Your past vehicles- FAVORITE? LEAST?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve read some very interesting stories in response to my topic discussing the first NEW car you ever bought. Now I have another vehicle-related topic for discussion that may prove even more interesting….actually, it’s a two-part topic!

Out of all the vehicles you’ve owned, does one in particular stand out as your absolute FAVORITE? What did you love so much about it or why was it your favorite???

What about one damn car that you really did NOT like? Does one vehicle from your past (or present) still make you see RED or at least cause a knot in your gut??? Please share your disgust, agony and/or frustration with the class…

If only one or the other is applicable to you, please share it with us! I’m sure many folks don’t have a past vehicle that they have strong, negative feelings about…but plenty of us do. Conversely, some have never been lucky enough to fall madly in love with a vehicle that they were lucky enough to own…

2

Since I started the topic, I’ll go first-

I’ve had the displeasure of owning two vehicles that I grew to despise and I get a migraine if I think about either of them for very long….

I bought a new 1996 Honda Accord LX 4-door in September 1996. I had a ’93 Civic that I loved and was almost paid off but my sister had just bought a new Accord a few months earlier, so I had to get one as well!?!? (I was an idiotic 21-year old at the time- not an excuse, just an explanation)….

My sister had a new ’96 Accord EX 4-door with spoiler, tinted windows, it was sharp! The only way I managed to afford even the LX 4-door was to take the lone leftover ’96 model after the ’97 Accords were on the lot. There was a good reason it hadn’t sold- because no one else wanted an Accord LX 4-door in Dark Eucalyptus Green with Gray-Green interior and 5-speed manual!!! It remember walking outside the morning after I bought it and praying that it was just a bad dream….buyer’s remorse set it very quickly!

But it wasn’t just the hideous color or the cheap plastic wheel covers that made it the bane of my existence for the next three years. When it was only about 10 months old and had 32k miles on it, the cam seal blew as I was driving 80mph on I-75. It blew every drop in the engine all over the engine, under the hood and on the road. At least I had enough mechanical knowledge to know that when the Oil Pressure Light comes on, it’s a matter of seconds before VERY bad things start happening to the engine! I killed the engine and coasted across six lanes of traffic to the emergency lane. Fun times!

When it was 14 months old, I had a nasty accident that caused both front airbags to deploy and caused substantial structural damage. Technically, I was at-fault because I was the only car involved….but I was asleep when it happened, so I’m not so sure! (Seriously, I’m very thankful that I was the only car involved because I could’ve seriously injured or killed someone or myself.)

From the outside, the damage didn’t look all that bad and the blown airbags and shattered windshield were the main clues that it was a pretty hard impact. Other than “airbag dermatitis” (burns), a sprained ankle (that turned BLACK) and a few cracked ribs, I was fine. And I was so thankful to be rid of that damn car because I knew the insurance company would total it. Imagine my surprise when they told me it was repairable and their estimate was just over the $9500 mark. Book value was over $15k, so they insisted on having it repaired. More than a week into the repairs, the body shop discovered more extensive frame damage and that the transmission, A/C compressor and several other components were damaged. The final bill for the repairs that my insurance company paid- $14,200 AFTER my $1000 deductible!

The Honda body shop did an impressive job considering the level of damage, but it squeaked and rattled like a 30-year old Hyundai after that. The warranty expired at 36k miles. But when it wasn’t quite two years old and had 58k miles on it, the cam seal blew AGAIN! They fixed it under warranty anyway, “as a one-time courtesy”……

And in April 1999, when my sister was in labor 90 miles away and I was flying like a bat out of hell to get to the hospital….the freakin’ cam seal blew out for the third time with just shy of 100k miles on the car! It was late at night and a very kind Georgia State Trooper drove me the last 15 miles to the hospital and I left the damn car until the following day. I called the dealer and they were assholes and told me there was no way they’d pay any part of the repair on a car with 100k miles on it (even though it wasn’t quite three years old and this was the third time it had happened)….It had already been towed there and I didn’t know what to do.

The next day, after my sister came home with my nephew, my mom paid a visit to the Honda dealership without my knowledge. Long story short, they fixed it under warranty and even covered the towing bill! My mom can be very persuasive (scary) when she needs to be and that came in handy!

