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Hey Joris-
Think of Volvo brakes- excellent capability, discs all around, simple enough for an idiot like me to fix. Then think about America's rear brakes- Drums that rust-weld themselves on about 10 minutes after they're installed. Then, when you get them off, you find about 25 tiny rusted parts, half of which break, the other half you'll lose!
An example of GOOD American engineering would be my $500 1970 Dodge Dart with a Slant-6. Even in Europe these motors MUST be famous. Kept this car going for 3 years with constant abuse and half a socket-set. She was retired via accident with a spritely 200K. My father has an '84 Dodge van (same type of motor) that he recently retired with 600K. An example of BAD American engineering would be my $1300 Olds Cutlass Ciera (2.8 liter FWD). TWO WEEKS after I signed the papers, the tranny exploded. Literally. Replaced the tranny, two weeks later the camshaft came apart while I was cruising at 60 MPH.
Once, I was given an '89 Ford Escort with 80-90K. Lasted about a month. My best friend was given an '82 Volvo wagon with 300K+. Lasted a year.
Matt
1978 Volvo 244 (Katharine)
1984 Volvo 244 (Gretchen, RIP)
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