<VV> Re: GM cars - a different view

[Padgett]

My cars are all GM and have been since I sold the FIAT 124 Spyder. Two 
reasons mostly:
1) I have not run out of interesting GM cars (and have my eye on a Vixen 
with a 3800)
2) My tools and spares are all GM

Hasn't always been that way, in my yout I wanted a TR-3 and wound up 
infested with Jaguars (and was taught the need for maintenance) or easy (I 
live in Ford country) but has been for about thutty yar now.

Quality has never been an issue (and have had several Vegas and an Astre). 
Minor things I just fix. Have had a major engine failure that was not my 
fault when a 3800 in a 90 Bonneville we had since new dropped the center 
cam bearings and would not go over 19 psi oil pressure. Apparently no 
particular reason but have heard of a number of 90's that did the same 
thing. Dealer said was the gauge so drove home, 1,000 miles, never missed a 
beat. Realy a good thing as I was not equipped to replace an engine in 
Indiana (and the 3800 is considered bulletproof).

The only reason I sell a car is if it no longer fits what I want or 
overlaps something else (my belief is in cars for a purpose - no 
duplication needed, I can only drive one at a time). This is why my Monza 
'vert is for sale now that I finally got it "right" ( 
http://cfcorvairs.us/vairsale ) - found I have more desire to autocross 
than be in parades (PG is great for 3 mph).

Real point of all of this is that I have never found a car that could not 
be reliable. Take that Toyota sludge issue: turns out that was five years 
ago and was about 3,000 cars in a period when Toyota sold over a million 
.3%. An under 1% failure rate is typical for a car to be labeled as 
"unreliable" which really says something about what we expect.

Padgett