Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Altus, Oklahoma

Altus, OK Car Consumer Discussions

Re: In some ways... [rockylee]

by fwdbuilder on Sun Mar 19 17:59:43 PST 2006

The first FWD I drove was a '68 Olds Toronado,('66 was their first year) AND I fell in love with them almost immediately, but did not own one until my '73 Toronado. I too am from the north country where snow and ice cover roads are the norm much of the winter(northern Iowa / Minnesota country roads that is). My dad was utterly amazed at the capabilities of my '73 Toro -- going places in both the winter month and summer months that all my dad's traditional RWDs never ever thought of going. I'd crank up the rear air shocks n take off across the pasture to pick up a new calf, etc. After marriage and kids, the 2-door Toro soon became obnoxious for getting kids in n out of the back . . . so I began asking why detroit was not building a FWD sedan! I was pooh poohed at every turn . . . that the Toronados and Eldorados were just a fad that would soon pass --- yeah, right! I did get my wife a '78 Honda wagon, but though I could manage to squeeze myself inside of it, was simply not pratical for this 6'2" cowboy. Anyway, after going to fly for the USAF and moving to Mather AFB (Sacramento CA), I finally decided that if GM wouldn't build a bigger FWD, I would. I checked various GM engineering journals, walked junk yards to do some measuring, bought a '75 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon with a good body and went to work over my one week 1982 Christmas break. Within the week I had taken the front of my '73 Toro and joined it to the rear of the '75 Custom Cruiser --- in a garage on Mather AFB, my '73 Toronado Cruiser was born! Yeah, I had people thinking I was crazy . . . but I've lost track of how many folks asked if I'd build them one; and others that have tried to buy it from me. I still have it. It is ALL Toronado up front (frame from torsion bar cross member forward) including the doghouse (fenders, hood, and bumper) with the Toronado axle fitted to the wagon's leaf springs. The Toro's flat floorboard was cut out and put in to replace the wagon's obnoxious tranny hump,as well as the drive shaft tunnel and rear differental flattened in the back. The wheelbase increased 7" and the ride reflects it. Later after PCSing to Altus AFB OK, and then back up to the family farm I ran it over the local feed elevator scales. Empty weight was an even 6000 lbs.! After a little research with GM, I realized I had used the heaviest of each models' production years --'73 the heaviest for the Toro and '75 the heaviest for the CC! What bugs me is that its 455ci engine gave 20+ mpg in the Toronado (5200+ lbs) and even in the wagon configuration at 6000 lbs. gives 17-18 mpg. Pray tell me why has "Detroit" not been able to give us better gas mileage over 30 years later!!! They're putting out lighter cars, smaller engines AND still have not significantly increased the mpg -- lbs to Hp ratio! The wagon served our family extremely well -- going through snow on more than one trip right along with the 4 X 4s on the road. I always carried chains -- the norm for northern climates, but only had to put them on a couple of times (back country roads). As to torque steer, perhaps due to vehicle weight, I was never bothered by it. I will say however, that anyone switching from RWD to FWD needs to realize some basic differnces when it comes to operational characteristics. For example, do NOT let up going into an icey (or wet) curve! Anticipate it and then maintian or accelerate slightly through it. I couldn't begin to recall all the times that FWD saved me/us while on the road --- from being able to "pull" me out of potentially dangerous situations -- with better directional control, to just plain being able to keep going on nasty roads when others were stuck spinning their tires! I've pulled heavy loads cross country with no problems whatsoever. I will NEVER, NEVER buy another RWD vehicle! Although, that said, I do have '70 Cadillac hightop ambulance (all original) that I've considered joining up with my '78 Eldorado, but not sure I want lto ose its "all original" resale value. My current "every day" car is a '90 Olds Ninety Eight TS with 203+K miles and contemplating a '95 Cadillac Concours with 72K miles. No, I will NEVER buy another RWD -- they're simply too limiting! FYI, my parents still have a '90 Lincoln Cartier which I've driven cross county - I was not impressed --- give me back my big ol' GM FWD! Bottomline, to each their own . . . though perhaps I do need to really put the Concours through the paces before I get serious about it. Anyone have any comments specific to the Concours handling -- could the suspension stand to be tightened up? FWDBuilder - Bruce

Re: Prices: Sienna vs Honda [cashopper]

by str on Tue Aug 09 20:56:50 PDT 2005

Ok, the post #5820 is the van we bought that's before we made the deal, we ended up getting it for 27,749 (close to, don't have the paper in front of me, whatever I told Ian or irg on post #5828) after rebate, before taxes (they were around 1,045.00.) Putnam Toyota Altus. Post # 5794 Sienna XLE pkg #6 MSRP 34,795 price quote 30,954 was from Northcutt Toyota in Enid Oklahoma. Post # 5798 2005 Honda Odyssey EX-L 27,232 was from Steve Baily Honda in Oklahoma City. They also quoted the EX for 25,500. Pre-owned Honda Odyssey EX-L 19,000 miles silver with grey leather 26,000.00 was Hudiburg Midwest city Ok, or may be under Oklahoma City. Any others that you want to know about just let me know, I'll do my best to get you the info! By the way, I have some other LE with leather and XLE quotes if you are interested, some are pretty good. I actually printed a few off of my email to take with me to the dealer in case I needed them. I'll look them up if you want me to, the rest have been deleted.