FINALLY, on June 12, 1999, a Jeep rear-ended me at a traffic light and totaled the godforsaken piece of shit!

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Now for the other vehicle that I HATED with every fiber of my being-

My best friend gets to order a new company vehicle every 2-years or 60k miles. The leasing company gives him or a member of his family (I’m his half-brother, as far as they know) the option to buy the old vehicle at very low prices, usually well below wholesale value. My mom had great luck with a ’03 Explorer XLT that he had and my sister bought the ’05 Explorer XLT he had after the ’03. Both were great cars and never had any major problems. My sister still has her ’05 with 218k miles on it and only in the last few months has it been having problems.

He gets to choose between a few vehicles and can pay to ‘upgrade’ to higher trim levels or add options to the spec vehicle the company will pay for. In late 2006, he ordered a 2007 Explorer and paid $2500 to upgrade from the XLT to Eddie Bauer trim level and to add the Power Moonroof, Audiophile stereo, Chrome Wheels and a few other features that made it look and “seem” very upscale. The sticker price was $37k and change for a 2WD V6 Explorer.

He got a promotion right after he got it and it had him on the road constantly. He managed to rack up 71k miles in 14 months, so he ordered a new ’08 Fusion SEL at 60k and drove it another 11k in the two months waiting for it to arrive. A week before the Fusion came in, he got caught in a hail storm and it caused moderate damage to the hood and roof of the Explorer. The leasing company paid to replace the hood but didn’t fix the roof (who could see it) and they knocked an extra $1000 off the price. They told him his purchase price would be $15,575 (for a 14-month old vehicle that had stickered for $37k+ new)! I bought it expecting to drive it for a year or two and probably still sell it for a profit!

I ended up driving for almost four years and put another 63k miles on it (134k total) and spent OVER $8000 in repairs on the piece of shit! The A/C system went out and cost $1800 to replace (front and rear air, all components and lines had to be replaced for the two-year warranty to be valid)…then the A/C system went out again just two months shy of that two-year warranty expiring.

The radiator had to be replaced twice and was starting to leak again when I traded it. All of the following had to be replaced- driver’s power seat motor, alternator, brake master cylinder, ABS sensors on each wheel multiple times, the rear back-up sensors stopped working, the gear shift level and console had to be replaced because it wouldn’t come out of PARK, the power adjustable pedals literally went to the floorboard (not a good safety feature), two power window motors had to be replaced, and the ‘electronic control’ unit for the trip computer and programmable display between the gauges fried and had to be replaced or the instrument panel wouldn’t work at all!

The transmission had several issues, one related to the torque converter and the other was a solenoid that prevented it front shifting into O/D intermittently. The audio and climate control buttons on the steering wheel quite working after two years, the CD changer quit working (and I didn’t fix it) and the finish on the chrome wheels started to crack and spider-web on three of the wheels.

But my personal favorite was the “PowerFold Third Row Seat”. In my mom’s and sister’s Explorer’s raising or lowering the 3rd row seat backs was a simple, 2-3 second operation consisting of pulling on a tab to raise them until they clicked or vice-versa. But as a ‘luxury’ feature, they were raised and lowered via buttons in the cargo area and took about 15 seconds to fully raise or lower, it was ridiculous. The window sticker showed that was a $1095 option! The motor went out for the one of the driver’s side and it was LOCKED in the down position! It couldn’t be manually operated and effectively made it a 6-seater instead of a 7-seater. The dealer wanted $600+ to replace it, but told me it would very likely happen again in a year or two….screw it!
It had the standard 210hp 4.0L V6 which I refer to as the “Boat Anchor” V6 because that’s about the only thing it could do decently, I’m guessing. Flooring it would make reduce the fuel economy readout to about 12mpg, make lots of unpleasant growling noise and send vibrations thru the steering wheel, but didn’t provide much additional forward velocity.

I averaged 18-19mpg overall when I first bought it, but four years later I was struggling to get 15mpg average. I took it to my mechanic one day last November and he called me an hour later and told me “dump this piece of fucking shit” as fast as you can! I didn’t ask him to elaborate, for him to say that it was obviously on the verge of something very expensive (transmission is my guess).

I traded it the following weekend on my 2012 Mazda CX-9 GT and actually got KBB “Clean” Trade-In Value without haggling. Driving away from the Mazda dealer with the Explorer in my rear-view mirror knowing I’d never see it again was BETTER THAN SEX! I still get giddy when I think about it….I hope they boxed it up and sent it back to Hell where it came from!

