I chose the Expedition (used when I bought it) because I wanted a four wheel drive capable of pulling a trailer and capable of Home Depot runs. I chose it instead of the competition because I don’t work for the competition, and I actually like the thing compared to the Tahoe and others.
I also have a Fusion Energi for a couple of reasons. It was the cheapest management lease available during my ordering window, and I really like the idea of driving around on pure electric power. Free charging at work really sealed the deal for me. Aside from being a PHEV, it’s also a pretty top of the line Fusion, horsepower aside. As a frequent car renter, I can say with confidence that it stacks up well to the competition, and I would only consider another make if I worked for a competitor.
I hate driving, and since I live in the heart of they city, I can get away with not doing much of it. But sometimes it is convenient to have a car, so I do. My number one criterion is RELIABLE and number two is CHEAP. So I’ve always bought small bare-bones new Toyotas. Had about five or six different Tercels back in the day, now driving a 2005 Scion xA which I’ve racked up 40k miles on in twelve years.
In my youth (so many years ago) it was smaller, compact to mid-size cars (Cavalier, Berrata, etc.) and one minivan basically because I wanted something large for myself (I’m 6’2") and to carry soccer stuff in (I coached). But except for that and the Cavalier wagon, they were all 2-4 door cars on the smaller side.
Coming back from overseas in 2003, I bought a Toyota Highlander SUV and for the first time in my car history, fell in love. Just the perfect vehicle for what I wanted to do. Replaced it with my current ride (Chevy Equinox) and am looking this year to replace it with a slightly larger vehicle (I’m back coaching soccer again). Chevy Traverse, Honda Pilot, or Nissan Pathfinder are the leading candidates at this time.
Mileage isn’t that critical as I am a stop-n-go driver and usually bank less than 10,000 miles per year. Space and being above the road are critical to me.
Michigan gal here w/ much the same story but minus the Taurus and w/ a Ford era Mazda 3 squeezed in after the Escort; now I have the Z Plan-priced Escape hybrid. It came after nearly a year of research on it and was the most studied purchase of my life. The gas mileage, the capacity and the versatility all got me; my future hope of converting it to a pop-up roof camper sustains me.
My 2005 Honda Element suits my lifestyle down to the ground. AWD for the occasional snow/ice storm as well as the gravel roads. Configuration is terrific for hauling animal feed or goats to the vet if necessary. Easy to clean. Decent gas mileage, although I know many improvements have been made in the 12 years I’ve owned it. I got a red one, but only because it was the only manual shift model on the lot. I’m glad for the color in my gray weather, though. It just turned over 117,000, and I plan to keep it for at least another 5 years. Most of those miles are highway miles due to annual trips to the Los Angeles area. Otherwise, I drive very little, maybe a weekly trip to town. I can’t think what I will replace it with, since Honda doesn’t make them anymore. Haven’t found anything else I think I’d like as well.
There’s also a 1993 GMC Sierra with not many more miles on it than the Honda. Has 4WD and is still good and reliable for such an old thing that sits in the weather most of the time. When you live rural, sometimes only a truck will do.
I love sporty cars but don’t make the kind of money yet to buy corvettes and stuff like that. I also have kids so a two door coupe just isn’t practical. I have a 2016 Subaru WRX but not the STI, it’s hard to justify a 10k difference for a few more bells and whistles and like 30 more horsepower. Turbo-charged and AWD it’s a pretty amazing car for the price and it has 4 doors and a manual transmission which is hard to find in most sedans. It has amazing handling, better than anything I’ve ever driven and pretty impressive speed and response, it can really do some incredible maneuvers. Also unlike the RWD muscle cars driving in the heavy rain and such doesn’t create many issues.
2006 Honda Civic SI. Motor Trend Car of the Year in that year. Performance bargain, has sufficient pep, can corner on a dime. Love it, esp. if I can get to drive the entire Blue Ridge Parkway (which I’ve done each of the last two years). Note I consider performance to be a safety edge as well (its manueverability has gotten me out of some dicey situations).
I have a Ford Ranger. right now, it’s the best overall vehicle for me. up until a year ago I could deal with multiple vehicles so I also had a Mustang GT, but where I live now means I have to have one four-wheeled conveyance. The Ranger gives me trucky stuff without being a gas-hogging full-size pickup. Though now with the diesel F-150 coming I might go for one since it’s likely to get better fuel economy than even my Ranger.
The Subie was the last car I bought new (November 2000). It now has 179K miles on it and runs fine, although the paint is getting awfully weatherbeaten on the upper surfaces. I give it some exercise once every two weeks or so.
The Honda was bought used (23K miles) in Feb last year, replacing a Nissan Altima that was getting up in mileage. Due to the downturn in the oil industry, I wanted to get something economical and reliable with lower miles, in case I got laid off (which indeed happened last December). It’s a good around-town ride and is not horrible on the highway. At least I have a decent vehicle that I can pay off entirely from the separation allowance, should I so choose.
