What are your best and/or worst car purchases?

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Pelicans!

We want to know what your best vehicle that you've ever owned and/or worst vehicle you have ever owned is/was. Maybe your best or worst car purchase was your first vehicle. Or maybe your current car is your best. I'll start us off with one of my current vehicle purchases.

A 2007 (B7) Audi RS4 in Sprint Blue. I'm still not sure if this was the "best" purchase, but it is definitely a dream vehicle that I am happy to have in the garage. It has been plagued with so many issues thanks to the previous owner seriously neglecting it, but every time I get behind the wheel of this high compression V8 4.2L FSI I am reminded why this was on the "must own" vehicles list. Plus, the Sprint Blue color for the B7 RS4 is rare in the U.S. and is a real head turner. I'm looking forward to bring the side mirrors back to their original brushed aluminum look, install an exhaust and supercharging it in the future. Now share your story with us below!

[tharbert]

Hands down, the worst I ever had was a Cheby Sprint, a re-labled Suzuki Cultus. We bought it in So Cal in 88 because of gas prices. I almost immediately got orders to a missile base in Sicily Italy. It was OK in Sicily mainly because of the TINY roads. The USA closed the GLCM bases because of START so we buttoned up Comiso AB and drove up to Bitburg AB, Germany for a 3 year tour. So there I was, the autobahn just outside the front gate and I had a 3 door hatch with a 1L 3 cylinder engine.

[Hugh R]

Worst, TR7

[afterburn 549]

Fiat ABARTH is the worse POS piled up in one place that somewhat resembles a car I have or will ever own .
The car is not so bad , except there is no support for it.
Lets see, wheel bearings to the amount I have forgot how many. Serious .
Frozen rear brakes over and over.
Rear hatch that will not open
Drivers door window that does what it wants when it wants.
Continuous low tire warning lights.
Seat belts that will not retract.
I can not get more than 20 K out of a set of tires.
Side skirts fall off over and over .
I could go on.And on.
The dealerships deny all warranty work .I have been to several and "Fiat Cares' proved it does not care .
The best car?
The 911 of course !

[Taz's Master]

I bought a '9? Toyota Tacoma used with 100,000+ miles for $6500. Used it hard, hauled lots of firewood, coal, I pulled stumps with it, it worked for a living. It owed me nothing, I got my $6500 out of it. It always was up to the task. But there was that rusty frame issue, and Toyota bought it back for $9800.

Worst? Merkur XR4ti, mine had an automatic, and I bought it with a bad engine. The gas in the tank and oil in the crankcase made the bulk of the value of that machine when it ran, and I still did the engine swap. A 50 mile round trip made me nervous.

[scottmandue]

Best: 1984 944, still miss it.
Worst: My wife bought me a Miata... with an automatic transmission... I thought it would be okay but it was like kissing your sister.

[Dmitry at Pelican Parts]

Unlike Luccia, who loves her Audi (how clean does it look btw?! ) - my Audi was my 'worst car purchase' - I was 18, a freshman at Santa Barbara, and wanted a "cool" car. I looked at some BMWs but my parents were talking me out of it because of the potential for high cost repairs. I wasn't too familiar with Audis at the time, so a B5 A4 seemed like it had the cool factor that I was looking for. Complete with a H&R Cup Kit, 18" aftermarket rims (I forget the brand), a legit Rockford Fosgate system with a 10" sub, and Remus exhaust; I thought I was set. Let me backtrack and mention that I was buying the car from a Senior in college who had it shipped from his hometown of Juno, Alaska...The first 6 months (amazing it lasted that long without issues) were pure bliss, but then the issues started. The front suspension gave out, so it got replaced. Next, the electrical system started to act up and soon after the tuner just stopped working; I had CDs so it wasn't too bad, then the final straw that broke the camel's back - transmission was DONE! After spending big bucks to make the car drive-able, I finally said enough is enough. I sold the car after just over a year and got a 2 seater sports car, also a wise decision; but that's a whole nother story!

(looked exactly like this!)

