My experience with vehicles over the last 40 years

[mrvmax]

Thoughts on vehicles I have owned over the last 40 years.
I have owned 32 vehicles (as far as I can recall) over the last 40 years, 13 of those were bought new from the dealer. I have owned motorcycles, cars, trucks and SUV’s. I have owned Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Buick, GMC, Nissan, Honda, Subaru, Mercury, Toyota, Saturn, MG, Ford and Lexus. Maybe more, I probably forgot some.

My 2007 Honda Accord SE V6 was the best so far with only a battery change in 100k miles. At 100k I took it to the dealer for timing belt and water pump. It came back from the dealer with an oil leak and I got mad and sold it to a friend. His daughter drove it for 15k and it developed a valve cover leak. He decided to change the spark plugs and found #1 plug stripped. Looking back it was the dealer that did it. I replaced the plugs twice on that car in the 100k I owned it (not that it needed it but I like ot do that stuff) and I am 100 certain the threads were good. He said the valve train was super clean, I stated using synthetic at 1000 miles and changed the oil and filter very 3k on it. The V6 felt like it had plenty of power for any situation, passing at 70 mph was no issue.

Subaru’s were the worst with problems with 3 out of 4 brand new ones I bought.

The Lexus drove the best, the Grand Marquis was a close second in ride quality. My 4Runners will most likely take the place of most reliable but I need to get another 50-60k on them to compare. I was disappointed in the 21 Tacoma TRD Off Road I bought new. The auto transmission would search constantly for the right gear and it just felt small compared to my 19 4Runner. So, I traded it for the 23 4Runner.

I miss my OBS Powerstrokes, I wish I would have kept my 96 F350 four door long bed. I bought that used when there was no ultra low sulfur diesel and diesel was $1 a gallon. It got a consistent 17 mpg as long as I kept it under 65. I could drive it pedal to the floor or baby it and as long as it was under 65 the mileage was the same. I backed into a Corolla into a parking lot, pushed up the Corolla onto the sidewalk and could not even feel it. I heard what sounded like an aluminum can crushing and looked back to see I had hit it. One time it developed a leak on a plug on the back of the head on the passenger side. I guess International used that for something that Ford did not need. They red loctite those at the factory and it is a beas to get out. No room for a wrench between it and the firewall. I got it and sure enough the o-ring was bad. Oil pours out of those when there is a leak. FYI an IDI starter will not work on these. Oreilly gave me the wrong one and it ate the teeth off the flex plate. They paid for that repair.

Auto prices have gotten outrageous, if you are buying new, research and buy the best you can and keep it. Selling it every few years is throwing away money. I have thrown a lot away over the years. If you want a new truck, wait until later this year to buy. I think oil prices will spike and gas will too. If that happened there will be deals on new and used trucks, nobody will want them for a while and every dealer will be trying to dump them.

I may buy one more new car before I die, right now I am considering a hybrid Corolla for retirement. I will keep my two 4Runners and have that to travel in and run errands. I would buy a Tesla but I am unsure of how long Tesla will be around.

My last used purchase may be a motorcycle or classic car when i retire. I may pick up a used truck if gas prices skyrocket. I would like an older Dodge or Ford with the V10 or maybe even an Excursion with the V10. If I can find a good used one with under 150k on it.

So what have you owned? What was best and what was worst? Which one kept you alive in accidents? I have never been in an accident so I cannot tell you that out of what i have owned. What would you buy again?

 

[Capt W]

Interesting breakdown with a similar ownership timeline, as I am 56 and bought my first car at 16. I've owned 43 cars over that span (mostly cheaper cars in my youth), but have significantly mellowed with regard to car purchases over the past few decades and am wholly committed to keeping what I have for the foreseeable future. My last two new car purchases were in 2009 and 2014 (a Charger R/T and Town & Country, respectively), both of which were cash deals. We still have the Charger with 44K miles and we passed the T&C to a family member.