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I’ve never owned a car that I hated. My fav, probably for sentimental reasons was my first.

Purchased in 1982, a 74 HQ kingswood, 3 on the tree, 173 red motor, absolutely flat stick at 150kmh, bench seats in the front and looked like a piece of shit. Damn I loved that car. Took her bush bashing, spinning round paddocks rounding up sheep, installed my first car stereo in her, myself, towed a mate 21km home from the pub when his car wouldn’t start, doing 140kmh all the way with him hanging on like a tail on a kite while occasionally slowing me down by trying to roll start his, damn I loved that car.

5

The car that will always be the LOVE of my life and, in my honest opinion, one of the best cars ever made- my 1995 Acura Legend L 4-door. I bought it in 1999 and it had been turned in at the end of a 36-month lease with 32k miles and in perfect condition. It sat on the Acura dealer’s used lot for almost a year because it had Cloth interior and it was a 5-speed manual. That’s the only way I was able to afford it, honestly. I paid $24k out-the-door.

'95 Acura Legend LC 4-door PHOTO

Over the years, I’ve heard/read more than a few automotive journalists say the Legend was almost “over-engineered” to the point of near-perfection in some ways. The luxury was in the details- felt lining in the coin tray, the ashtray lid opening and closing was dampened, knobs had the perfect amount of resistance to feel solid and substantial and even at redline the sweet 3.2L V6 never caused a hint of vibration. It’s funny how insubstantial 200hp sounds now, but almost 20 years ago and paired with a typical Honda-smooth 5-speed manual, the medium (not really large) sized Legend would hustle! It also had some high-end features like the 8-speaker BOSE stereo, power tilt/telescopic steering wheel and power seats with memory for both and even the seat fabric felt and looked like it would last forever.

I drove it for six wonderful years and put 40-50k miles per year on it! It had 292k miles on it in August 2005 when a druggie in a 4wd pickup ran a red light and t-boned me as I made a left turn (on a left-arrow)! The car was almost cut in half, the passenger side door panel was over on the driver’s side of the car pinning my right leg down. The roof buckled and all the glass (moonroof, windshiled, windows) shattered but the laminate held them together. The paramedics had to cut the A-pillar (the structure between the windshield and driver’s side door) and peel the roof back because my left leg was pinned.

Amazingly, my leg wasn’t broken, just lots of cuts and nasty bruises. The guy nailed me toward the passenger side front door and front wheel, so it triggered the airbags even though they weren’t really needed. But the automatic seatbelt tensioners were also triggered and pulled me firmly back into the seat. It bruised my neck and chest, but probably prevented much more severe injuries.

The most freakish injury (and one the paramedics had NEVER seen happen before) was from the rearview mirror! When the roof buckled slightly and the windshield shattered, it broke loose and hit me just above the right ear and shattered the mirror glass. Most of the mirror shards ended up in my scalp and it took 38 STAPLES to close the cuts!!!

It was bad enough, but could’ve been a lot worse!

I’ll never love another car like I did my Legend, it was a once in a lifetime kinda thing. But my 2012 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring SUV is the closest I’ve ever came to rekindling the flame! :cool:

6

I owned and drove a Jeep Wrangler for a couple of years. It was my commuter car. It wasn’t a very long commute. But I hated every single digit stretch of it in that goddamn piece of shit. Thing is, it never broke down on me. Never gave me any sort of mechanical grief. I just hated rolling around in that four wheeled pogo stick. Handled like a shopping cart. Couldn’t get out of it’s own way from a green light. I’d have better luck sticking my foot through the floor board to get it to stop. Noisy, smelly, drafty. Really a pointless car. The only time I liked it was when it sat parked. It was a little brute to look at. Like a bulldog. Also, I quite enjoyed it when the snow fell and I could go hooning around the streets before they were plowed and salted. As someone told me once, the best two days of owing a jeep is the day you buy it and the day you sell it. I sold it within two years to some high school kid with a generous dad. Thing is, sometimes I still miss it despite all it’s faults.

In contrast, all the other cars I’ve owned before and since have given me immense pleasure and pride of ownership.

