Tell us about that vehicle that you loved!

[CharBaby]

More than any other car that I've owned(and I've had a few good ones), I currently have a car that I love and never want to get rid of it. I never want it to rust causing me to have to get rid of it.

'04 Nissan Altima 2.5S. It's a basic model with a few options(no ABS, Sun Roof, nor leather) and coming up on 10 years old. It's been super reliable even though this model shows issues in reliability surveys.

The plasticy interior is not in line with the rest of the car and panel fit/finish isn't where the better cars in it's class were even in '04. The drivetrain smoothness isn't what some others were but, doesn't suck either. BUT...

*I love this car!

*I love the color(polished pewter paint w/ 2 tone tan/cocoa interior).

*I love the seat comfort(all manual) and view outward in all directions, and It's pretty quiet inside the cabin.

*I love the back seat space for friends...My buddy and I sat back there while our wifes were in the front driving us around to dinner and movie.

*I love the tight/well weighted steering, brakes and ride/handling, power/MPG combo.(although cars/engines/mpg are getting better all the time).

*The head light brightness(w/o HID) are brilliant. They're aimed just right w/o having to use the brights often and, I don't get "FLASHED" by oncoming drivers.

*Night time driving is relaxing with my aging eyes and I always feel confident and secure. I don't drive this car like I stole it and maintain it very well. I do pass slower traffic with some WOT but, not all day, everyday!

*I love my tire choice, brake choice, and windshield wiper choice...all of which add to the splender of the driving experience.

Tell us about your ride...The one you never want to get rid of. OR...the one you wished you'd never had to get rid of. Like that perfect comfortable pair of boots, worn in jeans, favorite hat(no, I don't want to hear about those)

 

[CharBaby]

I just want to add that, it's about the everydayness of this car that I love so much. Not about it's all out capabilities and limits. I have summer only car for that. And my Altima actually has higher limits than my summer only car.

 

[CourierDriver]

Owned a 1972 Monte Carlo, good car. Although we have owned some Japanese cars through the years, well , just not the same...One of my favs, Dads 1952 Dodge truck....

 

[Rob_Roy]

1995 Lincoln Mark VIII. I have never had another car that comfortable. It was also quite powerful and got good fuel economy.

 

[eljefino]

Current car, 95 saturn wagon. I got it ten years ago as a "winter car" and didn't plan for it to last nearly this long.

It's in mediocre shape and neither currently insured nor registered as I have the plates and insurance on another project and am trying to control expenses. The inspection runs out next month but somehow it stays legal requiring little work if any every year. I tell myself and my wife that if it needs a ton of work it's out the door. But it darkens my driveway still.

I can't define what exactly makes it awesome... I'm just used to it.

I will plug that it has good visibility with big windows and narrow a-pillars, headlights that don't yellow, is great on gas and cheap to repair.

It handles/ understeers like a typical 1980s FWD junkbox. It's loud, has a bad turning radius, and I feel like I'm whipping its dinky motor going 70 on the freeway.

 

[spasm3]

1974 porsche/vw 914. Had fuel injection issues, the common vapor locking. But the car handled sooo well. It really would go around curves like it was on rails.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Mine is a tie between my 1996 Mitsubishi 3000GT and my current 1996 Nissan 300ZX. Both super fun to drive,as comfy as a luxury car,perfect ergonomics,built like tanks,and impeccably reliable.

 

[hypervish]

It's definitely got to be my RX300. It's been super reliable, a perfect model of what a Toyota/Lexus is all about. Extremely comfortable, quiet , ride's and drive's like new with 202k miles on it. I see this going another 10 years easily. The stereo kicks hard, and it's all stock! Interior quality is top notch, as can be expected from a Lexus.

 

[67lemans]

Without a doubt my 67 lemans. I bought it back in 02. It was white with a black vinyl top. It had a 2spd and a 350 poncho out of a 68. That car was the reason I met my wife. It wasnt too fast but it was fun to drive.
I once drove it from SC to NE and back and had no issues. Driving in the city and mountains was a little nerve racking with the drum brakes.
After we were married, I thought a GTO would be a better investment so I sold it and bought a basket case 67 GTO.
We also had an 04 Dodge SRT 4 (our first new car) and a 77 IH Scout. The SRT was her daily driver but she started having knee issues so we sold that. Sold the Scout when we moved and it was replaced with a 76 CJ5 that I want to get rid of.

 

[nwjones18]

It would be my 88 F-150 for sure. Been in the family since new and I've had it since I was 15. The truck has never left me anywhere and does everything I need a truck to do. I just like having a nice car to drive around and my old stick shift truck when I need it..

 

[maintenanceMan]

1980 Toyota hi-lux 4wd short bed. It was my first vehicle and I remember my dad buying it new in 1980. I finally got it in 1993 after having ridden in it while growing up. We rode it through pastures, mud, corn fields, good times and bad times. I even had some good college memories with it. Took it out to a real mud off-roading site and the preppy boys with their new wranglers could not hang at all.

 

[R80RS]

1971 Mercury Comet. 200 CI inline 6. It was my first car, had it in high school. I learned how to set breaker points on that car. Ran it to over 200k when my brother totaled it. He was OK, the car was a total loss.

