Thanks to all

[gsl56]

Well this is my last post to this group. Unlike most I have had enough of owning a car that always need attention and money. I could have bought a boat and been happier. Both are a big hole you pour money into. Today I dumped the money pit and bought a 2008 Acura TL. Now maybe I can just add gas and drive. Good luck to all and thanks for your help.

 

[02V8Sport]

sorry to see a member with a whole 4 posts go. Good luck with your next venture.

 

[cammerfe]

Most new cars don't require much maintenance beyond oil changes. With 113K+ miles on my '02 I'm satisfied with my cost to own.
KS

 

[gsl56]

My 02 LS v8 in 69k miles had the trans valve body replaced once, rack an pinion and pump replaced twice, thermostat, valve cover gaskets, hyd fan motor, numerous steering bushings, Sunroof leaking now twice, new coils, air bag light now on. Thats just the bigger items. I have a GMC truck with 135K and have never had a issue other than normal wear and tear.

I liked the car but if this is Ford quality I am unimpressed.

 

[lseguy]

Good luck, but remember:
FWD=ghey

 

[napoleon1072]

Good luck, but remember:
FWD=ghey

 

[lseguy]

Okay..perhaps not "ghey"..but torque steer is thine enemy.

Classic example:
Nothing worse than being on a high speed traffic road, but stopped behind someone in the left lane, waiting for them to turn left. You want to go straight and not turn left, so you wait for the opening in the lane to the right of you..you see the opening but traffic is coming up fast so you simultaneously turn the wheel to the right while giving the car full throttle, then once you are in that next lane while still on the throttle, you have to turn the wheel back left very quickly to straighten the car out. Depending on traction and power, since the weight of the car has shifted towards the rear of the car and OFF of the drive wheels, you may have some wheelspin to deal with while you are fighting the torque of the steering wheel and trying to keep said unbalanced, torque steer laden car in a straight line.

Aarrgh! lol

 

[MMAFIGHTER121]

sounds to me like you were a victim of repair shop rapery more than ford problems...
i can never go back to FWD. my first car was FWD... the heavy/numbish feel of the steering. its always feels like the front wheels have to do so much more work when turning... mostly cuz they are.... but the understeer. the torque steer. the lack of the ability to do a REAL burnout. inability to do a little fun drifting around the occassional turn no. no mo FWD for me.

 

[milehighmikey]

That LS sounded like a real lemon. Good luck down the road, it should be a nice change to be in a neat car like that Acura. My friend has an RL and it's very cool to see some of the gadgetry in that ride. Things like a cruise control option that tracks the speed of the vehicle in front of you and maintains the same distance you select, regardless of the front driver's speed. Very cool stuff, since our cruise control we use on the LS and 98% of the rest of the cars on the road today only work if you are in the front of a line on the freeways.

As far as torque steer, I don't know what the Acura has, but I has a really neat Peugeot 405 Mi16 for many miles over 7 years, and it just would not die. When I decided an LS manual was in my future in january 2001, I was not able to get one until the 405 got rear-ended and totalled, in late june of that year. Anyhow, that car had almost zero torque steer due to the design of the front wheel drive half shaft lengths and how they were made to be of virtually equal length, although they were not equal in length. That said, driving rental cars on occasion brings me directly in touch with real torque steer issues, so I know that it can be present on low-cost vehicles even today.

 

[Aquabrit]

As far as torque steer, I don't know what the Acura has, but I has a really neat Peugeot 405 Mi16 for many miles over 7 years, and it just would not die.

Those Mi16s were pretty awesome back in the day. I recently gave my 205GTI 1.9 away. That car was also fwd and the best handling car i have ever owned - could drift easily with some lift off oversteer.

Not to say fwd is superior to rwd or anything like that, but some fwd cars can be very good. Some WRC rally cars are fwd, as are some touring cars.

 

[milehighmikey]

Those Mi16s were pretty awesome back in the day. I recently gave my 205GTI 1.9 away. That car was also fwd and the best handling car i have ever owned - could drift easily with some lift off oversteer.

Not to say fwd is superior to rwd or anything like that, but some fwd cars can be very good. Some WRC rally cars are fwd, as are some touring cars.

Exactly, I didn't post about the drifting aspects of that Mi16, but that car could actually oversteer like a RWD car. How it did that is beyond me, but it made it hard to believe the rear wheels were just along for the ride instead of pushing the car! Suffice it to say that the Peugeot FWD platform was very well engineered.