Piece of Sheet

[swamprat]

Since this category was started, I have wondered what constitutes a piece of sheet. Is it slow acceleration? Poor reliability? Ugly styling? Deteriorating bodies? Lousy gas mileage?

My personal idea is that a piece of sheet has lousy acceleration and gas mileage first and foremost, although excessive trips to the repair shop are a strong determiner as well.

What say you?


POS that I have owned -

1993 Subaru Impreza
1974 AMC Gremiln
1981 Ford Escort


The common thread in these cars is lousy acceleration and relatively poor gas mileage, except for the Escort.

Motor Trend, a publication not known for its love of high speed driving, rated the 81 Mercury Lynx Wagon as having dangerously slow accleration. My Escort wagon shared the same drivetrain. It went from 0-60 in 21 seconds.
It was a piece of shit.

[dBrong]

Since this category was started, I have wondered what constitutes a piece of sheet. Is it slow acceleration? Poor reliability? Ugly styling? Deteriorating bodies? Lousy gas mileage?

I would say:

• Slow acceleration (within reason)
• Poor reliability
• Expensive repairs
• Deteriorating bodies

Nowadays deteriorating bodies and slow acceleration are much a thing of the past.

IMO reliability and expensive repairs have taken the lead.

Some people buy expensive cars because they think expensive equates to quality. It's really wrong. Any car no matter how much it costs is covered by a warranty. Once that warranty runs out (say in 3 - 5 yrs) and your $50k car is now worth $25k, and the tranny / counter balance (look up Volvo V8) is shot - the dealer wants between $5k - $15k for a fix.

Same for reliability. As the cars become more and more electronic - the reliabilty goes down - especially when a 'problem' develops.

After owning two Volvos - one that had problems - they call the factory - because the tech's don't have enough info!

[swamprat]

I would say:

• Slow acceleration (within reason)
• Poor reliability
• Expensive repairs
• Deteriorating bodies

Nowadays deteriorating bodies and slow acceleration are much a thing of the past.

IMO reliability and expensive repairs have taken the lead.

Some people buy expensive cars because they think expensive equates to quality. It's really wrong. Any car no matter how much it costs is covered by a warranty. Once that warranty runs out (say in 3 - 5 yrs) and your $50k car is now worth $25k, and the tranny / counter balance (look up Volvo V8) is shot - the dealer wants between $5k - $15k for a fix.

Same for reliability. As the cars become more and more electronic - the reliabilty goes down - especially when a 'problem' develops.

After owning two Volvos - one that had problems - they call the factory - because the tech's don't have enough info!

Interesting take.

I agree that electronics will make today's cars rolling traps in the future. 10-15 year old cars will become undrivable.

I think, though in the intermediate term, as gas prices rise, GMC Yukons, GMC Arcadias, Ford Expeditions, Nissan Armadas, and other gas guzzling monster SUV's will define this generation's POS cars.

At $5 per gallon, these will be almost as undrivable as a 1985 Chevy Chevette Diesel.

[dBrong]

At $5 per gallon, these will be almost as undrivable as a 1985 Chevy Chevette Diesel.

I live on Diamond Lake. Three miles from downtown Mpls. It's a nice stone home - but also: location, location, and location.

I can't understand the people who live in Lakeville and Northfield that drive atleast 1 hr each way to go to work!

[Eric]

Since this category was started, I have wondered what constitutes a piece of sheet. Is it slow acceleration? Poor reliability? Ugly styling? Deteriorating bodies? Lousy gas mileage?

My personal idea is that a piece of sheet has lousy acceleration and gas mileage first and foremost, although excessive trips to the repair shop are a strong determiner as well.

What say you?


POS that I have owned -

1993 Subaru Impreza
1974 AMC Gremiln
1981 Ford Escort


The common thread in these cars is lousy acceleration and relatively poor gas mileage, except for the Escort.

Motor Trend, a publication not known for its love of high speed driving, rated the 81 Mercury Lynx Wagon as having dangerously slow accleration. My Escort wagon shared the same drivetrain. It went from 0-60 in 21 seconds.
It was a piece of shit.

