What are your best and/or worst car purchases?

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by 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.

I was trying not to be Subaru biased about my best purchase (why I posted the RS4 instead), but I 100% agree with you here. I have a GD as well (2004). I just replaced the first light bulb on it. Only took 13 years. Got any pictures of yours?

[epbrown]

The worst was the first: a 1973 Chevy Vega I bought while in high school. The best vehicle wouldn't be a car, but my first motorcycle, a 1978 Honda CB400T. Fun, cheap to maintain and also rock solid transportation. Best car? Along the same lines, the best car would be my E46 325i manual with sport package.

[Jeff Higgins]

I think my '93 Land Cruiser is probably the best vehicle I've ever owned. The build quality, design quality, comfort, safety, utility, and capability are second to none. It's loaded with every option then available, including leather, air, sunroof, third row seating, locking rear, center, and front differentials, dealer installed winch and brush guard, and some stuff I'm probably forgetting. That, and it's Katie approved:



My very worst was a mid '80's Thunderbird. Automatic, V-6, commuter slug. I can't even remember exactly what year it was. Bought new, driven three or four years, and finally donated to charity. I just could not, in good conscience, take anyone's money for that thing. Just a horrible car. In sharp contrast, a '93 Tempo (also bought new) went for 13 years and well over 200,000 miles with no more than routine maintenance. Great little car.

Honorable mention goes to the Subaru Outback wagon that replaced the Tempo in 2006. My wife's next car will be that year's model of this car, whenever "that year" comes to replace it.

[swbstudios]

Best-hard to say after owning about four hundred cars.
Some stand outs-68 Ferrari 330 GTC, 73 911S, Lamborghini 400GT,69 427 Corvette,70 Challenger
Worst-Lexus LS400-simply an awful barge that I couldn't wait to unload-not very reliable either.

Current favorites:67 Corvette-has no difficulty running with my friends and their hot rodded 911s. And, of course, my 67 911.

[KNS]

Not the worst car but I simply hated it: 1982 Honda Prelude, which is odd because I replaced it with a 1989 Prelude which I loved and wished I still had, very well made.

Best all around car: 2004 BMW 325i with manual Sport Package. Still have it with 211,000 miles. Drives fantastic and nothing ever seems to go wrong with it. Amazes me how good it is.

Most pleasurable to drive: 1995 993, I have to pinch myself every time I get out of it.

[Typical Fish]

1990 Mustang Convertible LX (all the GT parts without the extra plastic) with a 5.0 and a five speed. The only mods were a cold air intake, headers, decent wheels and rubber, and subframe connectors. The most fun I've ever had with my clothes on.

[dw1]

Best: 1996 SAAB 900SE turbo (manual trans)
This was by far the best combination of performance, utility, and economy of any car I've ever driven. It was the car that turned me on to European-style luxury performance. It had some minor mods (sport exhaust, modified wastegate,) which boosted the HP a bit but didn't hurt the fuel economy off-boost. I got rid of it when it had lots of miles and SAAB was going under. I miss it more than any car, truck or motorcycle I ever owned (and I've owned quite a few).


Worst: 2007 Mercedes-Benz C230 Sport
Purchased as certified pre-owned. Not a bad car, but what happened after I traded it in makes it by far the worst, and most expensive. I traded it in (after having it for about 5 years and taking VERY good care of it) to an adjacent state MB dealer who had a specific CPO car I wanted (and still have). It then went through several people's hands and ended up being sold by a wholesaler and then a roadside independent used car dealer in my state. The new owner (who paid WAY too much and never got a PPI ) had problems with it and hired a scumbag lawyer to sue everyone. Long story short, because lawyers are scum and NJ CFA allows almost anyone to sue anybody about anything, everyone involved had to pay legalized extortion money to settle the case at mediation as an alternative to continue to pay $$$$$ to our respective lawyers even though the plaintiff had no case.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by swbstudios

Best-hard to say after owning about four hundred cars.
Some stand outs-68 Ferrari 330 GTC, 73 911S, Lamborghini 400GT,69 427 Corvette,HARD STOP

Your signature line includes a 69 ZL-1. There were about 3 or 4 of them made. Please, please do tell!!

[kanadary]

Best. 71 datsun 510, bought for $300 in high school, sold for $450 while in university. Got a 73 914 1.7.
Worst, from a cash loss point of view 94 325ic. Needed a new trans and top cause po had glued on the back plastic window and it cracked. Dumped it when my daughter got her license for something reliable

[epbrown]

Originally Posted by kanadary

Best. 71 datsun 510, bought for $300 in high school, sold for $450 while in university.

I'm still salty about this. Notice above that my first car was a Chevy Vega - considered one of the worst cars in history. My first choice on the lot was a clean Datsun 510 manual, asking the same money. I wasn't allowed to buy it because it wasn't American-made.

Between this and my brother advising me not to get a Porsche 944 when I was 25 and starting to make good money, I ignore my family when it comes to car/motorcycle advice.

[techweenie]

Worst: 1990 325i bought brand new.

My list of things wrong with the car never seemed to shrink. I'd leave it at the dealership and pick it up when "done" and it would be the same. Must've made more than 20 trips to get it fixed. Finally wrote to the president of BMW USA who sent the regional service manager to meet me. I pointed out the engine bucking and flopping around at idle (it always felt like it was about to die). He said 'that's not so bad, look at this one/ and started another 325 that bucked and flopped worse.

