Quote:
Originally Posted by CivicSpoon
Comparing non-hybrid car of today to some cars of the late 80's to mid 90's, it's an absolute joke. My own car ('94 Honda Civic CX ['92-'95 Civic CX]) is very similar to the Geo Metro (42-50 MPG/70 HP). The fact that ALL car companies can't come out with simple, quality cars, with that high of a MPG, is ridiculous. The fact that there are so many Metros and that generation of Civics out there, should tell the car industry a lot, but unfortunately they ignore it. Seriously, how it is possible that car companies can't do what companies did 15 +/- years ago? Honestly, it's the only thing that has stopped me from selling my car.
Of course, this is all just my opinion.
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The Geo products were just Asian cars with GM badges - the Prizm was a Corolla, the Storm was an Isuzu, and the Metro and Tracker were Suzuki. Even though the were only badge cars they didn't have the reliability rep of the parent companies that built them and sales were always soft.
Building cars like the older CRX or old Geo Metro couldn't happen today. Those cars didn't have multiple airbags (later Geo's had d/s only) and ABS, no OBDII systems, and their structures wouldn't pass muster in crash testing today. Plus, today's car buyers want killer stereos with i-pod integration, bluetooth, navigation, leather (in even the cheapest cars), 5-star crash safety ratings, 150k mile service-life, minimal maintenance, and go-anytime reliability....
All those features add weight, and the government required many of those safety changes (the heaviest) while raising CAFE standards. Today's cars have all that and much more plus most can protect you in an America populated by big SUV's.
Think about it for a moment, power will always increase as a result of better efficiency so power being up is pretty incredible when you consider mileage is going up as well. Even a new Z06 Corvette gets 27MPG!!!
Yes, there will always be a market for basic cars but if you look at the history of companies that focus on them, or mileage, they have historically failed. As another poster said, there is a huge number of vehicles competing in the lower end of the market and the products have never been better! The new Jetta diesel gets better mileage than the Prius and is much, much more enjoyable to drive. The golden age of cars is now!