Grocery Cart Option

[JBNimble]

I have been new car shopping.

Why do so many cars have those goofy, utterly useless spoilers (grocery cart options) on the back? Is it to facilitate pushing them around when they break down?

Are most drivers high school dropouts? Who else needs such absurd decoration on a car?

Don't bother telling about how it helps the car hold the road. I believe that's rubbish for anywhere-near legal speeds. If someone knows otherwise, kindly specify how much downforce a particular factory-intalled spoiler adds to a particular car at a USA-legal speed (and the source of your information).

It's true that at above-legal speeds some spoilers have a significant effect. But that force is proportional to the square of the speed, and decreases rapidly at lower speeds.

Spoilers are ego boosters for superannuated juveniles.

Now -- I feel better.

[Fraoch]

I've been completely turned off car buying due to crap like this. None of the models really appeal to me, and there are big problems with the ones that do.

I'm looking for an affordable sports car, and there aren't any out there anymore. They've been replaced by SUVs and minivans. I'm particularly ****** off at Honda for getting rid of the Prelude, in particular.

So I'm left with:

Mini (too cutesy, doesn't perform well, expensive for what you get)
Nissan Sentra SE-R (nice, but it IS a Sentra)
Toyota Celica (styling far too ostentatious for me, base model doesn't perform well)
Subaru WRX (I hear there are big reliability and build problems, plus a huge turbo lag that means the thing only performs at high RPMs)
Nissan 350ZX (very, very nice, but impracticably small, and almost out of my price range)
Mazda RX8 (develops maximum horsepower at 9000 RPM - you'd have to get it screaming to get any performance at all. Plus Ford owns Mazda now and that sours it for me. And just try to get that rotary engine repaired at anything but a dealer...)
Honda S2000 (well, well out of my price range and I may not be buying Honda again anyway)
Hyundai Tiburon (I still can't think of this as a serious car or a serious car company...)

Forget anything by Ford, Chrysler or GM. They are far, far behind the above models in quality and reliability. I won't be buying from the Big Three in my lifetime.

And BMW, Mercedes, Audi and VW are far too expensive and unreliable.

I had planned on buying a new car this spring, but given the lack of options, forget it. I'll hang on to my current drive until it breaks.

Dang, I wish I was shopping for stuff like this in the '70s. High reliability, cheap, fast cars, and lots to choose from.

[BoWevil_abx]

Excellent rant!

Test drive a Volkswagen Jetta with the 1.8 turbo. The acceleration is astounding.

[JBNimble]

More on the GROCERY CART OPTION:

Spoilers reduce visibility to the back.

Spoilers collect dirt where they meet the trunk (boot in UK).

Some spoilers are rust starters from water trapped between the spoiler & the trunk.

For THOSE "features" you pay extra.

Just to prove yours is bigger.

[Deliriou5?]

Have u looked at the mitsubishi EVO or the WRX STI. both have large spoilers but i think u can justify it with an all wheel drive car that puts out 300 ponies stock.

On anything less it kinda looks rediculous.

[Nefarious]

Personally I hate spoilers. They just spoil the car! I think they add more drag than downforce!

[keitaro-]

Originally posted by Fraoch
I've been completely turned off car buying due to crap like this. None of the models really appeal to me, and there are big problems with the ones that do.

I'm looking for an affordable sports car, and there aren't any out there anymore. They've been replaced by SUVs and minivans. I'm particularly ****** off at Honda for getting rid of the Prelude, in particular.

So I'm left with:

Mini (too cutesy, doesn't perform well, expensive for what you get)
Nissan Sentra SE-R (nice, but it IS a Sentra)
Toyota Celica (styling far too ostentatious for me, base model doesn't perform well)
Subaru WRX (I hear there are big reliability and build problems, plus a huge turbo lag that means the thing only performs at high RPMs)
Nissan 350ZX (very, very nice, but impracticably small, and almost out of my price range)
Mazda RX8 (develops maximum horsepower at 9000 RPM - you'd have to get it screaming to get any performance at all. Plus Ford owns Mazda now and that sours it for me. And just try to get that rotary engine repaired at anything but a dealer...)
Honda S2000 (well, well out of my price range and I may not be buying Honda again anyway)
Hyundai Tiburon (I still can't think of this as a serious car or a serious car company...)

