Q–My wife is short and concerned about the possibility of injury from a standard air bag. However, we feel that the reduced-impact (depowered) type air bag is far preferable to a cut-off switch.
Which moderately priced, small and medium-size cars offer depowered air bags? J.H., Batavia
A–Vehicles with depowered air bags typically will have a sticker on one of the side windows saying it offers depowered or second-generation air bags.
Your reasoning that reduced-impact bags are preferable to a cut-off switch is very wise and shows that rather than lock your car in a garage until a cutoff-switch is installed, as several people have done, you’ll get a car with depowered bags and get on with your life.
Q–A reader (K.K. of Glendora, Calif., Letters, May 24) wrote you about the uncomfortable seat in his ’97 Buick LeSabre. I have experienced an uncomfortable seat in my ’93 LeSabre.
I tried driving with a pad in the center of the driver’s seat. It worked so well I had a trim shop build up my seat at a cost of $130. I suggest K.K. look into a good automotive upholstery shop. B.H., La Grange
A–And next time he buys, test drive the vehicle for more than five minutes.
Q–I had a Cadillac I loved, a Buick Roadmaster I hated because it had terrible seats. Tell K.K. to dump the car, which is what I’m doing. G.B., Kankakee
A–That’s what we told him and to test drive the vehicle for more than five minutes the next time he buys.
Q–Your recent response to a reader looking for a car for his tall son was to put a sunroof in his car so his head sticks out.
Sticking a tall body from a sunroof only brings bugs in the teeth and a soaked scalp when it rains. B.J., La Grange
A–Bugs in the teeth and a soaked scalp. So what? Remember the kid is a teenager.
Q–Anything special to look for when buying a convertible? T.C., Naperville
A–Yes, if you drive with the top down, bring along a putty knife to scrape the bugs off your teeth and a towel to dry your wet scalp, unless, of course, you are a teenager.
When shopping for a new convertible it is important to test drive the car for more than five minutes–and to do so with the top up and down. Hop in with the top down, and you’ll love any convertible, but put the top up and often you’ll find side and rear vision extremely limited.
Also, you’ll find some convertibles are as noisy with the top up as with it down. You’ll tire of the racket rather quickly.
And put the top up and down on your own a few times to ensure that it’s easy enough for you to do alone without help undoing and refastening the latches and to ensure the top moves up and down properly.
If you can see the sky between the windshield and the top when the vinyl or canvas is up, you’ll want to make sure the dealer throws in a bar of soap and a washcloth because rain is going to be a constant companion.
Also check the rubber seals that meet the window glass along the sides. They should fit snugly.
A glass back window with defroster is preferable to plastic.
Finally, if torn between leather and cloth seats in the convertible of your choice, remember that along about mid-July, when you park and leave the top down, you will broast your butt the first time you get back in the car.
Q–Why, when you reviewed the Toyota Corolla (Cartalk, May 24) didn’t you compare it to the Chevy Prizm?
Aren’t they still twins? Which car do you prefer? How long will the Prizm remain the Prizm? H.K., Glencoe
A–Sorry, we didn’t compare it, and yes, they are still twins. We prefer whichever you can buy for less money because they basically are the same.
How long will Prizm remain Prizm?
Now that Cadillac got dibs on that great Escalade name, who cares what they call Prizm?
Q–My daughter bought an ’84 Plymouth Colt for $500 that needs a shifter. It’s been in the shop since October. Any hope? V.P., Summerdale, Ala.
A–Hope? Sure, providing the next time your daughter wants to buy an ’84 Plymouth Colt you advise her to use the money to have her head examined.
Are you looking for a shift lever or a transmission?
A transmission would cost you more than what the car is worth. Actually, a shift lever would cost you more than the car is worth.
The Colt was made for Chrysler by Mitsubishi, so contact a Mitsubishi dealer when looking for hard-to-find parts or components. You could check out junk yards, but we wouldn’t drive the Colt in without having title in hand to prove you own it when you drive it out.
Q–I saw a car on a recent trip down south that said Citation, which a friend of mine said was the name given to an old Chevrolet. Nice looking car. What happened? P.L., Skokie
A–Citation was a name first used on a model of the Edsel at Ford Motor Co. When that car died, Chevrolet figured it would be a waste of brand awareness to let the name sit and rot so it dug it up again.
However, someone suggested that calling a Chevrolet by the name Edsel probably wouldn’t do a Chevy any better than it did the old Ford product so they choose to use Citation, which also was the name of a famous race horse.
Citation, the car, was a front-wheel-drive X-body along with the Buick Skylark, Oldsmobile Omega and Pontiac Phoenix.
The cars were extremely roomy inside, but word began circulating that in panic situations the brakes would lock and the cars would spin like gyroscopes so GM discontinued them.
The X-body Citation was sold between the 1980 and 1986 model years.
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Send your questions about cars and trucks to Jim Mateja, Chicago Tribune, 700 N. Milwaukee Ave., Suite 135, Vernon Hills, Ill. 60061-1523.