While there were far too many to detail here, the best vehicle I ever owned was a base model 4-cylinder 2005 Caravan I bought new while TDY in San Antonio. It stickered for a hair over $20K, but was featured during a President's Day sale for $13,995. We kept that van for just over 20 years and 265K miles with nothing more than regular maintenance. Aside from a few early warranty claims, I performed every bit of maintenance myself, including three timing belt/water pump jobs. We raised all three of our kids with that van as the primary hauler; they were quite upset when we finally sold it for $1500.

Being stationed in the St. Louis area for 7+ years took a real toll on the rockers, causing four very large rust holes. After years of looking for a viable replacement, I finally found a base model 2007 van (also a 4-cylinder) in San Jose last fall. As luck would have it, the van was very close to our oldest son's duty station, so we flew out and drove it home. It's an 80K-miler one owner for which we gave $4600. No rot and low miles means it'll be in the stable for a long, long while.

My daily driver is an '86 Daytona I found in Virginia while TDY. It was a neglected non-runner that cost me more to ship than the meager purchase price. It was a 44K-mile one-owner that quickly became a good runner (new timing belt and logic module). Over the past 15 years I used Rock Auto parts to refresh virtually everything on the car, to include ice-cold A/C. I could drive it across the country today with no concerns.

I'm obviously well past the point of caring what others think. I'll keep driving my old stuff with their negligible insurance premiums while saving my money. The ability to repair and maintain my own fleet is obviously a key factor in this strategy.

Over such a long time period, we all have a car or two we wish we hadn't sold (in retrospect). For me, the first was a 1972 Malibu "Heavy Chevy," orange with a 307 and three-speed manual (on the tree). It was very cool in how plain it was, except for the color and decals. The other was a 1987 Taurus MT-5 sedan. Slow as molasses, but did OK with the 5-speed and was just a super comfortable car that got impressive gas mileage for the size of the car. There were others, but these are the ones I'd really like back.

At 56, a new car is not in the equation. If the need arises, I can rebuild what I have. And living back in TX means rot isn't an issue.

And like any other car nut, there are a few models I'm always seeking: a first-gen ('84-'86) Chrysler minivan (wood grain and stick-shift preferred) and an early-80s Camaro or Firebird with the Iron Duke 4-cylinder (these were so underpowered and dumb that I have to have one...if that makes sense).

Nice topic!

 

[Pew]

Almost a car a year, that's crazy. I'm on my third car in 16 years of driving, an Evo, mk3 focus, and now the cx5; only buying them when something catastrophic happens and repairing costs way more than the value of the car (blown engine in Evo x2 and focus.). Four cars if including my mom's minivan when I started driving lol. Five if including my sister's fusion I used for three months after the focus blew it's engine.

What I would choose again, when including today's cost of gas and such would be the focus. Three spark plugs and simple to work with since drivetrain parts are majorally mk1 focus. I still like the features of the cx5 but seeing how gas prices are I miss having 40mpg. I miss having a sedan and will probably go back once this cx5 dies.

 

[Capt W]

Just a different world these days. In the 80s and 90s, $500-$1000 cars were a dime-a-dozen.

 

[supton]

I'm almost 50 and I've owned 8 cars. 3 more if I add in the ones the wife had while married. I'm feeling behind...

I managed to own a VW for 11 years / 300k. I kinda miss it but I was also plugging rust holes on it--I should have kept it, but it would be gone by now. I do miss the 99 Camry that my daughter flipped & walked away from, that car was bought cheaply and then run cheaply; probably my best vehicle of the lot.

 

[Allaned]

I'm different as a keeper of cars longer. In 44 years, I've bought 6 new ones and still have the last one I bought in 2017, I did buy a few used ones for my children as needed.

But I am not a big driver. My commute to work was 6 miles. We made maybe one or two long distance trips/year (those would be 700 miles one way). I see people putting 150,000 miles on a vehicle in a few years: must be long commutes or using the vehicle needed for work. I was never in that category.