Re: Prices: Sienna vs Honda [cashopper]

by str on Tue Aug 09 07:24:03 PDT 2005

Hey cashopper, This price includes everything but taxes. I am still working on the dealer about including the ttl (van hasn't come in yet), he is great, the whole group of guys we worked with are wonderful and extremely accommodating. The dealership is located in Altus Oklahoma the name is Putnam Toyota. Also, these guys are very patient, I've been working with them on and off about the XLE thing since June and they have done everything I have asked them to do research wise and they explored every option during my van search in order to get me the best package with the lowest price. I know for a fact they quoted me some really fair prices because I was also receiving email quotes from 6 other dealers at the same time and they were the best. The sunroof and wood dash are being added after they get the van but they send it to a professional to get this done so it takes a little longer to get the vehicle. You cannot order an LE from the factory with wood or sunroof, and I am pretty sure leather either but you might want to check on that one to make sure. I told the dealer the features I was looking for and the price range I wanted to stay within and he found the right one within one day. We had only considered the XLE because of leather, wood and sunroof but with all of the features we wanted the package was 36,000. One dealer quoted me 30,900 with the July rebate but it was still 3,000 more than the LE Putnam found for me. If you contact Putnam tell them Summer sent you. They may run screaming since I have been hounding them for the past three months, you never know! :P Just kidding we have actually had a very pleasurable experience with these guys. Let me know what you find, good luck, Summer

B-47

by hasel on Thu Oct 02 08:22:56 PDT 2003

There is a RB-47 sitting downtown Altus Oklahoma.

This was the very beginning of my taurus problems started at 12,000 miles back in 1998

by tammycampbell8 on Wed Mar 21 08:46:08 PST 2001

I am a owner of a 97 model Taurus that had problems with the rack n pinnon, stablizer links, motor mounts separations, struts, oil pan gasket, door sensors, and the last thing is the tranny slipping. When taking my car to another dealer just for the rack n pinnion, stablizer links, struts, motor mounts, oil pan gasket (this was a 2 week repair job), I had found out that the 1st dealer that had been making attempts at repairing my car, left my car is awful shape. Most of them parts was either lose, or gonna fall off. I had to go one step ahead of the 1st dealer and contact Ford Motor Co, the 1st dealer evently got to where they refused to look at the suspenion in my car. Once I contacted FORD, and started a dispute settlement on my taurus, Ford had paid for the taurus to be sent to another dealer, where my experience changed from BAD to GOOD. Ford Motor Co and this Billingsy Ford of Lawton, Oklahoma treated us like we was Kings. But we learned our lesson about this BAD dealer in Altus, Oklahoma. Unforunately the state of Oklahoma has no Lemmon law that protects consumers from BAD DEALERS. My suspension was repaired, and any other problems that came about the Taurus went right back to Billingsley of Lawton. There is GOOD ONES out there, and there are BAD ONES. But unforunately there are no warnings on these BAD ONES prior to encountering them, I think there should be a board for consumer protection against Dealer that are BAD They are the greatest.

Windstar and Taurus 96-97 had similiar problems them 2 yrs

by tammycampbell8 on Wed Mar 21 08:41:36 PST 2001

I am a owner of a 97 model Taurus that had problems with the rack n pinnon, stablizer links, motor mounts separations, struts, oil pan gasket, door sensors, and the last thing is the tranny slipping. When taking my car to another dealer just for the rack n pinnion, stablizer links, struts, motor mounts, oil pan gasket (this was a 2 week repair job), I had found out that the 1st dealer that had been making attempts at repairing my car, left my car is awful shape. Most of them parts was either lose, or gonna fall off. I had to go one step ahead of the 1st dealer and contact Ford Motor Co, the 1st dealer evently got to where they refused to look at the suspenion in my car. Once I contacted FORD, and started a dispute settlement on my taurus, Ford had paid for the taurus to be sent to another dealer, where my experience changed from BAD to GOOD. Ford Motor Co and this Billingsy Ford of Lawton, Oklahoma treated us like we was Kings. But we learned our lesson about this BAD dealer in Altus, Oklahoma. Unforunately the state of Oklahoma has no Lemmon law that protects consumers from BAD DEALERS. My suspension was repaired, and any other problems that came about the Taurus went right back to Billingsley of Lawton. There is GOOD ONES out there, and there are BAD ONES. But unforunately there are no warnings on these BAD ONES prior to encountering them, I think there should be a board for consumer protection against Dealer that are BAD They are the greatest.