Re: Asking the men and women who own one...

Posted by Eric Boyle On 2009/4/3 13:28:05

If it's an automatic car, drive it first and see how the transmission shifts. If it vibrates, shudders, feels like it's slipping, or just plain doesn't shift like it should, be prepared to shell out close to $3000 to get it fixed, but it will be fixed right. The engine is very simple, and if you have any mechanical inclination at all you can handle almost any problem that may arise. They are great cars, but better when they're manual transmission. (Based solely on my bias towards manual transmissions) The Ultramatic is a good transmission if you drive like your grandfather did back in the '50s. (Note: This does not apply to relatives of '50s racing drivers!) All the bad press that the Ultramatic gets is because people try to drive them like hot rods, and they're not. IMHO, they're a million times better than a comparable year Big 3 car.