Your vehicular history....

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 7:33 pm

only two cars for me since getting my license in '94...

1989 Pontiac Sunbird
2005 Acura RSX

i just paid off my RSX a couple months ago and will probably wait at least a year or two before getting my next car...really tempted to get some time behind the wheel of a new Infiniti G37x AWD Coupe though...

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 10:31 pm

Kelric wrote:This.

That was mine too during the 10 years that I didn't have a car of my own. But my Miata does a lot better on Vermont Rte 100.

bonefish27 · Post by **bonefish27** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:49 pm

Since I started driving in 1980:
73 Chevy Nova - parents car
79 Dodge Omni 024 - ugh
90 Geo Storm - my first new car. I kept it for 17 years
98 Mercury Mystique
08 VW GTI

Kelric · Post by **Kelric** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:55 pm

Ironrod wrote:
Kelric wrote:This.
That was mine too during the 10 years that I didn't have a car of my own. But my Miata does a lot better on Vermont Rte 100.

There is that.

Trey · Post by **Trey** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 11:57 pm

1989 Dodge Caravan (bought in 1996 from my dad, packed everything I owned and moved from Texas to DC in 1996, gave it to Salvation Army eventually)
- bought in 1996 from my dad.
- packed everything I owned into it and moved from Texas to DC shortly after
- eventually donated to the Salvation Army because I never drove it, because I got ...
1991 Honda Nighthawk 750
- bought in 1998, drove it from NC back to DC the day I bought it
- went cross-country on this in 1999
- still have it
1998 Honda VFR800
- bought it slightly used on 9-9-1999
- more or less my sole transportation from 2000 to 2007, including winter in DC
- still have it, recently put a new suspension on it plus hard luggage for touring
2007 Ducati 1098
- bought it in 2007 with cash (ever held $15000 in your hand?)
- drove it back from NC to DC the day I bought it (weird symmetry with the nighthawk)
- totalled it like 3 months later. Time spent with the broken arm convinced me I should get 4-wheeled transportation again...
2000 Ford Ranger, crappy 4cyl engine
- absolute POS bought in early 2008 off eBay.
- cost me like $2K in repairs in the few months I had it
- was happy to be rid of it and traded it in for...
1998 Dodge Dakota 5.8L V8
- Bought it in mid-2008
- My first ever vehicle with power windows or locks!
- gets awful gas mileage (like, 12mpg on a good day) but that's ok since I don't drive it much. It's mostly for short grocery runs, hauling motorcycles around and helping people move
2008 Ducati 1098
- bought it in late 2007. Walked into the dealership with my arm in a cast and an insurance check in my back pocket
- has the aftermarket exhaust on it that I had bought for the previous Ducati but hadn't received yet at the time I totalled it, ridiculously loud.
- ridiculous torque. Feels like it will rip your arms out of their sockets when you pop the throttle open.

mori · Post by **mori** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 12:16 am

bonefish27 wrote: 79 Dodge Omni 024 - ugh
:

I had the same car. Mine was silver and black. They were cheap, poorly constructed vehicles, but till this day I have never driven a better handling front-wheel drive car. The VW engine was long stroke, low RPM, but it did pull out of the corners. I had the Omni first but I bought a Horizon a couple of years later and made some bastardization between the two. I kept that car running about 50k miles longer than they ever dreamt of achieving. I think the final version died at ~160k miles with CV joint failure.

Z-Corn · Post by **Z-Corn** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 7:06 am

1974 VW Super Beetle - I had this before I had my license.
1976 Malibu Classic - After the Bug's engine blew up...I didn't have the $300 to replace that engine!
1984 VW Golf - After High School, first car I had to make payments on.
1981 Audi 1000 - Right after I got married, we were poor...
1991 Jeep Wrangler - My first new car!
1999 Saturn - Leased
2002 Saturn - Liked the first one enough to lease another.
2005 Jeep Wrangler - We missed the first one so much we bought another new one. Better engine, better 4WD guts, same color as the first! My wife drives this now.
2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee - We bought this when we decided we needed two cars. I drive this now.

I want a Cadillac or some other big, old man car next. And I like the Grand Cherokee a lot, so we'll get something like that again. And we'll always keep the Wrangler for weekend driving...

bonefish27 · Post by **bonefish27** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 9:49 am

mori wrote:The VW engine was long stroke, low RPM, but it did pull out of the corners.

My Omni couldn’t get out of its own way. Maybe it was because I was used to the V8 Nova or because it was an automatic, but the gas pedal seemed to work more as a volume knob for the engine than to accelerate the car. Flooring the pedal was like turning an amp up to 11.