[legion]

Not sure what the best one was...

The worst was "the bruise". So named by my wife: a 1985 Chevy S-10 with a faded light-blue cab, dark blue passenger door, faded red bed, with rust all over. I paid $500 for it to teach myself how to drive stick. In my three months of ownership, I put new tires on it ($400), had the axel seals and parking break redone ($200), and started replacing the rusted-out. When I drove it in the rain, I found out it had a short in the fuel injection that caused it to intermittently fail to supply fuel to the engine. I donated it. It was $1100 for three months of manual driving lessons. (I had intended to keep it as a winter beater.)

[red-beard]

Best: My 1970 914-6 (factory) for $7500 in 2002. Even with the engine rebuild and other things I did, I made money when I sold it for $25K in 2009.

Worst: 1993 Saturn. I returned it after 2 weeks. The sales guy looked like I killed his puppy. I bought a 1993 Honda Accord and it was a very good car.

[Craig T]

The worst by far!...Mercedes 550SL. The first year I owned it it was in the shop so often a neighbor asked me if I was a manager at Rusnak MB. I asked why he thought that. He said..."Because every time I see you you're in a different color C-Class. They were loaner cars!

The best was "Beta", my 2004 Cayenne S. Over 12 years and 185,000 miles and she never once let me down...and at least 100,000 of those miles were towing a enclosed race car tailer (6,000 lbs with car and gear).

[wdfifteen]

The best, hands down, was my '56 Speedster.
The worst? I don't know. Every car I've owned has been fun or useful or both to one extent or another. I did have a Dodge Colt that wasn't exactly memorable.

[pwd72s]

Both the worst and the best:

[Joe Bob]

My current ride an 83 cab with mondo upgrades, 3.6 and a backdated body. Reliable, trouble free except when I did something stupid. I will be buried in it.

Biggest POS was the ex twit's Volvo v70 Turbo Wagon which every Soccer Mommy in Santa Barbara HAD to have. Front end was trash at 30K, went thru brakes like water and she cooked two turbos because she refused to let it idle down/cool in the driveway after lead footing it around town. R&R on the turbo was hell....tight spaces and a two man job. Only good thing was she trashed it the second time under warranty. When I sold it, I waved good bye and changed my cell #.

[LakeCleElum]

Best $3K I ever Spent.
Worst as I should have never sold it for $8,500.

[Joe Bob]

That's a nice looking Jag. What would it be worth now?

[A930Rocket]

$99,000

1962 JAGUAR XKE ROADSTER - 79211

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

That's a nice looking Jag. What would it be worth now?

[Joe Bob]

Yup, bad move to sell it then. BTW, is that normal ride height? The assend looks high.....

[gatotom]

darn, always wanted a jag xke, next lifetime.

never lost a dime on porsches.

best car was my first, a 59 chevy Biscayne for 125.00 in 1968. It got hit in a parking lot at a ski area and the nice man left his name and asked for a bill. I sent him a bill for 250.00 and he paid it. At end of college school year I traded it for a stereo set by then it was burning more oil than gas, the blue Ferrari.

Bought a 65 mgb in 1978 for my wifes first car for 400.00, a good runner but a cancer case. 8 monthes later the muffler fell off, typical mgb and went to a muffler shop and told the guy don't lift the car on those rubber lifts under the sides, He didn't listen and the fenders pooped out, he said crap, gave me a free muffler and his insurance adjuster's phone number. The guy comes to the house and rolls his eyes and asks want I want for the wreck, I tell him 600.00, he pays me on the spot. A week later I sell it on a rainy night to a 16 yr old and his dad as a fixer upper for 500.00, like I said a good runner.

Worst car a 76 Volvo sedan, everytime I turned right hard the engine would shutdown.

Current best car a 2013 Audi A4 sport, under 32K and still on warranty.

[gatotom]

It needed the assend height cuz it did wheelies on takeoff.

[R K T]

Best.....



Worst.....
MINI Cooper S
So bad we never took any pics of it!