If Ford still sold the Ranger, I’d have gone with that. I had a '90 model some years back and loved that little thing.
That Aston Martin I’ve always wanted will just have to wait, I guess.
Way too much fun to drive, particularly in the winter.
For me, topless driving just for the joy of it; full bed in the back in reach of the ignition and powerful heater for ski overnights; Electronic Stability Program, Traction Control System, Electronic Roll Mitigation, Brake Assist System, Anti-lock Brake System and of course seat belts for safety; very good ground clearance running 34 1/2, 4wd and steel underoos for less than coiffed roads; a robust winch in case of an attack of the dumbs; scaffolding grade racks and a transmission geared for towing and a tranny cooler, body paint that perfectly matches Tremclad high gloss black spray cans at the hardware store. 2007 Jeep JK/Wrangler Unlimited/4dr.
It had a standard tranny and the dealer made us a heck of a deal. Neither of us has ever owned an automatic except for the odd antique/classic and those were mostly fixed up and then sold. We like to shift, we know how to clutch, and we basically consider that a must. We had a Vue (our second Saturn) and we liked it but ---- some parts were already getting hard to find. We’ve heard about Subarus and they do offer standards so we decided to stop and see what kinds of things they had to offer. No intention to buy for about another 6 months or more but what the heck. We test drove an Outback that was a model year old and had 6k miles on it because it was manual and handy. Salesman played us right - no pressure and let us leave the lot having done just our basic fact finding thing we explained to him.
We went to lunch, kept coming back to that car and what we liked, so after lunch we went back and talked to the salesman for real. Since it was “used” we would get 8k off what the same thing would be in a new current model example and they would give us 3K for our Vue. I went to a friends shop the next day and figured out the Vue needed 1k work in the next month to get through inspection and like another K or two over the next 6-12 months. Went back to Subaru and asked for a little more off and got it. Worked out as a good deal all around; manuals are slow sellers and they had just gotten that car in that week so they had a fast flip - and we got what I consider a damn good deal.
We got the Vue in almost the same way; shopping for info more than for cars and hitting the right deal. Did that once or so earlier. Yeah - we’ve been screwed as well but more NEEDING a car than just shopping. So all in all I can’t complain at our batting average.
Car lover from early on. When I turned sixteen and gas was cheap, I bought a decade old metallic green '67 Olds Toronado (identical to this stock photo) with a 425 cu in/7.0 L Rocket V8, 4bbl. Filled it with friends in the Golden Horseshoe to go dancing on the weekends. Truly goods times. Forty years later, I miss that car, but I still have those friends!
You’re about the same size as my neighbour. He’s happy with his F150 quad cab 4wd. The new model’s gas milage is good compared to other older full size trucks/suv. I don’t like driving it because I float around in it like Lily Tomlin’s 5-year-old Edith Ann in an oversized rocking chair, and he hates driving my mid-size Wrangler because he barely fits inside it as if he were a hatchimal about to pop.
Have you tried the new Ford Explorer? If so, what do you think of it?
Ford F-150 SuperCrew. We’ve got a lawn and garden company that requires us to put a 100-gallon skid sprayer in it on a regular basis, plus two kids that need a full-sized backseat, plus we live in rural west Michigan where snow/ice and a huge unpaved driveway make 4x4 a necessity. This vehicle is absolutely amazing on all parts (high payload and huuuge backseat). I don’t think we’ll ever drive another type of vehicle again. The only downside is that to buy one new is nearly unaffordable for the average family, so we leased; we’re definitely going over our miles.
Spring/summer/autumn Chevy Corvette
*It’s a total blast to drive
*Goes like a bat outta hell
*Advertises I’ve got c:cool:l I haven’t even used yet.
Winter Jeep Wrangler
*4 Wheel drive.
*It’s older and used, so I beat the living shit out of it without giving a rip
*Tougher than a rabid Pit Bull on steroids
I got it because I’m in Alberta, but had a lot of stuff in storage lockers back in Ontario, where I am originally from. I could have had the stuff shipped, I suppose, but making a few trips back and forth to pick the stuff up allowed me to catch up with my old friends in Ontario, as well as to see a lot of Canada that I’d never see if I called a mover and flew. The Tahoe rode well when it was full of stuff, and the SUV styling meant that some fragile things were protected from the elements.
The Tahoe is great for long, cross-country drives, but it’s not so good in the city. It is a pig on gas. Still, it’s mine, and I’ll deal.
Skoda Yeti. It has headroom and legroom and a bit of oomph. I was also considering a (second hand) Maserati Quattroporte for much the same reasons but the salesmen never followed up.
l I haven’t even used yet.