Best car you have owned long -term

[gedcruise]

Okay, I don't want to see this thread devolve into a GM vs Ford vs Toyota vs Honda slugfest, so here are the rules:

You have owned the car at least ten years

OR

You have driven the car at least 150K

Based upon the above criteria, the best car we have ever owned was a 1986 Honda Civic Wagovan. We bought it new, drove it past 200K, and had nothing along the way that was not either maintenance or a cheap repair. A great car in all respects.

Now, what have all of you had good experience with?

 

[simple_gifts]

1984 impala, driven by me from 77K to 218K; Only one thing "broke"

 

[Chris142]

78 Toyota pickup. Bought with 92K and sold with 284K. Still had original engine and trans in it.

68 Intl Scout. Would go anywhere. Always got me home, usually pulling a broken Jeep behind me and it ran the same with or w/o a Jeep in tow.

 

[andyd]

I bought my 88 BMW 528e with 150k miles on it in 7/96. It now has 338k miles on it. No major repairs, just a coupla water pumps, 3 timing belts, a set of used injectors. 3-4 sets of plugs. I cleaned about 1/4 cup of sludge out of the valve cover when curiosity drove me to adjust the valves at 330kmiles. That is the furthest Ive gotten into the engine. I used to observe 3kmile OCIs. EM dino 20w50 and A-Zone filters. Since joining BITOG, Ive switched to Super tech and extended the OCI to 4-5kmiles. The car hasnt seen a "professional" mechanic in 7 yrs. I maintain it in my driveway with basic handtools, a manual and a multimeter. It's getting pretty rusty, so I bought another to replace it. I'm fixing a little road rash and going through it. If I can hold off the spousal unit, I want to run my current car to 400k before I pull the plug.

 

[JohnBrowning]

1986 Toyota 4Runner I sold it last year. It had been in my family since 1986! It is still on the road I sold it to a friend that takes it off road every weekend!

 

[ScottB]

So far, a '96 RAV4 two-door.
One timing belt. And it was 20k after the recommended interval.

 

[rszappa1]

1989 Plymouth Acclaim with the 2.5 turbo. Drove it until 1999 when i purchased the pile of junk called the Ford Contour...The Acclaim had 210,000 miles on it....Oringinal head gasket and turbo...great car...

 

[nysentra]

93 sentra had it for 12 years & 145k miles, great little car. It was feed a steady diet of mobil 1 5w-30 along with a oem nissan oil filter. New owner says it still runs like a champ.

 

[Bebop367]

1975 Ford Maverick with 250 cu. in. straight six. Had it 13.5 years & 210,000 miles. Never any make up oil. No major repairs not even a clutch. Use Havoline 10w40. Did go thru a number of alternators.

 

[NJC]

1984 Honda Accord: Bought in 1998 with 140K miles and currently has 212K miles. VERY cheap to operate; roughly $1400 in repairs and I've been able to do 95% at home.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

1994 Plymouth Voyager 2.5 Mitsubishi engine. Now has 160K with all original parts excluding belts, tune-up parts, brakes, tires and battery. Even the struts and exhaust are still original.

 

[TallPaul]

1992 Ford Aerostar 3.0 V6. Bought in 1995 with 27,000 miles. Now has 118,000 miles.

 

[BradC]

1989 Chevy Cavalier RS Coupe 2.8L V6 5-speed.

Bought it new, drove it for 189,000 kms.

 

[Kernel Potter]

Triple Se7en,

The 2.5 liter in 1994 Chrysler Mini-vans is not a Mitsubishi. It's a Chrysler designed engine.

This wouldn't be the typical, subconscious, anti-American automaker bias would it? It seems of all the engines in Chrysler mini-vans, the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6 is by far the the least reliable and most troublesome

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/22.html

 

[WOOCHOW]

1984 Mazda 626LX went a little more than 150,000 miles before it basically rusted to death. Only major repairs was a head gasket and a couple of wheel bearings. Lasted about 8 years.

 

[Earl Filter]

1988 Pontiac Bonneville. Mom bought new, and we drove it to 188k miles. The paint fell off, but the interior was still in good shape when sold. Engine never had a valve cover off, and the trans was original. The A/C still worked, and it had 1 can of good ol' R12 added in its entire life. Had one alternator put on. Oil was changed regularly, probably with whatever they were putting in at WalMart or other equally #@$%! place. Mom bought a '91 slightly used with similar results. Currently I drive her '98 with 105k on it, and I owned a '97 as well. Only things to look for seem to be alternators, and the infamous upper intake leak on the early-mid '90s up to 2000. I changed the upper intake and gasket and lower intake gasket on both the '97 and '98. It's about 4 hours worth, and maybe $180 including a complete new upper intake.

 

[buster]

2001 Corolla. Traded it in with 180k miles on it. Nothing ever went wrong with it.

 

[cb450sc]

1989 Mitsubishi Galant. Purchased it with 5000 on it and traded it in with 299,920 on it. Had it for 14 years. I wanted to drive around to see it click over 300000 but also wanted to get in my new (to me) Honda Civic Hybrid!

 

[Pablo]

Any of my Volvos but best was my 1985 245Ti. (240 wagon turbo intercooled)

Turbo 4, with enough mods to make this a sleeper.
Ugly enough that I could slip by a cop at 85 mph and he (and his radar would read 55 mph)
Got decent MPG for the power (25-27 mpg)
Pull trailers.
Left me stranded only once in 270,000 miles (main electric fuel pump died with zero warning)
Got my ash out of trouble many, many times.
It was my buddy through very hard times and very great times.
Hauled my goods when I was forced to move - hauled all the food and beer up over the mountains for a full extended family retreat.
Easy to work on. Parts were common and not that expensive.
Never had the head off, consumed only small amount of oil. Replaced the turbo once.
Handled great in the snow with the right tires and weight in the back.
I miss that car.

 

[tyrannosaurusrex8888]

1989 Chrysler 5th Avenue. 304,000 miles.