Also, the dealer treatment always reflected that I'd bought the next-to-cheapest car they sold. The lot boys used it to shuttle to the dirt lot where they were keeping customer cars. My car was black and always was filthy when I picked it up.

Over the course of less than a year, 3 different people ran into that car. 1 had insurance.

Best: 1973.5 T sunroof coupe bought in '77. Silver with full lobster leather interior including sport seats.

[oilcan]

Worst:
2011 Dodge Dakoda. The last year they produced this lemon. Should have known better.
Kept this truck like it was a child. Always clean & mechanically taken-care of.
Once it hit 72K it was a monthly annuity for my wrench.
A piece of defecation.
Got rid of it while it had value to someone else.

[oilcan]

Best:
1073 volks/porsche 914 3.0 if my memory serves. There were 1.6 & 1.7's as I recall- but it was the best of that bunch. One hell of a lot of fun circiuting Watkins Glen once a year. Nothing like driving the "boot" & uphill out of it to a nice left at the top.
Great driving car. I kept it until I realized that the frame was about to giveway. Sold it far away from me so that no one I knew would be saddled with it. I guess the frame was reparable. Should have done it, in retrospect.

[fanaudical]

I'll preface this with the statement that all my vehicles have been acquired used. I'm only going to rate the daily drivers (the 911 doesn't count).

WORST: '87 Subaru GL Wagon 4WD -Gutless, carb kept failing, transmission shifted funny, didn't handle well, parts were expensive and hard to find (and I owned this in the nineties), interior fit/finish sub-par, limited traction in the snow even when the 4WD was turned on. Goofy ergonomics - everything seemed to operated backward from what I expected. That car and I didn't get along.

BEST: '92 Audi 100 - Plenty of power, would cruise effortlessly all day at 75-80mph and get 30mpg (in the days before ethanol gas), comfortable, solid, handled very well and great traction in inclement weather (and snow) although it was only FWD. Repairs were few and far between. This car was easy to maintain and almost always a joy to drive. I kept this one almost 20 years.

Somewhere in-between (in order from bad to good):


'99 Audi A6 Avant
'66 Dodge pickup
'76 Audi Fox (kept this one 20+ years - got into a lot of trouble/fun with this little car...)
'07 Dodge 1500 pickup
'01 Audi A6 Avant

[Ngrich99]

267k all original. Electric diff lockers front rear and center. Over engineered and I love it. Paid 2k 10 years ago, bone stock but neglected. It never lets me down.

I have many close seconds, my current '79 Sc, Audi 4000 Quattro, Audi 90 Quattro, my current Audi all road with 6 speed and a chip, '75 BMW 2002, multiple 2nd gen rx-7s with full cages set up for gravel, first car the 77 dodge tradesman cargo van...

[onewhippedpuppy]

I sorta forgot my 1991 FJ80 Land Cruiser. On the short list for me, and a car I wish I had never sold.

[Thumper]

best and worst in 1969 sold my bonneville record holding 65 Z16 COPO Malibu to buy a '56 speedster for $1100.00
the day I got the speedster dropped a valve murdered the engine took me a year to save enough to rebuild it.. Sold it for $2500.00 to get a car I could drive to college.
Speedster value now astronomical.. COPO Malibu value now $250K +
Multiple hotrods porsches and race cars later
Daily driving "Menu" my '67 912.
When in doubt gas it.. it won't help but it ends the suspense

[SiberianDVM]

Worst (picked by wife): 1973 Mercury Capri, with the 2.0L and auto trans. Wouldn't listen to me and get the V6 and manual. As soon as the warranty was out, both rear side windows fell out and shattered, the interior leatherette split in a thousand places, the drivers seat back mechanism stripped, and the carburator failed. She had to walk home in August heat on that last one, and we traded soon after.

Worst (picked by me): 2008 335xi coupe, CPO, bought from CarMax. Drove great on test drive, bought it and they filled up the gas tank. On the way home, it missed like crazy for 20 miles, then smoothed out and ran great. Then it began to throw CELs. And it missed violently for 20 miles after every fill up. The only way to avoid this was to fill it slooooooowly. BMW could never "replicate the problem" Then it went through 2 fuel pumps. As soon as the CPO warranty ran out, I sold it back to CarMax.

Best: 2006 Acura RSX Type-S. My DD, with close to 200,000 miles, and only routine service. It just had its 50th oil change.

[Rich76_911s]

Worst car: I have 2 in no particular order

1980 911sc.

I was absolutely green when I bought this car. Found it on the classified here. It was a complete piece of junk. Had been in on big rear end accident. Had rust through the door jams, through the front bumper mounts, and the bottom of the windshield. Yoy name it, it was broken. It was my introduction to the hard knocks of porsche ownership. Only good that came of it is I learned a lot and probably broke even on it after parting it out.



1969 911e

No fault of the cars, but it was a terrible period of my life.

Best: 1987 930

Got it from a great PO. Rebuilt the engine myself (knew it needed it going in). And I've had my kids in it and have been able to share the joys and tribulations of vintage cars with them. I hope to have it for a long time, and want to create a lot of family memories with it. I'm glad the interior is beat up because I don't have to worry about them climbing all over it.

[A930Rocket]

Best:

My 87 930 and my 01 F150. Had the F150 for 13 years and only replaced the trans, alternator, and fuel pump late in its life of 225k miles.

Worst:

06 Mercedes R350. Ran good for several years until the engine needed rebuilding at 100k. Not worth a rebuild so we traded it in. We'll never buy another MB again.