WPD · Post by **WPD** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 10:18 am

Me:
198? Nissan Stanza- hand-me-down from my dad to my brother to me
1996(?) Nissan Altima- hand-me-down from my dad to my brother to me
2000 Toyota Camry- hand-me-down from my dad to me

My wife:
2000 VW Jetta- After $5000 in repairs over a year and a suspect radiator we traded it in for $5000
2009 Mazda3- Fun.

Jiffy · Post by **Jiffy** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 11:08 am

2001 Ford Taurus - Bought this used in 2005 as my first car. Got a great deal on it, and it ran well until late 2008. In November/December 2008, started getting serious issues with the coolant not circulating properly, leaking oil and coolant, the coolant leaking into the oil, and the engine overheating. $500 later the car was fixed. In March of 2009, I decided to buy a new car after my company got purchased (and saved from bankruptcy). On the first lot I looked at new cars, my trusty old Taurus failed to start (first time it ever did that). At that point, I knew it was time for a new car...

2009 Mazda 3 GT - Bought brand new in March of 2009, as they were clearing these out for the new 2010 models, which Canada started getting in late February. I was very much disappointed with the exterior restyling of the Mazda 3 for 2010, so while the interior was even nicer, I couldn't drive a car with a goofy grin on the front. I lucked out and the local dealership had exactly the car I wanted (as no more 2009 Mazda 3s were being made), and made the purchase shortly after. I will say though, I had a ton of fun test driving all the different cars I could find. It made me appreciate how old and clunky my Taurus was by now.

Moggy123 · Post by **Moggy123** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 12:56 pm

Jiffy wrote:I will say though, I had a ton of fun test driving all the different cars I could find.

Me too when I was shopping for (what turned out to be) the Vanquish.

I don't care who you are, you can't help but grin when you floor a Lambo...

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 1:44 pm

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 2:50 pm

1980 Cutlass Supreme - Loved this car. Removed radio and never got around to putting another in. Left it with Octavious230 while at college. He first proceeded to allow friend to twist radio wires together at random leading to dashboard fire. Then he managed to drive it on 7 out of 8 cylinders until car non-functional. Oh well, $1000 car, what can you do.

1994 Toyota Corolla - Had choice of a manual Camry or the automatic Corolla. Was heading back to school, so didn't want to have to learn stick on short notice. Eventually sold for a couple of thousand to be shipped overseas to eastern europe somewhere.

1996 Toyota Corolla - Nice car, eventually got rear ended by dope too busy playing with his radio, and the car was never really the same after that. I was literally 250 feet from my driveway when it happened. It went on to two more rear-endings (100% stopped all three times with other drivers just not paying attention). Later one of Octavious230's dopey friends jump kicked the front of the car leaving significant dent. Between that and the rear-endings, I took it to be cursed and donated it to charity.

1999 Nissan Altima - Liked this car quite abit, but had a nightmare of a day when I bought it. I first was convinced by prior girlfriend to put a deposit down on a Green Ford Escort. I didn't like it, but she thought it was a good deal. In fact, so good that I couldn't just walk away because someone was definitely going to snatch it up. Seeking to shut her up, I wrote a check, but wanted to keep shopping around that day. Eventually settled on the Altima and went back to original dealer to get deposit back. Immediately after getting my check back from them, I went outside and the Altima wouldn't start, which led to wise-cracking from the salesman about the lemon I bought. After about an hour of reading the manual, I found out that I had used the trunk only key and locked out the security system. It was pretty embarrassing, but it pointed out that I made the right call not dealing with them. They were beyond slimy.

Eventually, I cracked the block driving at night. I hit a sizable rock that had --likely-- rolled off a hill near the road. Drove it until the engine failed. A new engine would have been more than the blue book cost and I decided to write it off. I donated it to be used in a training exercise for EMTs.

2006 Nissan Altima - Current car with approximate 85K miles on it. A fun car to drive, and it had a lot of features that made it stand out. Sirius, 6 CD in car changer, excellent sound system, all-leather interior, etc. I'm thinking of giving it to the girlfriend and picking up an Audi, but a BMW might be in the cards too. I can't really decide and it's not a decision I need to make in the near-term anyway.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 4:19 pm

Altho I never got to actually drive it this was my favorite vehicle during my overseas stay in the army.