 

[Zee09]

I have lived the OPs life but with a bit more cars...my only vice....

 

[JTK]

Best I can recall, I'm at 26 daily driver vehicles over the past 37yrs. 9 were purchased new. I can think of maybe 3 that I took slightly beyond 100K miles. Nothing really notable. I never had any type of major mechanical problem or breakdown. I've slowed way down on my quick turnaround habit.

 

[mrvmax]

I will add, most of my car swapping was due to an irrational fear of break downs. When the cars got a few miles on them or I started having issues I got rid of them. I grew up poor and we always had issues with our cars breaking down and leaving us stranded. One time on a trip from the Midwest to South Texas the transmission gave out around Texarkana.

It took a while but I finally broke myself of that fear and just do my maintenance and don’t worry. Thinking back, I have made a lot of road trips and never broke down. I have only had a handful of flats and they were all close to home.

Buying and selling cars is a waste of money. Keep them until they are no longer worth fixing, them get another one.

 

[Passport1]

Long ago during my halcyon days I drove almost nothing but anglo cars, MG, Triumph, Austin, Jag, occasional early VWs. So I've been to automotive purgatory. My best car was a 1970 BMW 2002 bought new in 1970.

 

[NibbanaBanana]

When I was young and stupid I had a penchant for Jeeps, Scouts and four wheel drive pickups. Had a 1967 Scout that literally rusted right off the frame. It would crawl up a wall though. Wasted some money on them back in my twenties.

Then started viewing cars as a necessary method of transportation but a 100% capital loss. Didn't sell any more cars other than to the scrap yard after that. Best were the two Geo Metros I bought new and ran to 186K and 187K miles. Those cars made(save) me a lot of money. My 2006 Chevy Aveo is doing me good too at 271K miles. I had a 1990 Dodge telephone van which I bought used for $1400 with 102K miles. Had a 238 cubic inch V six industrial engine. That van was pretty darn good. Rusted to death as they all do here.

 

[CKN]

Thoughts on vehicles I have owned over the last 40 years.
I have owned 32 vehicles (as far as I can recall) over the last 40 years, 13 of those were bought new from the dealer. I have owned motorcycles, cars, trucks and SUV’s. I have owned Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Buick, GMC, Nissan, Honda, Subaru, Mercury, Toyota, Saturn, MG, Ford and Lexus. Maybe more, I probably forgot some.

My 2007 Honda Accord SE V6 was the best so far with only a battery change in 100k miles. At 100k I took it to the dealer for timing belt and water pump. It came back from the dealer with an oil leak and I got mad and sold it to a friend. His daughter drove it for 15k and it developed a valve cover leak. He decided to change the spark plugs and found #1 plug stripped. Looking back it was the dealer that did it. I replaced the plugs twice on that car in the 100k I owned it (not that it needed it but I like ot do that stuff) and I am 100 certain the threads were good. He said the valve train was super clean, I stated using synthetic at 1000 miles and changed the oil and filter very 3k on it. The V6 felt like it had plenty of power for any situation, passing at 70 mph was no issue.

Subaru’s were the worst with problems with 3 out of 4 brand new ones I bought.

The Lexus drove the best, the Grand Marquis was a close second in ride quality. My 4Runners will most likely take the place of most reliable but I need to get another 50-60k on them to compare. I was disappointed in the 21 Tacoma TRD Off Road I bought new. The auto transmission would search constantly for the right gear and it just felt small compared to my 19 4Runner. So, I traded it for the 23 4Runner.

