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Which car models have you bought BRAND NEW that you have regretted and acknowledge it was a mistake? Why do you feel this way? How long did you own it and how did you get rid of it?
I bought a 81 ford F-150. It was a standard shift and never shifted right. I wasted a lot of time but eventually returned it under lemon law for refund. Then went and bought a Chevy Silverado I drove for years then my brother bought it and drove for years. Had about 250K when he got rid of it.
Which car models have you bought BRAND NEW that you have regretted and acknowledge it was a mistake? Why do you feel this way? How long did you own it and how did you get rid of it?
1981 Ford EXP.
Complete piece of crap that miserably failed mechanically and rusted out. By 35K, it was trash.
My dad was a Ford Guy and that was it.
I was still living at home at the time so he wouldn't allow a foreign car to be parked at his house.
I could've gotten what I really wanted, a '78 BMW 320i for less. Talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse!
The bright side is he was never allowed to give me any car advice again, ever. He would get reminded.
Interesting story... I was looking to replace it in '83.
There was a guy that had a beautiful '81 Eldorado. White with red tufted leather. I still love the proportions of those cars.
Yes, it had the infamous 8-6-4 engine. He was even willing to take that crap EXP as part trade.
The 8-6-4 was even working, seamlessly, I might add. But I suspected he was having a lot of 8-6-4 trouble.
Had I known what I know now, I probably would've bought it and disabled the 8-6-4. Then you have a nice iron block 368.
I ended up buying a '81 Maxima instead. It had a few issues, but overall it was a very good car.
I didn't hold it against Ford for too long. I bought a '85 Merkur XR4Ti in '87 and own a '89 today.
I feel that any car I buy brand new would be a mistake. I've owned many cars (Honda, Nissan, Infiniti, BMW, Ford, Hyundai) and generally buy something that's 3-5 years used because most of the depreciation has taken its toll. If you find a clean example with under 60k miles you can enjoy a relatively new car and pay peanuts for it compared to price as new. The first car I bought new was a 2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T RSPEC and while I have no complaints about the car (it was great to own, a non stop attention getter on the road and at gas stations) I upgraded to a used fully loaded 2010 Hyundai Genesis Sedan V8 and only paid $16k for it with under 60k miles. This was a 45k+ car when new and here I was buying it for $10k less than I paid for my new Coupe. I should have waited to buy a used Coupe or got something else used in the meantime because the depreciation hit is ridiculous on most cars outside of a limited number of special cases (Toyota Tacomas, Jeep Wranglers, Subaru STi's, etc).
1981 Ford EXP.
Complete piece of crap that miserably failed mechanically and rusted out. By 35K, it was trash.
My dad was a Ford Guy and that was it.
I was still living at home at the time so he wouldn't allow a foreign car to be parked at his house.
I could've gotten what I really wanted, a '78 BMW 320i for less. Talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse!
The bright side is he was never allowed to give me any car advice again, ever. He would get reminded.
Interesting story... I was looking to replace it in '83.
There was a guy that had a beautiful '81 Eldorado. White with red tufted leather. I still love the proportions of those cars.
Yes, it had the infamous 8-6-4 engine. He was even willing to take that crap EXP as part trade.
The 8-6-4 was even working, seamlessly, I might add. But I suspected he was having a lot of 8-6-4 trouble.
Had I known what I know now, I probably would've bought it and disabled the 8-6-4. Then you have a nice iron block 368.
I ended up buying a '81 Maxima instead. It had a few issues, but overall it was a very good car.
I didn't hold it against Ford for too long. I bought a '85 Merkur XR4Ti in '87 and own a '89 today.
One thing the EXP did have was some interesting styling over the Escort but the second Gen 85-88 EXP were pretty neat and pretty solid like a Ford version of a Honda CRX
eaton53 to bad you never picked up a Mercury Capri RS 5.0 EFI with a Tremec T-5 5-speed that would of been interesting back in the early-mid 80's but also pretty reliable since they were just rebadged version of Fox-body Mustang and today they are pretty rare to come across.
One thing the EXP did have was some interesting styling over the Escort but the second Gen 85-88 EXP were pretty neat and pretty solid like a Ford version of a Honda CRX
Besides very radical styling for that time, a Merkur was in a whole 'nother league compared to any FWD Ford.
They also had their share of problems, like chucking trannies and heaters that didn't heat.
But I really loved that car. It was fast and it rode & handled beautifully. I've got one of the best examples in existence.
I had a Mustang 5.0 convertible for a rental in '86. Hot car, but too square... I wanted some radical aero!
Besides very radical styling for that time, a Merkur was in a whole 'nother league compared to any FWD Ford.
They also had their share of problems, like chucking trannies and heaters that didn't heat.
But I really loved that car. It was fast and it rode & handled beautifully. I've got one of the best examples in existence.
I not sure but did the Merkur XR4Ti share alot with the SVO Mustang and Ford T-bird Turbo Coupe of the same era?
I not sure but did the Merkur XR4Ti share alot with the SVO Mustang and Ford T-bird Turbo Coupe of the same era?
2.3 turbo. 175 hp with a 5 speed manual.
The Merkur was faster by being smaller and lighter. It was a hot car for its day.
Definitely a sub-7 second to 60 car if you were a good shifter. I learned to shift on mine.
It could even take an automatic Z28. They would ask "what the heck is in that thing??"
When I let people try it out it got instant respect.
None. Thanks to the internet I would extensively research a new vehicle purchase. I'm not going to be one to go and trade a vehicle in taking a multi thousand dollar loss over something trivial... I better be darned sure I like it before I buy it.
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