Forget anything by Ford, Chrysler or GM. They are far, far behind the above models in quality and reliability. I won't be buying from the Big Three in my lifetime.

And BMW, Mercedes, Audi and VW are far too expensive and unreliable.

I had planned on buying a new car this spring, but given the lack of options, forget it. I'll hang on to my current drive until it breaks.

Dang, I wish I was shopping for stuff like this in the '70s. High reliability, cheap, fast cars, and lots to choose from.

try looking at the infinity G35, there is both a coupe, and sedan...its the same engine as the 350z, and its the same block as the skyline(found only in Japan)



also

i am a gear head aswell...some cars looks great with spoilers and some just are ugly ****..i gota say the rsx and integras look great w/ spolier...but some cars are just ugly liek ****....for a spoiler to be on a car, it depends on the car...

[Fraoch]

I forgot about Mitsubishi (they're new here in Canada) but I've heard really bad things about the Eclipse, although it looks great. See DeadEclipse.com.

I never even thought about Infiniti but their name usually means big $$$. However they are supposedly quite reliable. I'm not sure if the WRX STI is available in Canada, and even if it was, it would be big $$$ too. (Heck, the regular WRX is pushing the $40K mark). I'm not sure I like the WRX styling, but the all-wheel drive and the car's passenger and trunk size are very practical.

The Acura RSX is a nice piece of steel but is outperformed by the Nissan Sentra SE-R and just about everything else I mentioned.

A really good guide for car buying in Canada is the Lemon-Aid car guide. It's listing of the WRX is positively scary. The car has very poor and even dangerous braking performance. When I was last shopping for cars, this guide was very accurate and I agreed with it totally after looking at the models and test driving a chosen few.

There are just no real decent performers under $35K. And there used to be, adjusted for inflation, of course.

If I had the bucks, the ultimate car for me would be the Acura NSX. <drool> They're $143K though.

[Protoplasm72]

Some high end sports cars have retractable spoilers that extend at about 70mph because they are basically useless at lower speeds than that.

Fraoch, you should look at a Pontiac (I know it's GM). I have a grand prix, my sister is on her second grand am, one of my friends is on her second grand am, and another one just bought a new grand prix gtp. We all love them and haven't had any major problems and very few minor ones.

[Sierra_abx]

Originally posted by JBNimble
Why do so many cars have those goofy, utterly useless spoilers (grocery cart options) on the back? Is it to facilitate pushing them around when they break down?

Are most drivers high school dropouts? Who else needs such absurd decoration on a car?

I guess you wouldn't be interested in buying this car. And no, it's not mine. Love the paint job.

[Nefarious]

Originally posted by Fraoch
I fI'm not sure if the WRX STI is available in Canada, and even if it was, it would be big $$$ too. (Heck, the regular WRX is pushing the $40K mark). I'm not sure I like the WRX styling, but the all-wheel drive and the car's passenger and trunk size are very practical.

Yup! there made in Canada. I've seen quite a few downtown. Personally I love the STi, they look awsome (except for the spoiler)

[Fraoch]

Originally posted by sierra_bound
I guess you wouldn't be interested in buying this car. And no, it's not mine. Love the paint job.

Hmm...wonder what kind of shape the engine's in. Ricers usually trash their engines.

[Nefarious]

Originally posted by sierra_bound
I guess you wouldn't be interested in buying this car. And no, it's not mine. Love the paint job.

I bet it's not

[Fraoch]

Protoplasm, have you had any paint problems with the Grand Prix?

I've heard a few horror stories from seperate acquaintances of nearly complete delamination in less than 2 years.

JBNimble, sorry about the thread hijacking here. I totally agree with you, spoilers are ridiculous. Particularly those 2-foot-tall ricer ones.

[Sierra_abx]

On a more serious note, something that hasn't been mentioned here is resale value. What good is a car that's worth next to nothing after 4-5 years? The Kelley Blue Book took a look at 2004 models and predicted which ones would have the highest resale value percentage-wise after 2 and 5 years.

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