Cars, Trucks and Minivans... oh my!

My wife and I have a Mazda 626 V6 -94 it's an alright car, but the car I really want they don't sell here in the USA.
What I want is an Alfa Romeo 156, my parents back in Sweden got one, it's a beautiful car and what a nice car to drive :D Check it out! it's a 4 door coupe :p. Latest I heard was that Alfa will be staring to sell cars in the USA by 2007. Guess I have to wait :rolleyes:

Viktor
 
ive always liked the looks of an Alfa Romeo but really dont know much about them, living here in the U.S.
 
Thanks Sogni, I can't wait for alfa to bring their cars over here. I'd buy a 156 Selespeed... serious fun :D

Viktor
 
I drive a 1993 Mercury Topaz with 159k miles on it. I used to be my dad's, but then he got a ford focus in 2000 and gave it to me. It could beat any of you guy's car in a street race with its awesome 96 hp engine and phat 3 speed auto transmission!!! :p

I mean come on! I can do 0-60 in 14 seconds!!! Beat that!
 
I don't think you'll see Alfas in the US anytime soon. No market here, no consumer following, the competition is too strong, etc. Just doesn't make financial sense for them to come here, esp. with having to comply to the US standards on autos and the fact that cars just aren't selling here, SUVs are all the rage right now and will be for a while it seems.
 
I have two cars: a 1992 Saturn SL2 that I purchased brand new for about $13,900, and I recently purchased my uncle's 1999 Saab 93 turbo with 24,000 miles for $12,000. The Saturn is my "beater" car that I drive to work everyday, with 211,000 miles, a cracked windshield, a half-rotted muffler, and vengence for burning LOTS of oil. I drive the Saab on the weekends, hoping to catch a girlfriend or even a date with it, and occasionally to work when the Saturn misbehaves. No luck so far. Just kidding. The Saab (http://www.saabusa.com/) is fun [F A S T!] to drive. After owning this Saab since February, I'd have to say I really like it, the heated seats are mighty fine on cold Fall and Winter days. The Saab is a really solid well-made car, I'd seriously consider buying another, though I'd opt for the SE (Sports Edition) with the faster turbo charger.

My first car was a 1980 Volkswagen Scirocco. That was fun too, but it was very tiny inside, and didn't run well, if at all when it rained or dewed outside. I was constantly battling moisture getting inside the solenoid and distributor cap/points. This car nickeled and dimed me to death, constantly, every month, something would go wrong that prevented it from running. One of my uncles towed it over to his friend's house several times to work on it. That was the best gas mileage I ever got on that car (being towed).

Regarding the Saturn, I have a question. I recently turned on the headlights and only the left headlight works; when I turn on the brights, only the left side works. So I go to Murry's Deep Discount Auto Store and get new headlamps and the lights on the right side still don't work. Anyone have any suggestions that will cheaply remedy the situation? I just put new shocks and tires on the clunker because I drive 65 miles ONE WAY to work, yes I know, THAT sucks. But it's getting to be winter and I will leave for work and arrive home from work when IT'S DARK OUTSIDE, and I don't want to drive my new baby all that distance everyday, besides, driving 90 mph on the highway with the Saturn still gives me good gas mileage, not so with the Saab - it weighs twice as much as the Saturn.
 
Get a multimeter and see if there is voltage going to the head light wires, if there is no voltage one or both of the wires probably broke, rusted through, etc. Also check the connectors that touch the lamp, there may be corrosion on them, if this is the case, get some steel wool or good sand paper and rub it off, or just replace the connectors. If neither of those is the case, don't know what to tell ya.
 
You got a helluva deal on that SAAB. Auto or Manual?

If you're going to go all out on the next one, get a 9-3 Aero.
http://www.saabusa.com/main/US/en/model_intro_93s.xml
210hp, 6spd manual, 17" rims, aero body kit, etc...

My brother's 95 SL1 had a similar problem. We wound up replacing the headlight harness, as it had borke down over it's relatively short years. You don't want to know the cost of the harness, and definately not the install charge if you can't do it yourself.
 
