[darkpuppet]

smith21,Apr 7 2010, 08:51 PM Wrote:hey steve, did you got a brief rundown on the car situation down there? My parents just got back from cuba and told me about their cars. One of their tour guides actually told them that the vehicles are passed down from parents to children but not till their like 25 or older or something along those lines, which is why there are so many older cars down there. Just a fact I'd see if you knew about...Btw, nice cars and I hope you had one hell of a vacation...
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Yup.. people in Cuba don't get much money, and things like new cars are allocated by the government. So the majority of the cars come from when people could afford them (pre-revolution), or when the government allocated them a car (ie, soviet era ladas).

there are a lot of newer cars, including peugots and fiats... however, the vast majority of them are government-owned cars now (rentals, taxis, government etc).

So, with what little money people have, they maintain whatever car they or their parents/grandparents had. Most of the american cars are now running engines the cars never came with (ie, diesel). In most cases, parents keep the car until their kids can afford to maintain/run them, and then pass them on.

I've got a lot of great stories -- we met a lot of great people down there, and can't wait to get back...

Meford,

Yes, we stayed in Veradero -- the Breezes Veradero, a resort we particularily like, though many others seem to think it's not quite the happening place they're looking for.

Las Americas lost their beach in a storm the week we were there (along with another resort, only three down from us). They actually trucked in sand to re-beach the beach.

I find you don't go to Cuba for the food... but that being said, we've had pretty good luck -- the food at our resort was decent, with a couple of the a la cartes really standing out (the lunch we had in havana was AMAZING).