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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / March 2005What a worthless effort
I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like a bloody Toyota. http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html >I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." > Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like > a bloody Toyota. > > http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html Actually, I rather like it, once you get past the travesty of the "Charger" name. Reminds me, oddly, of a '56 Chevy. Not a big fan of the flat black graphics, though, I didn't like them in the '70s, either.  SignatureSkip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com >>I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." >> Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Not a big fan of the flat black graphics, though, I didn't like them in > the '70s, either. The profile look much like a stretched out Mustang to me. The front looks a little like Volvo meet Jag. Anyway, there's not an original line in the thing and certainly doesn't deserve the Charger name. SignatureRob >>>I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." >>> Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Anyway, there's not an original line in the thing and certainly doesn't > deserve the Charger name. Can't blame DC for not wanting to be original, look what happened to their sales of the Intrepid/300M/Concorde. They originally thought themselves right into blandness and poor sales. There's not much out there that reeks of originality, with any company, at least among what's available in the US. There's too much fascination with "retro" or "getting back to roots" these days, witness everything from the Ferrari Scaglietti to the Ford Mustang and GT... One thing the Dodge DOESN'T look like is a Toyota, thankfully. The old ChryCo offerings looked too much like Camry styling rejects, as it was. SignatureSkip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com How do you pronounce Daimler-Chrysler? Daimler ... the Chrysler is silent!!!!!!! Back to photo now ;) > How do you pronounce Daimler-Chrysler? > > Daimler ... the Chrysler is silent!!!!!!! A friend of mine has a 3 year old CLK 320. Beautiful machine. Not really a C-class, but derived from E. This is the first winter that he's driven it. Last two winters it was in his garage and he would buy a beater for the winter and then sell it. Two weeks ago, on the highway, the brake pedal floored completely, no braking action at all. Luckilly, little traffic (5 am) and he managed to slow the car with the transmission and steering. He exited, and very luckilly happened on a train station. So, he parked the car and took the train back home. On said train he contacted Mercedez. They transported the car back to Montreal (from Quebec City). Failure: Front wheel ball joint assembly. How this made the brakes fail so completely (the other three wheels?) is beyond me, but the events speak for themselves. Cost to my friend: $0 (train ticket, not sure if he got that reimbursed from M, but possible). Cost to Mercedez, over CAD$3500. Cost to Merc reputation? er, priceless? His father, he went on to tell me, commited the grave error a few years ago of buying a large Chrysler (LHS?). The transmission failed in various and spectacular ways 3 times in less than 2 years, each time requiring a replacement. The A/C kablooied and the entire dash had to be disassembled to repair the system. He was so petrified of this car, that for a wintering in Florida they took his wife's smaller car (Camry)... sold the Chrysler. I'm amazed at the quality issues in the Merc. C-class, and absolutely flabbergasted at the ball joint failure in my friends 320 CLK. These companies seem to deserve each other... Alan > > How do you pronounce Daimler-Chrysler? > > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > that for a wintering in Florida they took his wife's smaller car > (Camry)... sold the Chrysler. My 1997 Jeep Cherokee has been the biggest pile of junk of any car I've owned. I will never buy another Chrysler. Greg >> How do you pronounce Daimler-Chrysler? >> [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > >Alan According to just about every quality survey done now, Euro cars rank last in reliability and have done so for the past few years. Great engineering can mean great handling, power, but reliability is a different issue. -Rich > According to just about every quality survey done now, Euro > cars rank last in reliability and have done so for the past few > years. Great engineering can mean great handling, power, but > reliability is a different issue. Perhaps, French manufacturers have always had poor ratings, I'm not sure about others. But Mercedez-Benz is _supposed_ to be frickin reliable. It's part of the deal. Pay the bucks and get the quality. But the C-class issues and things like what happened to my friend on a car that is a few years old and only driven about 7 monhts per year. Cheers, Alan. Signature-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm -- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch. >> How do you pronounce Daimler-Chrysler? >> [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > Alan Merc has had continuing QC problems over the last few years, mostly due to the electronic nature of so many of the parts. German cars in general have dropped in quality over the same period, being overtaken by some of the American brands, like Cadillac, according to various polls. Chrysler's electronically controlled transmissions were notorious for abrupt, spectacular failures. They were among the first of the type, and as us 20D users can attest, being an early adaptor can have its adventures... <G> SignatureSkip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com > I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." > Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like > a bloody Toyota. > > http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html What a mess. At least now we know the answer to the question what happens when you try to make a car look like a truck or SUV from the front, and sporty from other angles. But I do disagree, I don't think Toyota has made anything that ugly since the 80's :) Lisa > > I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." > > Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > But I do disagree, I don't think Toyota has made anything that ugly > since the 80's :) I'll disagree there. I think Toyota is making the 2nd ugliest cars after GM. Greg >> I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." >> Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >Lisa I think it will probably do what it was inteded to do...make teenage boys salivate, get covers on lots of automags, and make quite a few older guys open their wallets. > http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html Almost, but not quite as butt-ugly as the Chrysler 300. I doubt that MOPAR has another decade to go. >> http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html > > Almost, but not quite as butt-ugly as the Chrysler 300. I doubt that MOPAR > has another decade to go. You may not like it, but Chrysler is selling all of those that they can build. Big, bluff bows like an 18th century merchantman seem to strike a cord among American car buyers. So you can't really blame DC for following that trend with the "Charger." It's