Recently I took my Buick Rendezvous in to have it undercoated and rust proofed. Since I’m obviously going to have to keep the ride at least another five years I decided to take care of it before rust started to happen. No, this isn’t a rant about how rust proofing/undercoating places are virtually non-existent, it is a rant brought on by my rental.
The difference in price between a full sized rental and a subcompact was roughly $5/day. Since I was only renting for a day I took the full size. No, I didn’t shop around. The car rental place was literally the next parking lot over from the detail place. I took it easy on my feet.
What I drove out of there with was a Mazda 6. Granted it was quite a culture shock to once again sit with my ass below my knees as so many cars seem to make you do these days. The bigger culture shock was remembering the last car I had which made me sit that way. It was a 1976 Buick Skyhawk Hatchback. This car was considered a downsized economy car back in the day. I had the distinct impression that I could have fit my entire Mazda 6 rental car in the cabin of that vehicle.
Today we are being sold tiny little vehicles and told they are “full sized”. Subconsciously we know better, but it still leaves us with a feeling of being screwed. Adding insult to injury we are being sold “full sized” cars which are supposed to get nearly 40MPG and actually get around 20 once we own them. My 1976 Buick Skyhawk got 20MPG whenever I kept my foot out of it and it was a much bigger ride.
We need to demand a full sized ride which is actually a full sized ride. Thankfully, we can still find many premium examples for sale on eBay and AutoTrader. The one I will focus on here is the Buick Roadmaster-Estate.
It is no wonder many of these cars are still around. They were worth taking care of. I know of many people who got 18-20MPG on a regular basis with these rides. They and their competitors were the ultimate family vehicle. When you flipped the seats down and opened the hatch you could slide a 4×8 sheet of plywood/drywall in. It would lay flat AND you could close the hatch without worry. In an era of HGTV and “do-it-yourself” type home improvement I’m not surprised to see many of these land yachts on the road and in great, if not mint, condition.
This brings me to the following question. Are we ever going to stand up and call a full sized car the compact it really is? Are we ever going to have an automaker with the guts to stick a modern power train in a shiny new Buick Roadmaster-Estate that is the same size as the original and NOT try to re-brand it as a cross over so they can charge $50K for it?
Come on people. Chrysler and a few other auto makers have V6 engines which crank out nearly 300hp without turbos. We now have 5, 6 and 8 speed transmissions, not to mention CVTs which can be hooked up to those engines and make a heavy car get nearly 30MPG as advertised. (Yes, none of us will actually get over 20 but we can’t expect everything to change.) Today we have carbon fiber for structural integrity and frames. CF is both lighter and stronger than steel in many cases. People who need 7 plus passenger rides stand in line to buy Jeep vehicles which get about 12MPG. How is it today’s automakers collectively believe nobody will flock to a station wagon that is the same size as the Buick Roadmaster-Estate? As long as it can still drive like a Buick and come fully loaded for under $30K it should feed a starving market.
In the mean time, I turned in my Mazda 6 rental. I drove away in my Rendezvous. I fought off the temptation to flip the rear seats down and put the Mazda in the back.
