Mrs. R’s everyday car is an '89 Toyota Corolla. Boring as hell but my god, the thing never breaks; I have never seen such a reliable car (knock on wood!).
Her sunny-weather car is a '94 Mazda Miata. Gosh, it’s a kick to drive! It’s a strange blue color which color-shifts to green when you look at it slantwise. Montego Blue, maybe? It’s an M-series, which is kind of a special edition (big whoop, I know…)
My everyday driver is a Racy Red (oooooohhhhhh) 2003 Suzuki Aerio, which we just bought a few weeks ago. I like it just fine so far; plenty of power, lots of interior space, and a great stereo system. It’s the darnedest thing: The underside of the trunk lid isn’t painted; it’s just red primer. The salesman checked another red one, and he said it was that way, too. First time I’ve ever seen that.
For family trips and Girl Scout outings we have a 1989 Plymouth Grand Voyager. They don’t have a good reputation for reliability (we bought this one used, and on its third transmission), but you still see a lot of them on the road. I suspect that people keep repairing them because they’re just so darned useful.
Last of all we have a 1964 Rambler American convertible which I spent a lot of time fixing up. It’s a real cutie (red with a white top and a red-and-white interior), but doesn’t get driven much any more…
A 1986 Peugeot 309 GR 1.6, no electric windows, mirrors, sunroof (no sunroof for that matter), No air-con (unless you count the gaps in the door seals), cruise control, GPS, heated seats, hell I only got the interior fan working a few days ago (had it for 3 years). It’s manual (as are most cars over here), doesn’t go especially well but is fine for what I need it for.
There are even pics of it here.
I love this car. Big, noisy, horrible gas mileage. No amenities. Mechanicaly brand spanking new. And if I happen to run over…well anything…it won’t really affect me much. I use it as a daily driver and am still in the process of restoring it. I get looks and cheers wherever I go. SO if you are in Houston and see a big red EB, wave and honk.
You can get the leather put in separately? DOH! :smack:
We went for the whole she-bang. Well, when we get another one maybe we’ll go that route instead – being sort of tall, I need all the headroom I can get, so a moonroof isn’t a necessity. Plus I actually like the two-tone color schemes.
The location? It’s a tough place to be…I live in fear of array overruns
Well, Mean Old Lady, I dunno about ruling, but it sure isn’t hard to see why their market share has been going up up up.
Ours has been as good a car as anyone could ask for; far better than my old Dodge Omni (of about the same vintage) was. (Although the Omni wasn’t a bad car at all.)
We looked at a Corolla to replace the Omni, but it had a rather intrusive windshield post (and was a tad high-priced), and so the Suzuki got the nod. I have an uneasy feeling that the Suzuki won’t prove to be as reliable as a Corolla would have been; but we’ll see, we’ll see…
Hit submit too soon (01 Civic, see above). Have this particular car because it’s a family tradition to own a honda civic (and I can’t afford a Ferrari). My parents have two Civics plus that new sport utility deal from honda. They just bought that one because he has trouble getting down into the civics anymore.
2002 Hyundai Elantra VE, which in the USA is called a GLS. Wonderful car - cheap, reliable, way more room and pickup than a car its size should ever have, and all the options.
1995 Civic Si hatchback. I keep thinking about trading it in, but it’s just so darn reliable and cheap to drive, I think I’ll drive it until those things are no longer true.
I drive a 2002 Subaru Forester L (named Callisto); the exterior is Sedona Red, the interior is tan. I love Subarus; they’re so reliable. This is the third one I’ve owned (and the second Forester); before you ask, the Impreza was traded in for the first Forester, and my ex-wife has the first Forester. I needed the four-wheel drive, the cargo space (I’ve got a biggish dog to cart around), and it’s fun to drive. No, really. For a mini-SUV, it’s both very zippy and very sure-footed. Probably get another one when this one wears out in, oh, 20 years.
1999 Mazda Miata, Silver. Just had to rebuild the engine because I tend to drive it a little to much like a real sports car. Fortuantally Mazda paid for it.
Why? My first car, it handles like a dream on all the mountain roads around here, affordable and looks pretty darn sexy.
My automotive philosophy is summed up in two simple rules:
Bigger is better.
There is no replacement for displacement.
1992 Olds Custom Cruiser: It’s the last big rear drive station wagon from Oldsmobile. It’s light blue with woodgrain outside with dark blue leather inside. Basically it’s a luxury sedan with a reeeeeeeeeeeeeealllllllllllllllllly big trunk. And I love it. That’s my daily driver.
1990 Cadillac Brougham d’Elegance: I just bought this the day before Christmas. Merry Christmas to me! It’s double white (white body, white vinyl roof) with REDREDREDREDRED leather inside. And 46,000 miles. The paint isn’t even worn off the door strikers, fer Gawd’s sake! It was traded in at a Mercedes dealership and once I saw it, I had to own it. I drive this one on special occasions, like nice Tuesdays.
1966 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham: Double black with a red leather and damask interior that looks like the waiting room at the Mustang Ranch. And 38,000 miles. It needs some upholstery work, but driving this car is like being in a one-car parade. I love it.
I bought it because it has 90% of the modifications I would have done to a regular GTI at a great price and all under factory warranty. Plus, it’s very rare - only 1500 were sent stateside - and the VW/Audi internet community is phenomenal!!!:
Here’s the best Audi site on the web (I used to own an A4):
Here’s its sister VW site:
I can’t stress enough how great it is to have such a wealth of information and resources about your car at your disposal. Totally transforms the ownership experience.
VW and Audi are putting out some terrific products right now, and you can rest assured that if you decide to buy one, you’ll have the support of thousands of knowlegeble owners a few clicks away. The above sites and their forums are also great for potential buyers - if you can’t find the answer to one of your questions in the model guides, just ask it in the respective forum.
1996 Dodge Caravan, baby. About 100,000 miles or so. Not bad for what it is, but I don’t like having to commute in it. 20-23 mpg isn’t terrible, but I miss my econobox.
I had a great little commuter car (a '90 Mitsubishi Mirage) that served me perfectly for 10 years but sadly it gave up the ghost last year at about 180,000 miles. It sipped gas and ran great until the transmissioin went out. It still makes me sad to see that empty space in my garage.
Yep, noticed. … and I’m the only Alfa Romeo driver!
I test drove 1980 Peugeot once, loved it, but ended up buying a 1980 SAAB 900T. (loved it too, and started a romance with SAABs, including a 1965 SAAB 95 ** a ** 62 SAAB 96 Monte Carlo, and a 1973 SAAB Sonett III.)
P.S. You can see my 1965 SAAB 95 in the movie The Arrival driven by Charlie Sheen!
