What car of yours "paid you back" the best? (rental, insurance)

[PullMyFinger]

We all know cars are a huge expense with the depreciation, maintenance and insurance ect. What car have you owned that you really believe paid you back the best?

I've had some turkeys in my day no doubt. My worst was my '88 Pontiac Grand Prix I bought brand new (impulse purchase off the showfloor). It was a nice looking car-white with grey interior and nice aluminum wheels. Very eye catching car. It had the crappy 2.8 liter V6 in it so it was a dog. Transmission was a nightmare, went out 3 times in 2 years. We took a vacation to Florida and I had to rent a car cause I didn't trust that Grand Prix with 30K on it to drive that far.

Traded it in 3 years after buying it and took a beating on the trade in.

My best was probably my '99 Taurus. I bought it off a lot where they purchased like 30 of the same models from Avis as rental returns. They were all the same price--$14,000 firm. All one year old and with a full warranty. Most of them had around 20K on the odometer. I found one with less than 6K. Same price. I drove that car for 5 years and put 120K on it and no repair costs except tires and brakes. Sold it to a buddy for $4,000 as it still looked and drove like new. That was probably my best overall car ever considering all costs ect.

[Checkered24]

I bought a 1988 Fiero in 1997, for $2,850, owned it 13 years, drove it 100,000 miles (had 160K on the clock) and sold it for $500 when the engine spun a bearing. I did replace some stuff (alternator, heater core, those kind of things) but it never needed major work. I doubt I will ever find a car that will cost me so little to own again.

[MustangEater82]

Going to have to say my 2000 3.8L v6 camaro 5-speed. My G6 might be next but haven't had it long enough(msrp $21800, got it for $16,500, had since new, detailed records, everything works great but its only 5 years 66k miles, I could get $9-10k maybe for it, its in excellent condition, paint is perfect)

Wife had a z24 cavalier, I had a 2007 G6, We had a kid, she totes the kid around more so she got the 4 door G6, I took the Cavalier.

In defense the thing only got fluids and few other things for the life off the car(she got it with like 20k miles on it) It had about 100k miles and was 11 years old. I moved up for work, it started leaking coolant in two spots. The transmission harness apparrently is known to be a bit tight. It had an open that caused the tranny to shift at full pressure, at every shift. I just unplugged and replugged the harness and it worked. Usually its the connector in the tranny which requires pulling the tranny to fix. Thent he fuel pump went out.

Either way I was living in work paid hotel, and traveling home on the weekends for about 2 months. The car was too unreliable to trust 1000 miles a week.

So I went out and bought my 2000 v6 3.8L camaro 5-speed. Picked it up with 105k for $2k.

I re-clear coated the nose, did new heatercore, clutch, flywheel, hydraulics, pads, rotors, fluids, belt tensioner and shocks. Runs great, got 23.5 mpg on my last tank, I filled up on today. I have $3,000 into the car total. I sold the falling apart Cavalier that was too small for me for $2500. It has some pep, a hatchback is invaluable, been a great car.

I have had it over a year, and put 12k on it, and seems to be fine. Probably could sell it for more then I have into it. Like $3500-4k around here.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/304696_10150298828298802_533343801_7964478_1233987 895_n.jpg (broken link)

[NJGOAT]

My GTO was the one that paid me back the best. I bought it during the firesale in October 2004 and got it for around $10k off sticker, so about $23k. I kept it for a little over 3 years and sold it for $15k in January of 2008 when those cars had a little resurgence in demand. I had so much fun in that car and have so many memories tied to it, that even if I had lost a ton, it would have still been worth it.

[duster1979]

My best payback came from a '92 Bonneville I bought from the dealership where I worked for $50 because it had a dead battery. In the year I drove it I put in a new water pump ($30), "dog bone" motor mount ($30), and front brake pads ($12). I sold it for $1200 when we bought my wife a newer car because it was worth more than the one she had been driving..

[Malibusurfer]

Best payback was two cars I've owned.
1965 Malibu Chevelle SS!!! Bought for $700, but about 5k into it and sold for over 20k!!! Just a few weeks ago sold a 1968 Porsche. Traded a (66) VW bug for it worth about 900. Put 4k into it and sold for almost 12k!! Of course I do most of the work myself (paint/body/minor mechanical). HUGE demand for old cars to the right buyers, and I find always funner to drive than new cars!!

[jtur88]

I bought an old Toyota station wagon for $800 as a second car, maybe about 8-10 years ago, I think it was an '89. It is still being passed around the family, falling into the hands of whomever needs wheels. Last I heard, my brother in law had it.

[CALGUY]

I would have to say my Dakota R/T.
I bought it new in 2002, for just under thirty grand, and in the ten years I have owned it, I only had to replace the starter a few months ago.
That is the only thing that has gone wrong with it in all these years.
It has only 54 thousand miles on it, and all in all, one hell of a truck.
Bob.

[Gimme3steps]

'67 Camaro. Bought it in '73 and still have it today.

[High_Plains_Retired]

By far the two least expensive vehicles I've ever had was a 1980 Toyota Camry and a 1990 Honda Accord. I think both of those cars would still be going had they not been totaled.