The Saab is an automatic. :( But, it's the first automatic I've ever owned and it isn't bad. I really wish it was a manual, that is what of all my previous cars ever were.

My uncle has always had the Saab garaged, in fact, the last two years he owned it he only put on 4,000 miles! The car is very clean, well, it looks and rides like I drove it off the showroom floor. The part I like about the manual is this: "When the speed of the car reaches 143 mph or greater, the turbo charger wastegate opens completely. Any additional speed attained by the car is from the engine with the turbo charger disengaged." I've driven it on the highway at 110 mph, very smooth, in fact, if I wasn't looking out of the window, I wouldn't know I was driving that fast. No vibrations from the car, steering wheel, foot pedals, etc... You can't even hear the engine running at that speed (only if the you'r not accelerating hard).

Go here for this ebooklet download (40MB!):

http://ebooklet.saabusa.com/?source=whatsnew

A rather impressive automobile. I wish I could afford (a new) one.
 
Sounds very nice. Our Volvo had heated seats, too (and a moonroof!), but it wasn't worth keeping the car for those features.

Well, I took my car to the dealership the other day, and just from listening to it the guy said it's probably a hole in the catalytic converter or somewhere in the piping leading up to the muffler, which could cost from $400-1400. *Ouch* And to add insult to injury, someone hit-and-run it the other day at work. I came out after I clocked off and the car was skewed in the space, sitting at about a 30° angle in a 45° spot, and the left amber blinker casing was broken. So either someone hit it while backing out, or he hit it passing it by, and clocked the bumper and the light (you can't move a car that much and only break the light casing, unless you hit the bumper).

I talked to one of the security guards about it, and he said he was outside at the time (as in outside where the golf and racetrack is) and he didn't see it. Some kids told him that some guy hit a car and took off, and the guard talked to the manager about it, and when he came back the kids were gone, so I have no idea who it was. But that's going to cost pocket change next to the converter.

Anybody know a good place online to buy quality parts for cheap?
 
chemistry_geek, That's the beauty of Swedish (and German) engineering. The cars are a pleasure to drive. I'm sure everyone's heard BMW's tag line, well I totally agree with it. My boss drives a 98 M3...that car is so sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! I've had the opportunity to drive her many times, and I absolutely love it. He had some training in Cleveland last winter, and the forecast showed snow up there, so we swapped vehicles for the weekend. He took my Blazer (4wd), and I got his M3. It was SO HARD, let me tell you. I was so upset over the whole deal....<G>.



Arden, go get a second opinion on the exhaust. Seriously, that's so over priced it isn't funny. It shouldn't be more than $400 installed for a complete exhaust, from the cat to the tail pipe.

Since the car is an 86, I would go visit a place like CarX...you could probably get by there for around $150 to $200.

As far as the online parts, not for Toys. You're probably better off calling local salvage yards who specialize in imports.
 
Originally posted by mdnky
Arden, go get a second opinion on the exhaust. Seriously, that's so over priced it isn't funny. It shouldn't be more than $400 installed for a complete exhaust, from the cat to the tail pipe.

Since the car is an 86, I would go visit a place like CarX...you could probably get by there for around $150 to $200.

As far as the online parts, not for Toys. You're probably better off calling local salvage yards who specialize in imports.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm meeting my dad at Toyotech on Thursday to see what they can make of it. My mom suggested (for the light at least) we call a junkyard or something, since they'll surely have an old Camry with the same light covering just sitting somewhere.

I asked my dad about possibly getting one of those phatty mufflers, but he vetoed it. I can understand, though... he said he wants to keep it stock.
 
Arden, I think you ment to say "one of those mufflers that sounds like the car is farting".

Its called a fart pipe.

Ya know, a fart pipe will give ya an extra 25hp and those 'type R' decals give ya an extra 5hp each:D

Sorry, I hate ricers.
 
