Re: [Chevelle-List] Non Chevelle (Hemi)

[Mach4]

I am a GM guy at heart, but we owned several Voyager/Caravan vans when our kids were growing up. We loved them! The styling was just super. Lots of our relatives owned the GM vans at the same time, and we all agreed they were inferior to ours - comfort, convenience, reliability, etc. We never had the tranny problems with ours which were known to exist at the time, nor did we have any other problems - just routine maintenance. We bought 3 or 4 new, drove them to high miles, and traded them in on another one.   When it came time for me to upgrade to a new truck, after driving older used ones for a couple of decades, I really looked the field over carefully. Boy, the Dakota 4 x 4 extended cab seemed just right - medium size, competitive pricing, sharp styling. I bought a new 1996 model, and it was a disappointment. Poor mileage, rough ride, mediocre handling, poor interior fit & finish, soft paint (I scratched it down to primer with a cardboard box one time, not the staples, just the box). The automatic tranny started slipping at about 40,000 miles, and of course, nobody could find anything wrong with it. I finally dumped it at 65,000. My new GMC 1/2 ton extended cab 4 x 4 is great! Bigger, better ride, can haul more, better mileage, more power (and I have the smaller V-8, 305 c.i., I think? The Dakota had a 318 in it), much more comfortable, super rear seat, etc. Of course, it cost more, too, but the deal was much better than the Chevy or Dodge dealers could put together on a 1/2 ton. I just couldn't bring myself to look at a F***!   I wish I had skipped the Dakota chapter in my life. The way it looks now, my trucks will be GM's from now on. But my wife really loves her Camry, so I think the General and I have lost that one!   Jim        central WI         2 - '66 SS's all covered up        ACES #2020     ----- Original Message ----- From: Capt Crunch To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, December 30, 2002 5:05 AM Subject: Re: [Chevelle-List] Non Chevelle (Hemi) Well, I will say I am far from what you would call a complete Chevy guy. I'm more of Pontiac guy at heart, but appriciate just about anything on the road including imports. I agree that Gm needs to get into the market share... they kill the f-body and they have always lagged way behind in truck technology. Is it just me or did anyone else wonder what Gm was thinking using a TBI type injection system on their trucks from 1987 all the way till 1995? I mean Ford had a port type injection availible in 1985! Dodge does have some good prices and such, but their warranty procudures aren't any better then GM, Ford, Honda, or whoever really. Our shop owns a new Dodge and I also am good friends with a service writer at a local dealer and their system is as hassle filled as anyones from my knowledge.   I'm very hesitant to jump on this big dodge bandwagon... it seems like it is just like back in 1994 when the new body style came out... what happened? Opps... trannys and tranfer case problems galore! Took Dodge to about 1997 to get control of the problem and still have less then the strongest drivetrain. I also will say that outside the Cummins and MAYBE the hemi... their engines aren't much IMO. The 318 is a dog and the 360 sucks gas down like a mutha. Also I don't know how many people work with cars and service at a general auto facility, but I do and have for 5 years, thus I have a very differnt view then what many people have when they judge the quality of a vehicles design and construction. I see more dodge trucks then any other truck and in my shop's area more people own gm's then anything. I'll wait a few years to see if the Hemi is another engine that isn't quite as good as it sounds on paper... examples being the neon 4 cylinder and the lovely 3.5 V6's Dodge offers... I love the fact they say the word Hemi and half the car enthusiast marker is all over it. I'll never buy a first year motor cause they always have problems (sometimes minor... many times major).   I'm not trying to flame or insult anyone who likes them, drives, them, bought one, whatever... I'mn just trying to present a different angle of looking at things. I am definetly not getting into a Gm v.s. Dodge war or questioning somoeone owning a chevelle cause that is dumb. You can own a Chevelle and not be a GM guy... just like you can own a mustang or a charger, or even a honda and be a GM lover. I see vehicles in a whole different way since I work on them. When I go to buy a vehicle I focus more on the quality and reliability. Most people out there unfortunetly don't. Then they have the nerve to whine about their $30,000-35,000 truck or ute breaking and it costing 800 or whatever to fix like it is my fault their credit is maxed out and you bought something that has numerous design flaws causing early repairs. It is a shame too cause you would think for that kind of money you could get a quality product. Heck there are still a lot of people out there that don't even make that much in a year.   Mikey