The Charger

[stef_tm]

I brought my 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid yesterday in for its 120K maintenance (only about 10K overdue) and rented a car as I had several meetings I needed to attend. There were two cars left at Enterprise – a Chevy Caliber and a Dodge Charger.

For a couple of bucks more I rented the Charger; a completely different driving experience than with my Honda.

Things I liked:

- Acceleration. My hybrid performs like this: 0 to 60? Yes.
- Lack of road noise
- Comfortable ride
- Decent stereo system

Things I disliked:

- Watching the fuel gauge move while I was driving. I drove less than 50 miles and must have used > 1/4 tank.
- Limited visibility. The size and placement of the windows were designed for aesthetics not functionality.
- Wiper controls – awkwardly placed on the steering wheel

The window/control placement dislike could be related to my height – I’m 5′2″. I suspect the average Dodge Charger driver is at least 5′8″.

American cars are improving slowly; listening to the News Hour yesterday, I found out that Toyota’s recent recall was its first involuntary recall. So far this year the Big 3 US automakers have had 32 involuntary recalls. There’s some room for continued improvement.

Comments

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

BOY is it good to hear from you.

Variety is good, if only to help us remember why we do what we do.

No, REALLY, it's good to see a post from you here. I've missed you greatly.

[stef-tm.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks so much. I have been reading but not commenting or writing very often. Trying to get back in the swing of things!

*hugs!

[jacflash.livejournal.com]

Charger isn't a bad car, but it's not great, and at this point it's several years old. If you want to check out the state of the art in American cars, try something like a Ford Fusion. They really don't have much to apologize for anymore.

[hunterxtc.livejournal.com]

Even though we are a Honda family, I've been keeping an eye on the progress of American cars as of late. I was driving down the highway the other day and saw the new Ford Taurus.. I mean god, the Ford Taurus used to be nothing but a junk car that people bought when they were sesperate... this new thing rocks it!