Oh yeah?

I just saw a commercial that said the Dodge Caravan is better than the Toyota Sienna. This is a first on this blog, but I beg to differ. My Mom used to have a 1989 Plymouth Voyager, which for a while was in the shop every other week. Once in spring 1995, the van's computer had to be replaced. I don't know why it needed a computer, but it was in the shop for nearly a week. At the same time, a hole had been bored in the transmission fluid reservoir of my Dad's 1985 Oldsmobile Delta 88, which had never had problems like that. Ergo, we had no car. My parents rented a Geo Metro, which was good for a rental. That, along with Aunt Lesley owning a 1990 model, led to giving up the Olds and buying a 1995 Geo Prizm the following summer. Afterwards, the paint on the Voyager started chipping (turns out, all midnight blue Chryslers had that problem), the air conditioner gave out, and the driver's side automatic window stopped working. By 2000, we got a new Sienna which has only had a couple problems, namely an automatic window switch not working and one door not opening from the inside, but haven't required a visit to the shop (Dad won't take the time to take it anyway). If you think I'm demonizing all American cars, I'll tell you to look back at how the Olds had only one problem but it was getting old and my Mom currently has a 2002 Mercury Sable, which hasn't had any problems.

Anyway, back to my original point. I may be speaking from personal experience, but I don't know if I can trust those vans. Consumer Reports apparently says that only Japanese cars can be trusted, based on their data, but I don't know if I can trust them either. I'll just base any car I buy on price, fuel economy, and convenience. Or, I can move somewhere with public transportation comprised of different companies. For example, The Washington Metro has trains from an American company, an Italian company, a Spanish company, and a French company that has a factory in New York. If I was trying to get to work, I would be just fine with one of the American-made trains.

Anyways, my uncle is the owner of Peterson Toyota Jeep Chrysler Dodge, but I've also had a good experience with CarMax.