 

[marc1]

1968 Buick GS400 – I had owned a few muscle cars before that one and have owned several after it but it was by far my favorite. I bought it in my last year of high school from the original owner; it had 43,000 miles on it. It was an automatic with a 3.64:1 limited slip special performance axle in it buckets / console and factory AM/FM. It was my daily driver / cruiser for almost 10 years. It was one of the fastest muscle cars I had ever owned up to that moment, tons of torque (perfect for stop light to stop light racing) and was extraordinarily reliable. I owned a Pontiac prior to this car and the interior, ride, bottom end torque, maintainability etc. was far superior in the Buick. This car took me and my wife across America numerous times… Orlando, Tennessee and area (twice), Corpus Christie / Houston, LA (twice), San Fran etc.… I put 70,000 miles on the car, trips, daily driving, picnics accessible via gravel roads and, of course, Division 6 NHRA track duty where I routinely made the quarter finals, the car was rock solid in bracket racing consistency. Around 86,000 miles I installed all dealer and NOS bought Stage 1 components on the car, camshaft, pushrods, springs and I had a local shop install the larger 1970 Stage 1 exhaust valves (1.75”). I also freshened up the rest of the engine at that time. The car was stored for several years while I went to University. Around 100,000 miles it started to show the classic early THM400 center support issue so I took the transmission out and retro fitted the center support fix and installed a B&M stage 2 shift kit at that time. The car was the most reliable muscle car I ever owned, I had a set of points go bad on vacation once, it was an easy fix by the side of the road, we had driven from Alberta to Florida and it was on the way home, there were over 5000 miles on that set, and being a 3.64 geared car, lots of revs. I changed to Accel 32oz points with a 6000 mile schedule and never had another issue. Mid 90’s Some cancer had developed in the usual spots… lower front fenders, lower quarters… worse was the rad support under the battery tray, a common trouble spot, battery acid etc.… a 1968 GS400 is neither desirable or rare in the muscle car world so it made no sense to me to spend zillions restoring the car so I sold it for $2800. I went on to own some every nice muscle cars, including a very rare real original PHS 1970 Judge with a RAIV 4 speed (that I just sold), the most valuable car I have ever owned and I will tell you this… that car could not hold a candle to my 1968 GS400 in terms of reliability, fit and finish and even street torque. However, without question the Judge got a lot more attention than the Buick. I have seen the car once since I sold it over 20 years ago, it was in Penticton BC, looked like the owner had fixed the rust etc. however I didn’t hang around to talk. Old cruising friends periodically reported sightings but I never followed up. I have moved on but that was the best car I ever owned.

 

[LargeCarManX2]

I had three...

66 Chevy Nova with a 327 and 4 speed Rockcrusher transmission.

67 Plymouth Barracuda 318 and 727 transmission.

71 Datsun 510 with 4 speed transmission.

 

[ecotourist]

'81 Toyota Celica 5 spd liftback. Had it for 10 years. Passed it on to my daughter who eventually sold it for far more than I thought it was worth.

The day before she sold it I took it for a drive. It still felt "just right".

It was (mechanically) practically bullet proof. [It rusted where the stainless steel wheel arch trim touched the steel body. The lower models didn't have them and did much better.]

Room enough for a small family. Reasonable performance. Good gas milesage. Never used oil. Easy to work on. What more could you ask?

I'd buy a new one if Toyota still sold them.

Ecotourist

 

[synthetic_crazy]

I love my '09 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. The car handles like a dream and accelerates very nicely. I have always had an affinity for the looks of these cars ... sorry to see Ford discontinue them. The amount of abuse these cars can take and still run for 300k to 500k is amazing.

The 4.6 sounds so nice on acceleration ... there is simply no other car I would rather drive!!!

 

[dparm]

I love my current M3 and never want to get rid of it.

The other car that I really loved and regret selling was my S2000. I'll likely buy another as a weekend car at some point. I only owned it for a year but it was just a joy to drive. Not a burnout machine but very capable and just so connected and balanced.

 

[fxrider]

Mine was a 1978 Blue Z-28 Camaro 350/auto loved that car.

 

[supton]

I sorta loved my first truck, but it was my first vehicle.

I have had a love hate relationship with my Jetta. With the exception of traction control it is about optioned as I would like it. Most of the fancy options have not given me grief either. Great mpg, great ride, all that. But when it was broken... Hate to see it go but is no longer quite the vehicle I need or want.

 

[SLCraig]

Char, I enjoyed reading your post.... Why? Because I would say the top car on my list would be my 2002 Altima 3.5SE w/MT trans.

The car was good looking, comfortable, reliable, and FAST. That thing had zero issues liquifying the front tires through first and into second gear, yet it rode amazingly well and comfortable on the highway. I miss it all the time, but I sold it when I was going back to school, so it was for a good reason. Would have kept it longer otherwise. It was lady owned before I had it, and not a scratch or dent anywhere in it's beautiful pearl white paint. Great car.

My other one would probably be my 1996 Saturn SL2 which I saved from death. When I bought it the drivers door was broken (split in the frame, power window regulator was almost falling off) had major clutch issues, and a loud timing chain. I replaced everything it needed and drove it for 2 years afterwards. My friend still drives it to this day. He reports at 17 years old he has zero issues with it and still drives it daily. If I could I would buy it back from him, the thing was so much fun to drive, it's like a go-kart with the fun little DOHC engine.

Ahh I love thinking about my old friends, I get so attached.