I'll be getting a Fart Pipe for my bike eventually - not for the 1.5hp (LOL!), but for the noise - my bike is just too quiet and busy intersections and big vehicles freak me out that people might not know I'm there.

For people on Cycles - Loud Pipes Save Lives!

Wonder how much speed I'll get out of the 1.5hps tho! LOL :p :D
 
I used to love messing with ricers...esp seeing their faces after getting their buts kicked by someone in a 4 door family sedan, a Volvo at that. It was priceless!

I did get to spank a riced Civic the other day with my Blazer...that is just plain sad. The kid thought he was big & bad, and had a problem with waiting his turn where a 4 lane merges to two...he found out otherwise with me and the truck behind me dusting him. Gotta love it.
 
LOL mdnky that's gotta be funny to watch! :)

I did it all the time in my Mustang - but then again that's no suprise really - well, execpt that you don't expect my car to have any power at all from the looks of it! lol. :D

Ricers are funny... And they think that all that crap and gigant stickers actually looks good? Sad...
 
Yup...love it. Just wait till I get the engine built the way I want it. It's 160hp now stock with 7psi boost. I plan on swapping in a 16v DOHC head, slight overbore, and a t3/04 turbo + adjustable EMS and other goodies. Dual stage NOS system may or may not be added. Regardless, she'll be a MONSTER! From the research I've done, 350 to 400 HP seems obtainable. Now at 160hp stock it'll run 0-60 in 7, 1/4 standing in 15. Not bad for a 4-door family sedan with an emphasis on safety, made in 1991. Quite a few guys I've meet with similar cars running slight mods are making 190hp, and runs in the 6sec 0-60 range with low to mid 14sec 1/4 times. Now what will the thing do with 350hp...? Hmn...

Best guess is low to mid 5 sec 0-60 times and high 12 sec quater mile times, maybe mid 12 if conditions are right. Now, add a 100hp NOS system and shave 1/2 second off that time if done right.

On a side note, did open the eyes of 2 Purdue guys when I ran to Indy's airport for the boss this summer, had his car.

Where I275 and I74 meet in Ohio there's a long almost full circle ramp. As I was coming out of it these guys were reving their engine behind me and you just new what they would do next. As it straightned out on the new highway they gunned it and tried to pass on the left.

They tried, but failed. :D Didn't even have to downshift...just mashed the gas at 35 in 3rd and let off at 90 still in 3rd, them a bit back.

Finally as they passed me, you could see the "awe" look. I don't think these guys really understood what they were messing with. We wound up at the same gas station about 20 miles north of that interchange, and one of them asked me. I told him about the car, and brought it into a Mustang lover's terms. 98 M3 will run with a 03 Cobra. So a 03 GT WILL NOT run with a 98 M3. Oh yeah, and a 03 M3 will spank a 03 Vette and run with a 03 Z06. Nuff said?

He was really embarrassed, and said if he ever saw a M on a BMW he'd be very hard pressed to mess with it again. Don't blame him.

The first Volvo (identical to my current one) has bested 2 93 GTs (one auto and one manual), and run neck and neck with a 96 manual. These were stock ones though. The guy in the 96 was really impressed, so was I at the time. This was at a closed course track also - safety first.
 
Heh... my Camry's little 4-banger has, like, no power. I can zoom ahead in 1st and maybe 2nd, but after that it takes a while to come up to speed.

I took the car to Toyotech today, and they actually lifted it up to listen, and the guy said it sounded like it was the exhaust pipe, which means I'll save oh, half an Apple monitor, maybe, on the catalytic converter.

Unfortunately, I put a scratch into the right side, the rear door and the panel behind it, on Tuesday when I was parking for Speech Night. I was in a rush, and the only spot I could find was between two big pickups, and the one on the right was facing the lot and had a grill attached to the front, which I believe I scraped. I didn't even notice until yesterday. However, we won't be repairing it anytime soon (it's only cosmetic) so my car will have a little more, um, "character."
 
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