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I've got a bit of a list. The longest I've ever kept a vehicle has been 2 years. My best one was my 1996 Mits. Eclipse Gsx. Loved it. My first car. Fun to drive went a little racing back in the day. My worse...well it would have to have been my 99 SAAB 9-5 unfortunately. Beautiful car but very expensive to fix. Alot of electrical problems.
Worst: 1989 Ford Escort. Can you say Crap? Purchased the little piece of crap band new, and had more problems with that thing. Electric problems up the wazoo, fuel and waterpump died after only a few years, heck, I took good care of that car and was forever taking it to the mechanic. The fuel and temp gauges would go wild and facillate up and down. Yeah....good riddance. I left that thing in Hawaii with my ex husband.
Best: It's a tie. 1987 Honda Civic. Purchased it used with 53K miles on it for $3000 cash from a widow who only drove it back and forth to work for years. I LOVED that car. Never broke down on me and I was hard on it. Did not change the oil regularly and drove it in the hot, dry, West Texas weather. In fact, when I went on active duty with the Air National Guard, I left that thing parked for a year and when I returned, it started like a champ! The only reason I got rid of it was because I was moving cross country solo and didn't want the hassle of transporting a second car because I had just purchased my other best and current car: 1997 Toyota, Corolla, manual tranny. Just a great, great car, NO issues, (only had to replace the power steering belt) do regular maint, puchased the thing used with 58K miles. Now, with gas as expensive as it is, there are days I think about my Honda Civic (we went through ALOT) together and wish I just would have hauled it with me as a back up car instead of donating it to Catholic Family Services, but....oh well.
I think I posted my worst vehicle before but my wife and I bought a new Kia Optima for my son to get back and forth to school in thinking that the 10 year warranty was a plus. I would never buy another Asian car, Decent looks and powerful enough but Asian electronics was something I didn't take into consideration. The car is in the shop because of faulty electronics at least twice a year and has since new. It was under $20,000 but not worth it.
My dad, however, had a 1977 Oldsmobile Omega (sometimes known as the Chevy Nova) which blew its aluminum-block V6 engine at 56,000 miles... and he was not a hard driver. Any car that blows its engine at 56,000 miles is CRAP with a capital C-R-A-P.
I never have heard of an aluminum 3.8 liter Buick engine in a 77 Olds Omega (which is what V6 was used in those cars), I'm pretty sure they were all cast iron. Seems like the 3.8's were hit or miss until the '84 time frame.
Worst: 86 Chevy Cavalier. Problem after problem after problem. Anything from a alternator that blew with 40K miles on the car, to a rear oil seal that busted, to bad CV joints.... UGH. I cant believe I kept the car for a year. Whatta piece!!!
Best: 96 Toyota Paseo. I had the car for 7 years, put over 150K on it, drove the **** out of it too. Only thing that ever broke on it was a o2 sensor, which I replaced for $45 (dealer discount... muhuhahaha). I did a clutch and 2 brake jobs and had to adjust the e-brake once too (no thanks to all the winter drifting we do), but those were normal wear and tear repairs. 7 years and $45 later, it was the best car Ive ever owned. Wouldnt mind getting another one if they werent so hard to find (2nd gen).
My worst was an '86 Pontiac Sunbird - same POS as your Cavalier. At one year, it was regularly in the shop. From what I recall, I replaced the clutch, alternator, heater core, A/C (twice), shocks at 2 years, muffler every two years, entire engine had to be rebuilt, some ball bearings in the front axle, one wiper stopped working, dash lights went out, electric windows stopped working, tilt wheel broke, and who knows what else. I finally traded it (dumped it) in 1993, a total, worthless POS at 7 years old with 80K miles on it. I can't believe I put that many miles on it! I've never owned a GM since.
Best so far was a 2000 Nissan Sentra. I just traded it a couple months ago, but I put 70K miles on it and nothing went wrong - just the usual maintenance and it was never in the shop. Now I have a Prius.
Well, I've had two cars last less than two days. One was a Pontiac Sunbird--had the head gasket redone...and I just blew it AGAIN. The other was a Ford Taurus...didn't even get it HOME before it went on me. The owner sold me a lemon...and refunded my money!
I guess the best I had was a Mercury Zephyr...got to about 105 mph on it. Rode nice too.
Best by far (though I haven't had many cars) is a 2002 Ford Focus. It was an ex-rental car and I got it at 44,000 miles in 2004. I am now at 112,000 miles and I have yet to have a single problem with it. Normal things that need switching out obviously, but it has been a dream and Ford has earned my business for the forseeable future.
Also, the lack of filling it up constantly and the low cost to do it is great. I think it was one of the best purchases in my lifetime. I think we paid something around $8,000 in 2004 for it.
Best: For fun, the 1988 BMW M3, no doubt.
Best daily driver and economy, the 82 Scirocco, bought for $1000 and while I have done some upgrade work, it's an interesting to drive, 35MPG car that will cruise 80 if you want (OK, probably more like 33MPG if you hold 80) good handling, reliable, easy to work on!
Honorable mention and best in snow: 92 Subaru Legacy that is the "wife's car". Except when it needs something, then it's all mine again! Great in the light snow we get here.
Worst: 1981 VW Diesel Dasher. Had the crankshaft cam belt pulley work loose, valves hit pistons, but not hard, got that fixed, then it sucked a valve, stupidly, fixed that too, then it threw a rod (!) and I junked it. I didn't drive it all that hard either. It wasn't very fast, but it sure was slow.
Worst: 1970's Plymouth Horizon..tin can with wheels, a friend leaned on it once and left a dent!!!
Best: 1988 Manual Honda Accord. Sold it for a van because we had a baby.
Wish I had kept it.. Loved that car!!!
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