I miss my OBS Powerstrokes, I wish I would have kept my 96 F350 four door long bed. I bought that used when there was no ultra low sulfur diesel and diesel was $1 a gallon. It got a consistent 17 mpg as long as I kept it under 65. I could drive it pedal to the floor or baby it and as long as it was under 65 the mileage was the same. I backed into a Corolla into a parking lot, pushed up the Corolla onto the sidewalk and could not even feel it. I heard what sounded like an aluminum can crushing and looked back to see I had hit it. One time it developed a leak on a plug on the back of the head on the passenger side. I guess International used that for something that Ford did not need. They red loctite those at the factory and it is a beas to get out. No room for a wrench between it and the firewall. I got it and sure enough the o-ring was bad. Oil pours out of those when there is a leak. FYI an IDI starter will not work on these. Oreilly gave me the wrong one and it ate the teeth off the flex plate. They paid for that repair.

Auto prices have gotten outrageous, if you are buying new, research and buy the best you can and keep it. Selling it every few years is throwing away money. I have thrown a lot away over the years. If you want a new truck, wait until later this year to buy. I think oil prices will spike and gas will too. If that happened there will be deals on new and used trucks, nobody will want them for a while and every dealer will be trying to dump them.

I may buy one more new car before I die, right now I am considering a hybrid Corolla for retirement. I will keep my two 4Runners and have that to travel in and run errands. I would buy a Tesla but I am unsure of how long Tesla will be around.

My last used purchase may be a motorcycle or classic car when i retire. I may pick up a used truck if gas prices skyrocket. I would like an older Dodge or Ford with the V10 or maybe even an Excursion with the V10. If I can find a good used one with under 150k on it.

So what have you owned? What was best and what was worst? Which one kept you alive in accidents? I have never been in an accident so I cannot tell you that out of what i have owned. What would you buy again?

I would be very weary of ingress/egress on any vehicle that I am considering for my last vehicle. Off my list would be the Accord, the Camry, Sonata, and the Corolla-and I am sure there are others. They are simply too low to the ground. I have read several articles that vehicle manufacturers consider the "hip swivel point" when designing CUV's. That's where I would be looking. JMHO. Unless of course you are fine specimen of a man at an elderly age and this is of very little concern to you.

 

[svtrit]

Interesting breakdown with a similar ownership timeline, as I am 56 and bought my first car at 16. I've owned 43 cars over that span (mostly cheaper cars in my youth), but have significantly mellowed with regard to car purchases over the past few decades and am wholly committed to keeping what I have for the foreseeable future. My last two new car purchases were in 2009 and 2014 (a Charger R/T and Town & Country, respectively), both of which were cash deals. We still have the Charger with 44K miles and we passed the T&C to a family member.

While there were far too many to detail here, the best vehicle I ever owned was a base model 4-cylinder 2005 Caravan I bought new while TDY in San Antonio. It stickered for a hair over $20K, but was featured during a President's Day sale for $13,995. We kept that van for just over 20 years and 265K miles with nothing more than regular maintenance. Aside from a few early warranty claims, I performed every bit of maintenance myself, including three timing belt/water pump jobs. We raised all three of our kids with that van as the primary hauler; they were quite upset when we finally sold it for $1500.

Being stationed in the St. Louis area for 7+ years took a real toll on the rockers, causing four very large rust holes. After years of looking for a viable replacement, I finally found a base model 2007 van (also a 4-cylinder) in San Jose last fall. As luck would have it, the van was very close to our oldest son's duty station, so we flew out and drove it home. It's an 80K-miler one owner for which we gave $4600. No rot and low miles means it'll be in the stable for a long, long while.

My daily driver is an '86 Daytona I found in Virginia while TDY. It was a neglected non-runner that cost me more to ship than the meager purchase price. It was a 44K-mile one-owner that quickly became a good runner (new timing belt and logic module). Over the past 15 years I used Rock Auto parts to refresh virtually everything on the car, to include ice-cold A/C. I could drive it across the country today with no concerns.

I'm obviously well past the point of caring what others think. I'll keep driving my old stuff with their negligible insurance premiums while saving my money. The ability to repair and maintain my own fleet is obviously a key factor in this strategy.