I'd define it like this:

A POS car is a four-wheeled con job; a car that does not live up to expectations; that rips you off with poor quality, hassles you with its unreliable/unsafe operation - and humiliates you with the stigma of being its owner!

Slow isn't necessarily the defining quality as I see it. For example, the VW Beetle was deathly slow but I think most agree it was a great car.

[Kas]

People tell me that my car is a POS car. I have had people afraid to be driven places by me.

It is a '93 Topaz LS

It really is not a bad car but is just old and leaves me stranded all over the place. Only 1 window opens, only 1 automatic lock works and the driver door does not lock at all, got broken into 4 times this year alone, leakes like crazy, and sucks a lot of money out of me. The wiring is bad in the car and it was discovered that it was the cause of my car dying all over the city as no power to the fuel pump. Pain in the ass as that also meant no power to the back lights so the hazards were not working. Recently had the harmonic balancer done which it seems that was the reason for how noisy it was.

Honestly I personally think that the car is an amazingly resilient car. Sure it still leaks a lot (from everywhere even though we have fixed so many of the leaks) but heck it is old after all. I prefer older cars than the computerized ones there are today. Harder to fix. The most recent issue that made the car die on the highway was a ground issue. But I guess it would be considered unreliable as I always have to have a backup plan on how I will get to my destination...

The advantage to this older car is I did get it for free.

[Eric]

People tell me that my car is a POS car. I have had people afraid to be driven places by me.

It is a '93 Topaz LS

It really is not a bad car but is just old and leaves me stranded all over the place. Only 1 window opens, only 1 automatic lock works and the driver door does not lock at all, got broken into 4 times this year alone, leakes like crazy, and sucks a lot of money out of me. The wiring is bad in the car and it was discovered that it was the cause of my car dying all over the city as no power to the fuel pump. Pain in the ass as that also meant no power to the back lights so the hazards were not working. Recently had the harmonic balancer done which it seems that was the reason for how noisy it was.

Honestly I personally think that the car is an amazingly resilient car. Sure it still leaks a lot (from everywhere even though we have fixed so many of the leaks) but heck it is old after all. I prefer older cars than the computerized ones there are today. Harder to fix. The most recent issue that made the car die on the highway was a ground issue. But I guess it would be considered unreliable as I always have to have a backup plan on how I will get to my destination...

The advantage to this older car is I did get it for free.

That car was definitely not one of Ford's better ideas!

I'd get rid of it before something really expensive goes wrong.....

[dBrong]

leaves me stranded all over the place. Only 1 window opens, only 1 automatic lock works and the driver door does not lock at all, got broken into 4 times this year alone, leakes like crazy, and sucks a lot of money out of me. The wiring is bad in the car and it was discovered that it was the cause of my car dying all over the city as no power to the fuel pump. Pain in the ass as that also meant no power to the back lights so the hazards were not working. Recently had the harmonic balancer done which it seems that was the reason for how noisy it was.

By definition, your car is a POS.

Even if you did get it for free... all the lost time, aggravation, and money you have put into this car is not worth it!

[Vman$01]

Great stuff dude - I got Losers for ya. Sadly it's a Family affair... Oy! 1969 Rambler American - Sad day for my Father/family car. 1971 Dodge Dart - Sucked in my own fing Family! {Pain}. Similtaneous involutary humiliation. ==> I worked for Chrysler (OS!), during the Ayahtolla years. On the employee discount: my Dad (Ramblin' Man) bought an Eagle Premier. We gave it to my sister for free and she hated it! On the Mopar discount my Mother (Dart girl), bought a 1990 Mitsubishi Galant. Sucked so bad she bought an Olds and gave the Galant to my kid who collected a scrap fee. I sadly bought a 1988 Dodge Daytona Pacifica. Wait a minute: 6K off the sticker, every option known to man, turbo charged, fast <== Who knew. Yeah rain loved my carpets and my T-tops. Mr. Iacocca came back to the plant and this time he wasn't happy to see me. I traded that Pile of Sheet in and took a $erious Lo$$. Shitzus one and All!