ChaoZ · Post by **ChaoZ** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 5:21 pm

1992 Honda Accord EX-R (parents)
2004 Acura TSX (parents, current Winter car, occasional use if I need the space)
2002 Mazda Miata (current summer car)

mori · Post by **mori** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 8:16 pm

bonefish27 wrote:
mori wrote:The VW engine was long stroke, low RPM, but it did pull out of the corners.
My Omni couldn’t get out of its own way. Maybe it was because I was used to the V8 Nova or because it was an automatic, but the gas pedal seemed to work more as a volume knob for the engine than to accelerate the car. Flooring the pedal was like turning an amp up to 11.

It was not powerful by any stretch of the imagination. I believe it was rated at 85 hp stock. But the limited power combined with the small car and bigger and better tires than they put on todays econo-crapboxes they put on the street, it was a good combination. There was nothing special about the suspension either. When my family raced modifieds we had some competitors that ran the VW engine that was in the Omni. On the low speed tracks it could out pull any other engine, was not much use at the higher speed tracks however. We ran our Datsun engines at around 10,000 RPM while the VW was limited to around 7500 RPM and it mades most of its power at even lower RPM. It made about 160 hp in its racing form.

Grievous Angel · Post by **Grievous Angel** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 10:44 pm

1. 1989 Mercury Topaz - Bought from a friend of my grandmothers, drove it until it kept stalling at inopportune moments, sold it to my mechanically inclined uncle in Arizona, where I believe it's still carting around some of my cousins to this day.
2. 1999 Ford Contour - Bought new and driven until it was totaled in a wreck on I-90 in 2005. The guy behind me was driving home from a Cubs game and didn't realize that you sometimes come to a dead stop on the Chicago expressways around rush hour, so he plywed into the back of me going about 50 mph.
3. 2005 Honda Accord - Still driving it, with 75000+ miles on it. Love this car.

Cortilian · Post by **Cortilian** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:46 am

Started driving in '86:

1977 Mazda GLC - 16th birthday present. My dad paid $500.00 for it and it came with another 77 GLC. Burned up the 1st motor when the thermostat stopped working but the indicator light was burned out. Dropped in the spare motor and kept driving.

1978 Monte Carlo - Graduation present in 1988. Big, honkin grandma car but was in really great shape. Drove this until 1990 when I was in the Army and traded it on:

1972 Camero AND 1986 Honda 500 Enduro. - Enduro got stolen when I was gone for Desert Storm but drive the Camero until I sold it and bought in 1993:

1978 Camero (I'm getting newer) - Drove this through college and 1st years of work until I sold it and bought in 1998:

1994 - Mazda B2300 - Great little truck. 4 cylinder stick. Great gas mileage. Drove this until 2004:

2003 Ford F150 Supercrew. Still driving this today. 180k miles. A wonderful truck. Has a serious issue with the coil packs (there are 8 on the truck) and I've had to replace all 8 over the life of the truck. Other than that great vehicle.

Hiccup · Post by **Hiccup** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:18 am

'90 Pontiac Sunbird (Red)- First car in high school, got it cheap off through a dealer clearance at a mall. My dad talked them down after he took it for a test drive and none of the guages worked. They knocked off ~$200 (was at $3k), and a $2 fuse later everything was fine.

'92 Ford Mustang LX (Teal) - Most comfortable seats ever.

'94 Pontiac Grand Am (Teal...coincidence) - Worst Car Ever. Almost forget that I ever had it. Having the drivers side wheel fall off while driving kind of makes you block out the whole experience.

'00 Dodge Intrepid (Maroon) - 2nd favorite car. Bench seat in front with the column shift (automatic). Once fit 12 sorority girls in there.

'06 Saturn Ion 2.4 (Blue) - 2nd worst car, leased it, returned it early to get my dream car...

'05 MINI Cooper S (Blue) - Most fun I've ever had with a car (12 sorority girls aside). Can't wait for snow.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:00 pm

Hiccup wrote:
'05 MINI Cooper S (Blue) - Most fun I've ever had with a car (12 sorority girls aside). Can't wait for snow.

Is that RWD? I do enjoy fishtailing and doing donuts in my RWD car.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:02 pm

Ironrod wrote:
Hiccup wrote:
'05 MINI Cooper S (Blue) - Most fun I've ever had with a car (12 sorority girls aside). Can't wait for snow.
Is that RWD? I do enjoy fishtailing and doing donuts in my RWD car.

No. They're in the process of making an AWD MINI, but there's nothing that's RWD available (or planned).

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:07 pm

It's FWD. I for one HATED the traction control in the winter. It damn near got me killed while I was driving through a recently plowed intersection.

I was powering my way through the thick, jumbled snow and was doing just fine even though spinning the wheels a bit. There was a van coming but I had plenty of time to push my way through and cross the intersection except that the traction control decided that spinning wheels was bad and cut power reducing my progress to a crawl leaving me as a big fat target for the oncoming van. Fortunately the van was able to stop in time.