7

My favorite car was a 2010(?) Toyota Camry. It was roomy, drove nice, looked sharp and despite a few minor issues, was my favorite car. I have a Carolla now which I like much much less. I really wish I had my Camry back. I don’t really have a least favorite, I’ve had ones that went kaput sooner but none that I despise really. My least reliable was my Ford Focus, I think it was an '03 maybe.

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Liked? A lot of them. I wish I’d never sold my 1962 Studebaker Hawk GT or 1964 Chevy Impala SS. My 2007 Kia Spectra5 has been a great car so far.

Hated? 1994 Mercury Topaz. It kept falling apart in unusual ways like the gas tank rusting out. The funny thing is that I had a 1986 Ford Tempo before that and it was a rock solid car.

My wife’s 202 Chrysler PT Cruiser was a POS. It kept breaking down nearly as badly as the Topaz.

Strangest Car: When I lived in England I had a 1982 British Leyland Princess II. It had a hydraulic suspension with no separate shocks or springs. The engine and manual transmission shared the same block and oil. SU variable venturi carburetor.

9

I had a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder that was a great car. Had it for 10 years, and never much of a problem (some overheating issues that eventually did her in)

My first car, a used AMC Hornet wagen, will always hold a special place in my heart. Drove that baby across the country and back, twice.

Now, of course, I’m quite fond of my Volt.

I think the only car I didn’t like was a used Ford Taurus I got after my divorce when I was poor and already depressed.

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Favorite: tie between my 89 and 98 4Runners. They took me everywhere I wanted to go (240K miles each) with reliability and comfort.

Least favorite: 72 LeMans that my I inherited from my grandfather. That model may have been used in the famous car chase in The French Connection, but in my case it was a poor-handling boat with a bad transmission.

11

Favorite: my current car, a 2012 Ford Mustang (the picture is the right model and color, but it’s not my car). V6 with a stick, so it’s a ton of fun to drive, and also gets pretty good gas mileage. And, hey, it’s a sexy red sports car!

Least favorite: a 1987 Chrysler LeBaron coupe. (Again, right color and model, but this isn’t a picture of my car.) Not a bad-looking car for its era, and I got a good deal on it (bought it used in '89), but the electronics system was a nightmare. The car simply stopped working on two separate occasions, due to one of the master control chips dying. The electronic message system would give all sorts of random messages (it’d tell me “the rear hatch is ajar”, when it had no rear hatch!). Oh, and the trunk leaked. Got rid of it as soon as I wasn’t underwater on the payments.

12

**Favorite: **
1988 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4x4 with 4.3L V6. That little truck was great. The paint faded way too early, and the fenders got a little rusty, but every single thing on the truck still worked when I sold it in 2009 including the A/C. The engine had plenty of power for me. It could turn on a dime at slow speeds. The 4WD was great for snow/ice/mud. I took that thing on tons of road trips, I took it on trails, went camping, moved, towed boats, towed cars, towed utility trailers, and I once even used it as a scaffolding to repair a gutter on my house. It was truly a useful vehicle. It had room for four people, and the backseat folded down to make a great space for my large dog to ride. Loved that truck and regret selling it.

Hated:
1995 Mercury Mystique 2.0L I4 (cousin of the Ford Contour). This car sucked! Bought brand new in 1995. Sold for $500 in 2005. The engine was weak. The engine wire harness completely rotted, and to this day, I have no idea how that car never burned to the ground. The A/C didn’t work, the automatic antenna didn’t work, the cup holders broke, the engine overheated, the transmission bucked. The trunk lid would somehow fill with water when it rained, then when you opened the trunk it would pour water all over whatever was in the trunk. The gas door wouldn’t open unless someone pulled the handle in the drivers compartment while someone else pryed on the door with a key. The rear springs broke. The backlit LCD clock lightbulb burned out and there was no way to replace the bulb without removing the dashboard. The rearview mirror came off the windshield. The “power” adjustable rearview mirrors didn’t work. I really hated that car.

13

My second car (and secnd favorite) was a Hornet sedan. We called it “The Leeprosy Mobile” because the paint began peeling everywhere, but that thing was a tank! I got it airborne a time or two seeing how fast I could go over a berm at a nearby park. I loaned to to a girl who managed to drive it up a tree - literally. The only thing touching the ground was the rear bumper. A farmer with a tractor pulled it down for me. The only damage was a bent fan blade which cut into the radiator. Dropped in a junk yard radiator and drove it for several more years.

