Neutral: Is Fiat Chrysler Smart To Kill Off The Cheaper Caravan?

I have the pickup version. A ‘95 S10. It needs new valve seals, so it blows a puff of blue smoke upon startup. I have to add oil to it once a year or so (I only drive it 2,000 miles a year since it is a spare vehicle). But it never fails to start. The ol’ 4.3 just keeps on going. One of the toughest motors ever.

I was thinking mostly overall size. I know the 2017 Explorer is bigger overall.

I got into an argument with my wife’s grandmother along these lines. I said I find it kinda amazing that my car (2016 Mazda6) can do 40 MPG on the highway. She said “That’s not amazing, at all. I had a Ford Escort in the early ‘80s that got 40 MPG all the time.” I then said “Yeah, but if you wrecked that, you’d have…

It’s amazing how far engineers have come with designing safety features and crash protection. That Tsuru isn’t a super old design (I remember that generation Sentra being new here in the States), but it just fell apart in that crash. Insanity.

The entire Mitsubishi lineup.

Mazda survives by partnering with larger automakers as it has done in the past. Mazda isn’t looking for Toyota-like sales volumes. They are too small to handle that, anyway.

My former car, a 2008 Mazda3 S Touring hatchback, had “2.3" badges on its doors. I promptly removed them.

Just watched the crash test.

That is true! I didn’t think about that.

My first car was a ‘92 Chevrolet Beretta. Base model with the 2.2 four-cylinder and 3 speed auto. Here’s a test of a ‘91 GTZ Beretta:

Red? ‘80s? Mazda? Manual?

I pointed that out while we were watching the show this weekend and my wife rolled her eyes at me. Oh, to be a Jalop.

Did some research on whether our cars have Takata airbags (and just haven’t been recalled yet), and Mazda has a blurb on their website in bold print: “PLEASE BE ADVISED: NO 2016 MAZDA PRODUCT HAS TAKATA AIRBAGS.”

Just got one yesterday saying the warranty on my 2016 Mazda6 is about to expire. And my service contract hasn’t been activated so I need to call ASAP.

My POS-10. It’s a ‘95 4.3 4x4 with 170k on it. We don’t drive it much but it does come in handy at times, for sure. And it has a few little things wrong with it but still runs and drives just fine. Needs valve seals so it smokes a bit at startup, but the 4.3 pulls just has hard as it always has - which reinforces the…

What happens when a guy picks up lady of the evening, has his way with her in the car, gets out, and then the car is sent to my wife and child to pick them up? No thanks.

Alissa, you're nothing if not consistent. :)

March 2015. We got about six inches of rain and I parked at my friend’s dad’s garage and got the front two tires of my former car (‘08 Mazda3) stuck in the grass. Apparently, I was too close to the edge of the driveway. I literally felt the car sink as I put it in park.

So much yes.