The traction control can be disabled but it has to be done every time the car is started.

I grew up in North Dakota and have driven through many a winter and can do just fine without the assistance of traction control so to have to have a computer decide what is best for me while I'm driving is a big FUCK YOU from some German engineer.

I find I get around much better in winter with our Honda Fit than I did with the Mini.

Edit - In case you're wondering why I talk about driving a Mini when it doesn't show up in my vehicle history, it's because I drove one as a company car at a previous job.

Eightball · Post by **Eightball** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:23 pm

1983 Toyota Camry Hatchback/POS
1989 Honda Accord
1987 BMW 325es (lots of torque on demand, rear wheel drive...so it fishtailed like you wouldn't believe)
1997 BMW 328is (current)
2000 Honda Civic
2005 Honda Pilot (current wife's car)

I'm basically driving my current car into the ground, and I'll get a new one when it blows up. However, I can see the day when it blows up being very soon. Looking at getting either a 328 coupe, or a G37 coupe.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:30 pm

Eightball, a 328 coupe? Those things are UGLY!

Eightball · Post by **Eightball** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:48 pm

pr0ner wrote:Eightball, a 328 coupe? Those things are UGLY!

Disagree, I think they look great. Conversely, I think the 4 doors are uglier lol.

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:15 pm

1995-1997: 1977 Volkswagon Beatle (White) [First car. Loved it. ]
1997-2000: 1986 Chevy Celebrity (Blue) [Piece of junk... got it from the classic old lady who only drove it to church in 1997. with 11k miles on it]
2001-2004: 1995 Saturn SL2 (Green) [ Great car. Drove it to Montana and back and everywhere in between. I think that car was in about 40 states. ]
2005-2008: MBTA (Mostly Red, but sometimes Green. Very rarely Blue, Orange or Silver) [it was what it was.]
2009-Present: 2005 Nissan Frontier (Tan) [No problems so far. Simple, good for hauling stuff. Pretty good mileage.]

Lnorigb · Post by **Lnorigb** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:24 pm

Dodge Aries K station wagon - Woody style
a four door blue boxy POS. srsly i have NO idea the make model. i have deleted that info from my brain.
89 Toyota Tercel hatchback -loved my four on the floor!
2000 Dodge Neon (only 13miles on it, when i bought it)
82 VW Westy (this was the only one of 5 registered to me)
93 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ceira
04 VW new beetle conv (still have)
09 VW Tiguan (current)

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 5:06 pm

Eightball wrote:
pr0ner wrote:Eightball, a 328 coupe? Those things are UGLY!
Disagree, I think they look great. Conversely, I think the 4 doors are uglier lol.

You're a lawyer. Therefore, your opinion matters not.

Sedan > coupe.

FINAL REJECTION!

Freezer-TPF- · Post by **Freezer-TPF-** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 5:18 pm

Coupes look better than sedans as a general rule, even though they are less practical as far as fitting people/things in the back seat.

[sexist]The best solution is to get a sexy coupe for yourself and a sedan/wagon/etc for your wife.[/sexist]

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:47 pm

1982 Ford Mustang GT (mom's old car)
1967 Triumph TR4A Convertible (mom's other old car)
1929 Mercedes Convertible Kit Car ('68 VW Bug Chassis) - killed by a drunk driver (not me)

Dad used to have a business selling kit cars - this was one of them

1989 Plymouth Acclaim (traded in for...
2000 Ford Mustang GT Convertible (first car I bought/leased new - lots of fun until someone slashed the top, and it leaked ever after... when the 5-year lease was up I was glad I hadn't bought it)
1989 Subaru Justy (after Dad died and the Mustang lease was ending, I drove this into the ground, or at least until the CV transmission died - 35-40 real mpg)
2006 Lexus Rx400h - a station wagon for the 21st century!

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:39 pm

Hmmm...

1980 Pontiac T1000 5-door -- despite the Pontiac name, it's a Chevy Chevette, one of the worse cars GM has made in the 1980's. Got the LOWEST rating of all cars in one of those Consumer buyer's guides. Died eventually when both the engine and the fuel pump started to have problems. Traded it in for the next car (it actually RAN that morning)

1985 Mercury Topaz -- bought it used, only like 45K miles on it, discovered that the previous owner never cancelled the extended warranty, so paid $100 to transfer it to my name, and saved over $1000 in repair costs. Sold it to my pastor's daughter, who's going to school. Moved out west, then got...