My favorite car was my first - a 1972 Olds Cutlass SS. It had a bronze body and a white hard top. The car would fly, but the suspension would float at about 75 mph, making the handling a bit hair raising. It also had the only analog “flip screen” radio I have ever seen. The AM band had one screen/indicator needle, when you pushed the FM button the whole dial flipped, revealing the FM frequencies/indicator needle. I only had it a few months before a guy in a farrier (horse shoeing) truck hit me from behind and totaled it. Ah, what could have been…

14

My favorite vehicle would be the Dodge van I had in high school.

Van - teenager - the 70s - need I say more?

15

My favorite vehicle would be the Dodge van I had in high school.

Van - teenager - the 2000’s - need I say more?

16

My favorite was my 2005 Dodge Magnum R/T. Fully loaded with AWD. It was unique (at least in my part of the woods). A friend called it “The Mullet Car”…business in the front, party in the back. Great ride, looked good, but unfortunately the mileage was killing me. I drive 80 miles a day and gas was killing me. If Dodge ever brought it back I would be first in line at the dealership. I wish I still had it because the car I traded it in for is the one I hate the most…

2011 VW Jetta TDI. What boring car. No distinguishing characteristics whatsoever. 6 months after I bought it it spent 29 days in the shop (conveniently avoiding Lemon Laws by one day). Maintenance is unbelievably expensive. Did I mention it’s a boring car? The mileage is great (I’ve got as high as 55 mpg) but I’d give it up for a car that feels alive. This one just has that “Eh” feeling to it.

17

I’ve been happy with most of the cars I’ve purchased but there was one POS that will raise my blood pressure just thinking about it. It was a '74 Volkswagen Dasher. VW had created an aura of durability and holding value. This piece of crap started to break down the day I bought it. The windshield got a stress crack from improper installation and VW wouldn’t do anything about it. The floor shifter felt like it was made of cooked spaghetti. The transmission was so sloppy you couldn’t find the right gear. Shifting into first would sometimes throw it in reverse.

I hadn’t had the thing a year and wanted to trade it. I found out that everyone else had figured out they were a piece of shit and it had depreciated faster than a post war German mark. I bit the bullet and got rid of it. Never missed it and I will never, ever, buy a VW again. I saw a book that featured it as one of the worst cars ever built.

18

I never used to like Mustangs, especially their body styles in the 80’s, but that model you have looks awesome, would love to have one.

My favorite car was my Camaro with t-tops, v8, manual.

19

The longest I’ve every really kept a vehicle is probably about three years, which doesn’t give much time to fall in love with one. I even had one I sold after only having it a week. :smiley:

I would have to say my favorite was the 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon (this one is the wrong color, but the rims are right). It was a beautiful car, white with a blue landau top and factory chrome rims. It also had a beautiful blue interior. The only problem, and why most of them were called ‘Gutlasses’, was the 307 engine. That had to be about the weakest V8 GM ever made.

A close second was the 1983 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Diesel I had. Mine was red and dark red with a dark red interior. With the diesel motor it got tremendous mileage for such a big car. I also had it when diesel fuel was cheaper than gas so it was a win-win for me.

Didn’t really have one I absolutely hated.

20

I’ve had a license since 1987, but haven’t had many cars:[ul]

[li]In 1990 I got a 1982 VW Rabbit[/li][li]In 1994 I got a 1994 Mitsubishi Mirage[/li][li]In 2004 I got a 2002 Nissan Sentra[/li][li]In 2008 I got a 2008 Mazda RX-8[/li][li]In 2011 I got a 2011 Honda Accord V6 coupe[/li][li]Three weeks ago I got a 2010 Nissan 370Z[/ul]My favorite is the 370Z that I have now: I haven’t tracked it or gone through winter/all of the seasons in it yet, but so far I freaking love this car! It’s in perfect condition and had just 16k miles on it, so it looks/feels like new. Oh, and it’s a limited edition. :D[/li]
I haven’t hated any of my cars, but the RX-8 broke my heart: I loved that car so much, but in less than three years it developed a gremlin and I had to get rid of it. I still feel a slight twinge when I see one on the road, but the 370Z is helping me get over it. :wink: