MAKE AND MODEL

“I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?” (Jeremiah 2:21 New International Version)

“Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?” (Jeremiah 2:21 King James Version)

“Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before Me
Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?” (Jeremiah 2:21 New King James Version)

The word I’m highlighting in the above passage is “reliable” and I had to go to the New International Version to find “reliable” used rather than “right seed” or “of highest quality”. God used that term about Israel, and I’m taking it totally out of context here in talking about cars!

The North American auto buying public has been shaken over the past week or so. The company that has the reputation for producing the most “reliable” cars is Toyota. You probably know that a large number of late model Toyotas of various years and models have been recalled due to a gas pedal problem. It seems that on these particular models, when the cars have high mileage (I’m not sure what they consider “high” certainly they’d mean well over 50,000 miles) the gas pedals can have a tendency to stick and to cause the cars to essentially take off like rockets and become extremely dangerous. There’s a massive recall going on and Toyota is fixing the problem.

In doing a little bit of research for this post, I tried to find out the meaning of the Japanese word, “Toyota”. I’m still not sure of the meaning, but I learned that the car was named after family name of the founding family of the company. THAT name is not “Toyota” but rather “Toyoda”. The family called the car “Toyota” because in Japanese writing the characters for “Toyota” are made with eight is a lucky number in Japan and so they felt this would be “lucky” for the Toyota automobile make. Well, after this gas pedal thing, so much for luck!!

Lest anybody think I’m “dissing” Toyotas, I’m not. In fact, they’re excellent cars. I’ve never owned one, but I would not be at all opposed to owning one someday. I’ve heard that “traffic” into the Toyota showrooms has slowed down and that Ford and General Motors dealers are trying to capitalize on that. Well, that’s capitalism, and one can’t blame Ford and G.M. for trying to get customers into their showrooms. In fact, it’s a huge myth that “all” cars of certain makes are junk and “all” cars of other makes are wonderful. Almost every major car company has built some outstanding makes and models and some horrible makes and models. Pontiac gave us the dreadfully ugly Aztec and gave us the amazingly cool GTO. Ford Motor Company designed and produced the Mustang, one of the most popular cars in history, and the Edsel, one of the least popular. Chrysler’s Eagle Premier was a first-rate dud, but their Dodge Caravans have continued to be huge sellers.

The 1989 Volkswagen Golf I’ve been driving for almost ten years is very sick and may not be around much longer so I may soon be driving something different. My father didn’t consider the make all that important. In his day, he owned a Pontiac, a Dodge, several Volkswagens, a Chrysler convertible, and several Chevrolets.

Back to Toyotas. They have a reputation for being very reliable. In fact, they ARE. I have a retired mechanic friend named Bill. According to Bill, the very best late model cars are made by Toyota, and that includes Scion and Lexus which are also built by Toyota. In a very close second place is Honda who also makes Acura. My sister is a loyal Honda customer. She drives a Honda Civic and LOVES it. Bill the mechanic says the best “traditionally American” cars are made by Ford Motor Company, although they’re not as good as Toyotas or Hondas. You probably know Ford includes Mercury and Lincoln. Chrysler and G.M. both get a bad rap right now, and both are technically (well not technically, actually) owned by the U.S. Government. I know a lot of people won’t touch anything from Chrysler of G.M. with a ten foot pole. However, I’ve got a soft spot for the Chrysler minivans. I know- minivans are extremely uncool. They ARE very uncool, but they are also pretty practical. Chrysler (and that includes Dodge) invented the minivan. I still think they do a great job with them. We have an old (2000) Dodge Grand Caravan. They newer ones (from around 2006 and up) are MUCH better engineered. The seats that fold right into the floor are a great idea.

So, if you’re looking to buy a car, check out Consumer Reports and talk to friends, but don’t fear buying a Toyota...they really ARE reliable!