Coming out of hiding in reply to an off-topic rant: Back in 2000 the wife-type, who had been driving a 1994 Miata, decided her daily commute into St. Louis would be more comfortable in a larger car with an automatic transmission. We began test driving every single small sedan model under $25k on the market at the time. I am just slightly taller than average at 6'. Christie, for those of you who haven't met her, is significantly more petite than average at 5'. Finding a car both of us are comfortable in is not impossible, but takes a bit of effort. Much of the initial shopping was simply ruling out cars that didn't work for us. For example, VW got scratched off the list almost immediately because the back seats in both the Jetta and Passat were useless once I had the driver's seat where I wanted it.
The two biggest offenders, though, were Chrysler and GM because neither had figured out the ergonomics of short people. The Chrysler products we looked at, the Neon and maybe the Dodge Avenger, had decent enough ergonomics when it came to Christie being able to reach the controls comfortably, but the shape of the car prevented her from seeing out the rear window. If you'll recall, those cars had a wedge shape and the rear dash was very high. Every single GM car we looked at, regardless of model or make, was atrocious. Relative to all the other cars we tried, the dash was high, the driver's seat was low and the pedals were too far forward. Moving the seat forward enough that she could just operate the pedals meant the steering wheel was 2 or 3 inches from her chest. Visibility was also compromised. We haven't considered a GM product since. On a more on-topic note, I purchased a Q10 a few years back, packed it away at some point and forgot about it, but recently rediscovered it and have been dragging it around with me. On Sat, Jan 28, 2017 at 3:21 PM, Daniel J. Matyola <[email protected]> wrote: > I just need to vent a bit. > > I know Paul and others here are fond of GM cars, but based on my experience > the past 2 weeks I really wonder how Government Motors stays in business. > > Lee and I usually rent a compact car here in Maui: gas is expensive, and > parking spaces are tight. This year, however, our son accompanied us for > the first two weeks of the trip, and two friends will join us here for the > last week, so we needed a larger car with more luggage room. I therefore > asked Avis for an intermediate car, which is described as "a Nissan Altima > or similar." > > What they gave us instead is a Chevy Malibu. I can only describe it as > spectacularly mediocre. I can't remember when I have been less pleased > with a rental from Avis. > > At home we have a classic Mustang, a 2016 Kia Optima, a 10 year old Altima > and a 20 year old Optima. I have owned Buicks in the past. I am generally > not fussy about cars. > > The Mallibu seems to my eye to be slightly dated in style. In order to > give it the "sleek" look, however, they how removed a lot of head room from > the rear seat. Getting in the rear seat in awkward, and getting out damn > uncomfortable. Really not much better than trying to exit the rear "seat" > of the Mustang. > > Opening the trunk and the gas tank door are both unusual and tricky. I > don't think I have ever succeeded on the first try. The instruments are > part analog and part digital, and totally confusing. The electronics for > radio and cell phone are simply old fashioned. Even the seat belts are > difficult to operate. The trunk is adequate, but not what I had expected > from the size of the car. I am really wondering how I am going to get four > passengers and luggage for three into it when I take my wife and her > friends to the airport in a couple of weeks. > > I wonder why our government even thought it reasonable to bail out a > company which doesn't seem to understand what consumers want and need. > > End of rant. We now return you to our regular programming. > > > Dan Matyola > http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- Scott Loveless Camp Hill, PA USA http://www.twosixteen.com/fivetoedsloth/ __o _'\<,_ (*)/ (*) -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