the first time in 30 years that they've had a success with an automotive design. SignatureSkip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com > I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." > Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like > a bloody Toyota. > > http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html Bleck! Ford did a much, much better job with the new Mustang. These look so... uninspired. > Ford did a much, much better job with the new Mustang. Fix Found Or On Repair Road Daily Dead Signature-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm -- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch. > > Ford did a much, much better job with the new Mustang. > > Fix Found > Or On > Repair Road > Daily Dead Just about any American car, if you ask me. According to Consumer Report's, the last model year of the Mustang was their most reliable car yet. > According to Consumer Report's, the last model year of the Mustang was > their most reliable car yet. Most reliable American car. That's faint praise. >> According to Consumer Report's, the last model year of the Mustang was >> their most reliable car yet. > > Most reliable American car. That's faint praise. Most reliable car or most reliable Mustang? > > Most reliable American car. That's faint praise. > > Most reliable car or most reliable Mustang? Both. >>> According to Consumer Report's, the last model year of the Mustang was >>> their most reliable car yet. >> >> Most reliable American car. That's faint praise. > >Most reliable car or most reliable Mustang? The Hyudai Sonata has the lowest defect rate of any car, believe it or not at 2 per 100. Mustang is best American car at 5. Worst is the Nissan Quest at 50. -Rich > > According to Consumer Report's, the last model year of the Mustang was > > their most reliable car yet. > > Most reliable American car. That's faint praise. OH yeah, even worse. >> According to Consumer Report's, the last model year of the Mustang was >> their most reliable car yet. > > Most reliable American car. That's faint praise. Actually, American cars have overtaken European cars for reliability, and are at the level that Honda and Toyota were about 5 years ago, problems per 100 cars. And some of GM's cars rank ahead of Nissan. Poor quality in American cars is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, and reports of it continuing are mostly anecdotal. Check CR's own data... SignatureSkip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com >>> According to Consumer Report's, the last model year of the Mustang >>> was their most reliable car yet. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > past, and reports of it continuing are mostly anecdotal. Check CR's > own data... Think about the way it was a few years back: German and Japanese cars most-respected for build quality and reliability. Now flash back to earlier days when "Made In Japan" was synonymous with cheap knock-offs and early failure. Ebb and flow. SignatureFrank ess >>>> According to Consumer Report's, the last model year of the Mustang >>>> was their most reliable car yet. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > Ebb and flow. Yup. SignatureSkip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com >>Actually, American cars have overtaken European cars for reliability, and are at the level that Honda and Toyota were about 5 years ago, problems per 100 cars. And some of GM's cars rank ahead of Nissan. Poor quality in American cars is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, and reports of it continuing are mostly anecdotal. Check CR's own data... << Maybe true, but anecdotal can kick some sales a.s. My 2000 Dodge Stratus is a POS. It has a whistle at 60 and up. Can't be fixed as it is part of the transmission design! For most of its first 4 years, it stuttered and missed when the gas tank was filled. Dealer couldn't replicate (of course, even though I told the a.shole I'd pay for the gas, he never did FILL the frigging tank). Moronic sun visor latches, pointed the wrong way, so you yank the visor all the way down in front of you when you lower it. Ignition goes nuts, jams, won't release key. Dealer can't replicate. Driver's door jams so that anyone under 250 pounds cannot open it. Dealer cannot replicate. Came through with a front end so mis-aligned it wore out a set of tires in 20,000 miles. Dealer refused replacement of tires after repairing front end under warranty--"We don't do tire warrantees". This particular dealer hires some really honest hotshots, too. My wife left a few bucks toll money (about 20 bucks, which is about normal given some of today's road tolls) in the console. It was gone when we picked up the car. Obviously, leaving it there was not wise. That said, WTF was the mechanic or handler doing with his paws in the console? Upshot: DC can stick its vehicles up its a.s. I may buy a used Dodge pick-up, but I wouldn't stand back and spit on any of the rest of them. I'm at the age where I figured I'd buy a Merc to finish out my days. Yeah, right. I do NOT plan to die that frigging soon. >>>Actually, American cars have overtaken European cars for reliability, > and [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > I'm at the age where I figured I'd buy a Merc to finish out my days. > Yeah, right. I do NOT plan to die that frigging soon. Sounds like a dealer problem, not a car problem. No tranny made has a noise like you describe as a part of normal operation. When did the problem arise, soon after a visit to your dealer? Sounds like these guys certainly wouldn't hesitate to do a little strategic sabotage to get you coming back. And I'll bet they hit you for a $50 "diagnostic fee" every time the check your car out and don't find something, don't they? SignatureSkip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com Skip M responds: >>Sounds like a dealer problem, not a car problem. No tranny made has a noise like you describe as a part of normal operation. When did the problem arise, soon after a visit to your dealer? Sounds like these guys certainly wouldn't hesitate to do a little strategic sabotage to get you coming back. And I'll bet they hit you for a $50 "diagnostic fee" every time the check your car out and don't find something, don't they? << Partially a dealer problem, but the tranny noise started the first time the car was taken over 60 mph...assumption, there, because I can't hear it until it hits 68 or so, but my wife can hear it start. She wasn't with me when I first drove the car outside town on a smooth road. The dealer explanation was passed on to Chrysler who ignored the pass-on. Twice. The noise was covered under warranty. It is still noisy 4-1/2 years later--and so were three other Dodge Strati(?) that I drove at various times. Sort of a high pitched whistle. They do not get to check my car out and haven't since the money was stolen from the console. There are plenty of independent mechanics around here. I just haven't bother with the damned whistle. Use my woodworking shop ear plugs. Actually, it has bothered me less over the years, because early hearing damage is really starting to kick in now. >I can't believe this is the concept for the "Charger." > Ugly, ungainly and hulking. Poor Dodge. It looks like > a bloody Toyota. > > http://www.allpar.com/cars/lx/dodge-charger.html The one of the left looks like a wannabe mustang, but what do I know? |
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