Over such a long time period, we all have a car or two we wish we hadn't sold (in retrospect). For me, the first was a 1972 Malibu "Heavy Chevy," orange with a 307 and three-speed manual (on the tree). It was very cool in how plain it was, except for the color and decals. The other was a 1987 Taurus MT-5 sedan. Slow as molasses, but did OK with the 5-speed and was just a super comfortable car that got impressive gas mileage for the size of the car. There were others, but these are the ones I'd really like back.

At 56, a new car is not in the equation. If the need arises, I can rebuild what I have. And living back in TX means rot isn't an issue.

And like any other car nut, there are a few models I'm always seeking: a first-gen ('84-'86) Chrysler minivan (wood grain and stick-shift preferred) and an early-80s Camaro or Firebird with the Iron Duke 4-cylinder (these were so underpowered and dumb that I have to have one...if that makes sense).

Nice topic!

I would love to find an 86 Shelby Charger or an IROC Daytona from the era. Around here they are junk.

I’m hoping our 25 Sienna goes a long while. We had an 02 Plymouth Voyager SWB that raised our kids and taught them how to drive. Rust is the only reason I don’t have it anymore. The new family was happy to find it as a well cared for 165k mile van that they could afford. I honestly wish I knew how it was doing these days.

My 2012 Routan was badly crashed by the owners after us in CO. I found it on an auction site after doing a vin search. I hated that van.

The only other vehicle I wish I knew what happened to is my 86 D150. I sold it to a high school kid who beat it to death and then sold it to the old scrap guy. You know the ones that drive around cutting up things for scrap? I’m guessing it died a hard death. I could probably find my 95 Jeep of I tried hard enough. My 2020 JLU took its place, but if I buy a project, it will be an old 40’s Jeep.

Thankfully having company assigned vehicles helped me get over becoming attached to cars.

 

[MCompact]

Since 1983 I’ve owned 12 BMWs. My favorites were a 1973 Bavaria, a 1975 2002, a 1987 535is, a 1988 M6 and the 1995 318ti Club Sport (which I have owned since new).
Other favorites include a 1974 Monte Carlo (which I built into a sleeper), a 1999 Wrangler Sahara, a 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 and my current daily a 2000 C43.
If/when I add something else it will likely be a classic BMW (1990 or earlier) or a classic or modern ponycar.
The C43 will be replaced by another Mercedes AMG coupe, sedan or wagon.

 

[Marcozi]

I think I'm older than most folk on this website. I've owned a total 7 cars in my lifetime. My first was a rebuilt (with odometer rolled back) '69 AH Sprite (a rebadged MG). Bought it in 1974. Drove it 6 months and ditched bc things keep breaking including a rear half shaft. Bought my first bimmer, a '71 2002. Needed front rotors. Got married and the girl I married couldn't drive a stick for her life. We bought an Old Cutlass. She got it in the divorce and I bought a 1980 320i in 1983. Good car, but the previous owner must have take a kazillion short trips as it knocked even using Amoco 9X gas. Drove it from Charleston, SC, to California. Knocking was fixed by the 3o00 mile highway trip. Sold it in 1985 and bought my first new bimmer, a 1985 325e. Great car for the highway. Cam went bad at 43k miles. BMW replaced it for free (the cam in some "ETA" engines wasn't properly hardened). Sold it in 2001 when I bough a new 2001 330Ci. Great car except it burned oil. Too bad I didn't know about VRP or other stuff. Sold it and bought my current car, a 2018 M240i.

My wife and I travel a lot and we rent car for a lot of trips. Worst car was a Mitsubishi with a 3 cylinder engine we rented in Florida. Next worst was 2018 Audi A5 wagon 2l FWD. Gutless.

 

[Pablo]

Our Toyotas including my 2019 have been flawless (contrary to NEWEST reportings)
Our Hondas have had lotsa niggly wesealy problems, once overcome seem indestructible.
Volvo (latest was 1996 though) bullet proof
GM rattlely
Subie WRX 2014 engine ok, really tinny throughout, 5 MT pure junk.

