What are your best and/or worst car purchases?

[yazhound]

Originally Posted by Tobra

I have been pretty fortunate with cars.

1998 Integra was pretty darn good. 14 years of trouble free service, made nice sounds when you rapped it up to 8000 rpm, pretty big trunk and a big enough backseat. Insurance was surprisingly expensive. Current daily is a hoot too, turbo miata, they don't call it The Answer for nothing.

Ford Tempo was not great, but what do you want for $2500

How quick the memory goes. I too had an Integra, a 92 plain jane, no electrics. Sold it with over 200k and only had to replace the timing belt and other routine maint. Still had original clutch. Saw that car for years after driving around town.

[vash]

worst is easy

1984 jeep cherokee. four banger that the dealership lifted with blocks and had 31' mudders installed. that thing could barely move with traffic on a fast highway.

best:

maybe my current 2006 tacoma. i got it used for 19k with 30 thousand on the odo. it was a steal!! i am driving it everywhere..desert runs in AZ. mountain climbs to find elk in ID. the thing is unstoppable. all getting 22mpg on hwy.

[MT930]

Best: 1987 -930 , 2000 Suburban, 2006 Chevy 3/4Ton Truck -still have the truck

Worst: 2008 Volkswagen Passat Wagon 3.6 4motion
$18K In VDub warranty work traded at warrenty end.

[GothingNC]

Best besidesmy 82 Targa.

2006 Mini Cooper S - 130,000 miles and still having fun driving it. Only issues besides routine maint. Is the airbag light (faulty airbag module) and brake pads lasting only 20,000 miles :-)

Worst: 1978 Audi Fox

[kenikh]

Worst: 1982 S10 Blazer (POS)
Best: 1965 911 (4 figure purchase price)

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[911dean]

The best would be my '84 911. I should have never sold it. I also really liked my BMW sport wagon. The 2016 Golf R wasn't anything to complain about. Too bad it was involved in a bad accident.

The worst would have been an '96 S-10 Blazer. I didn't particularly like my '75 vette despite all the mods I did. The full solid roller stroker motor I built for it did make it interesting though.

[Bowling]

Worst, 1980 Saab 900 Turbo, maybe an 82, have tried to forget. Second worst 2008 Ford Explorer Limited, the big V8, pice of crap as well. My Dad is laughing from his grave.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Btw, my two 951s are the only Porsches that I would rate as anything less than great cars. A 1970 911T, 1988 Carrera Targa, 1982 911SC cab, and multiple 986, 996, 987, and 997. All excellent. As for the 951, it took me two to learn my lesson.

[Otter74]

Best is probably my '93 Sentra SE-R. 24 years and 220k miles and it's probably the most reliable thing I've owned. First non-maintenance or upgrade expense was a new starter at 185k and a water pump the next year. Great little sport sedan with a Great enthusiast community back in the day.

[SpyderMike]

Worst was a Jaguar XJ12...whoa momma, where do I start.

Best is between a 1999 Jeep Cherokee XJ with 160,00 miles with no issues and my 1985 Porsche 911 with 250,000 miles and very few issues along the way.

[petrolhead611]

Worst is a tough contest.
Maybe the Austin A40 Farina that rusted as you looked at it.
Or the Berkeley B105,my first sportscar that accelerated and cornered well enough to beat an ex-works Mini Cooper to the university perimeter Road lap record( after which exploit the authorities put in speed bumps) but suffered scuttle shake like you have never imagined, was a maintenance hog, and so badly engineered it should never have been allowed on the road
The Morris 1000 van which despite having only 28 bhp suffered axle tramp when accelerating away from rest,and had the brake master cylinder in the chassis frame.When that leaked I sold it rather than attempt to put a new one in.
Or the Renault Extra Van that got through clutch cables every few months because of a design fault.
But, the best car was also a Renault,a petrol engined 1990 Espace which I sold still running well after 450000 miles but which I had maintained well from new.That thing was used mainly as a van,loaded to the roof with merchandise, or carrying my prokart, and driven hard for very long distances almost every day for 9 years,in comfort.I got my money's worth,thats for sure and enjoyed driving it when not loaded up, as it handled very well.

[WPOZZZ]

Worst: 88 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. Accelerated like a snail, stopped even slower.
Best: 80 911sc Weissach. Restored that car and loved it. Only sold it to fund a renovation.