1987 Ford Taurus -- a real POS, but it DOES have digital dash... except the bulb went out.

Stranded me on the road once when the alt belt let go. Otherwise, got me to Fremont and back for many months until the transmission went KAPUT. Got rid of it and bought...

1995 Ford Contour LX V6 -- one gem of a car... except it needs serious periodic maintainence. Mine had a drooping engine which lead to the transmission rubbing a hole on the subframe, thus transmission leak. Otherwise, the car's great until my uncle decided to get a Prius. Thus, I got his car...

1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass -- not a bad car, except this one came with a ticking timebomb... One of the cylinder heads is bad. Drop it for a year and a half, when the main bearing went CLACK CLACK. Donated it to Salvation Army and bought the current car...

1999 Volvo S70 T5 -- actually its' NOT a T5, but a GL, but it has T5 badges and a spoiler.

And 160000 miles on the odo. And I have to say, it's the best car I've owned so far.

Mr. Fed · Post by **Mr. Fed** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:29 pm

'82 Honda Accord
'95 Honda Accord
'03 Lexus sedan
'07 Acura MDX

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:33 pm

56 Buick bomber (bought for $10)
62 Oldsmobile 88
65 T-Bird
62 3/4 ton Dodge Pickup
68 VW Bug
67 Karmann Ghia (sold for $10)
70 something Ford Fiesta
80 something Ford Escort
92 Mustang
95 Ford Explorer
04 Acura RSX
06 Honda Accord Hybrid

Eightball · Post by **Eightball** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:12 am

Freezer-TPF- wrote:Coupes look better than sedans as a general rule, even though they are less practical as far as fitting people/things in the back seat.

Yep. 3 series sedans are driven by soccer moms, usually. And apparently pr0ner

[sexist]The best solution is to get a sexy coupe for yourself and a sedan/wagon/etc for your wife.[/sexist]

That's what we do. Since the two kids have enormous kid thrones (all kid seats are gigantic, I don't know what the hell is up with that), they go in the Pilot. I just use my car for day to day commuting; any family driving is done in the Pilot.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:20 am

Eightball wrote:
Freezer-TPF- wrote:Coupes look better than sedans as a general rule, even though they are less practical as far as fitting people/things in the back seat.
Yep. 3 series sedans are driven by soccer moms, usually. And apparently pr0ner

Ouch.

I'll have you know, everyone I play hockey with who drives a 3 series drives a sedan and not a coupe. Are you calling us all soccer moms?

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 2:33 pm

Ignoring my parents' and sister's cars I learned in:
1985 Mazda B2000 Pickup - Red 70k-140k miles
1999 Dodge Intrepid ES - Green 0-140k miles
2004 Chevy Avalanche - Dark Red 0-45k miles (current)
2008 Toyota Sienna LE - Light Blue 19k-48k miles (current)

Fishy · Post by **Fishy** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 2:52 pm

1989 Chevy Celebrity
1996 Nissan Maxima
2005 Nissan Murano
1999 Honda Superhawk
2004 Nissan Altima (current)
2009 Yamaha R6 (current)

Windows95 · Post by **Windows95** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 12:04 am

1986 Oldsmobile Custlass Supreme (Parents' car)
1996 Mecury Sable (Parents' car)
2003 Pontiac Grand Am (Mine)
2005 BMW 325i (Mine & current)

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:40 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Fri Sep 25, 2009 2:12 pm 1982 Plymouth Gran Fury Salon
1974 AMC Gremlin 304
1980 Chevy Monza w/ 350ci V8
1984-ish Ford Mustang
1993 Hyundai Excel
1993 Honda Prelude VTEC
1990 Honda CRX
1984-ish Datsun/Nissan 300zx turbo
1987 Toyota Celica GT-S
1987 Toyota MR2
1991-ish Subaru Legacy
1995 Dodge (what the hell was it - 2 door dodge)
2001 Lexus IS300
2005 Ford Mustang GT
2006 Honda Civic EX Sedan

These are just my cars, not counting anything bought for my wife, and other than 3 months or so I never owned 2 cars at the same time. For the record that first of 15 cars was purchased in 1991, the last was purchased in 2006. 15 cars in 15 years.

I just test drove a 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 and they made a decent so might be adding #16 to the list shortly assuming the wife and I can come to an agreement.

The 1995 Dodge was an Avenger.

since then...
2009 Infiniti G37
2012 Infiniti G37
2018 Tesla Model 3

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:46 pm

I'm at the point in life where I wouldn't remember anything but my first car and the two new cars I've bought if it weren't for this thread.

It's all becoming a blur.