2025 Ford Transit 350 HD - good so far!! (Our first ever Ford)

In a short nutshell

 

[Zee09]

I will add, most of my car swapping was due to an irrational fear of break downs. When the cars got a few miles on them or I started having issues I got rid of them. I grew up poor and we always had issues with our cars breaking down and leaving us stranded. One time on a trip from the Midwest to South Texas the transmission gave out around Texarkana.

It took a while but I finally broke myself of that fear and just do my maintenance and don’t worry. Thinking back, I have made a lot of road trips and never broke down. I have only had a handful of flats and they were all close to home.

Buying and selling cars is a waste of money. Keep them until they are no longer worth fixing, them get another one.

Nothing weird about that......

I had a new car that got free maintenance and I was having back issues so I reluctantly took it in...

I got home and popped the hood...oil all over the engine cover and overfilled and no clean up and the coolant overflow cap was off and lost and to a car guy its like being violated.... I wanted to sell....

So you are not weird..

 

[meep]

I’ve been all over the map and they are a bit of a “lust of the eyes” or “pride of life” temptation for me.

Three P2 Volvos were favorite sedans.

Aluminum F150 2.7 EB was a really nice truck, first experience with ford, and I got frustrated with problems all coming from cheap plastic bits in critical places

93 Grand Cherokee was perhaps the most attached, but i got it too late in its life

I’ve had BMW lust for years but now that I could snag one for fun, the ones that are young enough to be in good shape are too complicated to maintain DIY very well.

We’ve had a few Hondas and have grown to want a nicer, quieter interior.

We have two Toyotas now, one as 5 star excellent and the other a mixed bag.

2 Gen IV Chrysler minivans that were great when we needed them.

A gen 1 tundra which was a steel workhorse and a gen4 Tacoma which I can’t tell if I define by the steel chassis or the complicated software. The wiper fluid alert came on yesterday. When it does that it blocks the center of the drivers cluster until you clear it. 10 seconds later the same error appears, 6” across on the infotainment with “cancel / dismiss / call dealer” buttons. Happened every time i started it. “Too much.” When Volvo otherthinks a design, it’s pretty cool, like hit recirc for 20 seconds after spraying the windshield. Cool. This complexity goes the wrong way in the Tacoma’s wiper fluid. /rant off

Had a Jeep WK and if i wanted a lifted 300 that was cool. As a rigid chassis for doing rough and tumble things …. Didn’t keep it long.

My problem is, when I become disenchanted with something, I can find reasons to not like it.

Wife’s 2024 Rav4H may be the best though-out and implemented vehicle we’ve over owned. It’s got a tight and solid design and implementation. I’m glad it’s hers because she tends to keep her vehicles a long time.

 

[AuthorEditor]

I've owned more than 15 cars over the last 47 years, and a couple of motorcycles. I won't go into all the gory details, but I have found I prefer smaller, lighter, simpler vehicles. My favorites were an old diesel VW Rabbit that I bought used for $200 with an odometer long ago broken at 155,000. I drove it 600 miles a week to work and back for a couple of years and then sold it back to the guy I bought it from for $200. In all that driving I only changed the oil a few times at cheapy lubes. No other work. Got 55mpg on the highway. I also owned an old VW Dasher wagon that was by far the best vehicle I have ever driven in snow and ice. Very balanced at high speeds, and great in deeep snow. Not sure what sets VWs apart in that regard, but they have all been exceptional in the winter dating back to my dad's VW vans I learned to drive on. One time the snow was over the hood of the Rabbit and I slowly pushed my way out down a long driveway parting the snow like a ship in the ocean. Now in my retirement I'm keeping my eye out for an older VW Golf or Rabbit in decent shape. I know VWs are prone to all sorts of problems, but I love the way they drive. I've driven a few recent cars and I just hate all the screens, the nagging safety features, the lack of visibility, and the lack of personality. Frankly, I can barely tell them apart without reading their badges.