirror, grinning idiotically.

The moral of the story? I suppose it's in the first line.
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