[jshape]

Worst - by FAR - was a 1967 Fiat 850 Spyder.

Best was maybe my 1996 Infiniti Q45.

[T77911S]

best- 86 930. I stand to double my investment at this point.
worst- 93 grand Cherokee limited. bought it at night. big mistake. traded in my Cherokee sport (low miles). should have kept the sport.

[GH85Carrera]

I started driving in the early 70s.

My first car was a 1960 VW Bug. Second car, 1973 Super Bug. Third car 1974 914 2.0 Fourth car, 1986 El Camino. Fifth car, 1895 911 Carrera. Of those 5 cars I still own the Elky and the 911.

So my worst car I guess was the 1960 VW. 36 HP is scary slow and with 125,000 miles it was likely 25 HP. No AC and pitiful heater and pitiful brakes. No gas gauge at all.

Best is a toss up between my two current cars. I have personally put over 300,000 miles on the Elky and just 90,000 on the 911 since I bought it. Both are worth more than I paid for them.

Now I have to admit my list is slanted a bit. My wife has had several cars in the 25 years we have been married and my name is on the title so technically they are my cars, but I consider them to be her cars. Right now she has a 2017 Porsche Macan. She is almost up to 600 miles on it.

[matthewb0051]

Its easier just to say the worst:

Chevy Vega Wagon
Chevy Nova 1973ish - it got me everywhere for my HS and college years but was junk
Dodge Omni that I got for free
Mercury Sable
Jeep Cherokee Sport
BMW X5

And the winner for worst by a long shot:

VOLVO XC90 - it ate brakes, tires, turbos, window switches and TRANSMISSIONS...seriously, if I had wanted an American car I would have bought one, no idea that Volvo used GM transmissions. We got the car used with 50k miles and it needed a trans within 6 months. It turns out that was the second one in its short life. We finally got rid of that thing after it needed tires again after about a year after the last set of new tires. Owned it for around 4 years and will NEVER go back to the brand.

[Seahawk]

By far my favorite. I'd still have it had I not been run off the road ten years ago.

[KevinTodd]

Over 30 cars in my life so far--but from a purely objective standpoint, with all things considered:

Worst: Super easy....1993 Dodge Intrepid ES. This thing was a great looker, had every option available, and handled like it was on rails. The only small problem was that the transmission exploded with the car barely two months off the lot. The dealer could not have cared less; replaced the tranny under warranty after having the car for nearly three weeks. Second tranny disintegrates also. Finally had to invoke the lemon law to get my money back--after this massive POS left me stranded for the umpteeth time. Vowed to never again own a MoPar--at least a Dodge, anyway.

Best: Hard to decide here as I have had amazing results with several vehicles. A few standouts: '85 Carrera, '86 E30, '06 Infinity G35, '06 Honda Element (yes--I'm serious--I still have this car and it is an all-around winner), and so far I'm digging my '17 Macan.

[RF5BPilot]

Worst: In about 1972, Motor Trend's Car of the Year was the Chevy Vega. Based on that, bought one as my first ever new car. WORST car I ever owned. Limited power. Unreliable. Awkward acceleration and manual transmission. Dealership assured me it would get better once the car was broken in. B.S. Stopped reading MT and never gave any credence to their Car of the Year choices after that. Wife decided that she liked it, so she drove it for a while. Left her stranded by the highway with a hole in the engine block and truckers who felt she needed to offer sexual favors for them to take her to the next service station. Great.

Best: Couple years later, bought a European version, '69 911S. Wonderful car. Sold it when I was headed to grad school. Unfortunate choice--but it's what I needed at that time. Car would have suffered either at school or on blocks. But the small block engine really liked to rev; longer wheel base handled well. I've had 5 911's over the years. That one had the best combination of performance, ergonomics and ride. Purchase price: $4250. Now worth a little more than that.

[bleucamaro]

Best: 2005 Subaru STi - Darn near bulletproof. I put 150k on it, auto-crossed it countless times, It was super reliable, performed REALLY good, was very forgiving, always made me smile driving it, yep, the best.

Worst: 2006 Mercedes E55 AMG - Really great car also, super powerful, fast, handled good, quiet, luxurious. Really expensive to keep, I always worried something would break on it, and I took a bath when I sold it.