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2014 Toyota Highlander. I loved it. Great car. Great Price. Would lease it again.
2016 Toyota 4runner SR5 Premium. My wife loves it. Me, not so much. We are putting tons of miles on it. Would definitely buy it again. Don't think the Limited is worth the price premium or else it would be nice to have the additional features.
2017 Honda Pilot. Lease on the Highlander ended. Leased a Pilot instead. Pilot's are terrible to lease. Not worth the premium over the Highlander. However, at the time the Highlander wasn't leasing well either which is why we got the Pilot. I like the Pilot. My wife doesn't. However super smooth transaction cause the dealer was a friend.
From the perspective of "My life situation changed and I wish I'd gone a different direction" or from a "I bought the Ford and I really wish I bought the Chevy as the Ford's been a nightmare?"
For better and worse with now 90,000 miles on the Prius the only character it's developed is body damage. By 90,000 miles the Mazda3 had developed some character. It drove a bit different, had some more rattles, sometimes didn't want to start (fuel pump). Prius basically still feels new, other than cosmetic wear and tear from city driving. It's kind of nice to own a car and feel those changes. Even the Accord I had before the Mazda3 broke in and developed its own uniqueness that made it mine even though the only thing that broke on it was the LCD backlight on the clock, which I can't say for the Mazda3. Prius is just... uneventful. The perfect toaster.
On the one hand, it's very nice owning a toaster. It's uneventful and sometimes you just don't want eventful. On the other hand, well, it's uneventful. Sometimes you do. Rather than get rid of it, I'll probably keep driving it a few more years, drop the full coverage and go buy something else. Best of both worlds. Toaster when you want a toaster, character when you want character. Right now I have the bikes but I've barely ridden them in the last year. I think I'm just over it so I'll probably get something stupid with four wheels. Maybe a 996, maybe a Cayman, maybe another S2000. Student loans and car payment both are done in another year and a few months which will free up some discretionary income so I could justify it. Right now I wouldn't be comfortable with it.
Having a toaster of an automobile is a good thing, a very good thing.
I had a Porsche 911 turbo before. Definitely not a toaster. Very fun car to drive, but stuff breaks and maintenance and repairs costs $$. You're looking at $3-4k maintenance per year at least, and budget an additional $7-10k if something catastrophic happens to the transmission which is known to needing rebuilds.
Keep the Prius. Get a S2000 or ITR if you want something fun with four wheels.
That same Subaru sales rep who told me this summer that I am an atypical buyer also told me that no one wants manual transmissions anymore,no one knows how to drive them, and that Subaru is only making one manual car for every 40 automatics coming off the line. He said I could still special order a 5-speed Forester, but that it was very unlikely any local Subaru dealership would have a manual transmission car in any model sitting on their lot to test drive.
One in 40!?!?!?!
What is this world coming to?
P.S. Both of my boys, now 23 and 20, learned to drive a stick and passed their driver's license tests driving my Subaru because we only have the one car. They are the only ones among their friends who can. Another life skill being lost to the ages.
But is it really a life skill if you don't need it anymore? Sure, it was a life skill in 1980. And I suppose if you need to rent a car in Europe it would be useful (although even there the people working at car rental places know you're an American and will go out of their way to find an automatic on the lot for you so you don't tear up their transmissions).
But in 2018? I learned how to drive a manual when I was 16 for that "life skill" but haven't driven a manual since in nearly 2 decades. And there hasn't been a compelling reason to do so. I can think of a lot of life skills that would be a lot more useful for teenagers to learn going forward to be quite honest.
30 years from now, people might laugh at how people in the old days used to call automatics automatics... when those are the new manuals. Because when people say "automatic" they mean driven without human input.
From the perspective of "My life situation changed and I wish I'd gone a different direction" or from a "I bought the Ford and I really wish I bought the Chevy as the Ford's been a nightmare?"
I would. Got 2 bullit proof vehicles thus far. 2011 Infiniti QX56 all the options in it. 81k miles never failed or needed anything but routine servicing. I did have timing chain replaced under recall. I had no issues before as I changed our every 3750 miles which avoided the issue.
2014 LS460 L AWD. Aother flawless car at 4 Yeats and 41k miles. It's big roomy and comfy.
I'm retired and both are great on long road trips.
I bought a new 2017 Toyota Corolla in February 2017. I love the car. I traded in a 2005 Corolla that was truly trouble-free the twelve years I had it. I only bought two batteries and two sets of tires and NO repairs were needed. I only traded it in because I am getting old and traffic is worsening here so wanted an automatic transmission instead of a manual. I absolutely LOVE the CVT in the new Corolla. This car actually gets better MPG than the '05 model with the stick!
I got a new 2015 Chevy Cruze Diesel right after the VW scandal hit.
Diesels had instantly become sales kryptonite. I got it for less than $20K with every option.
We've been very happy with it. A couple of recalls, but no problems... it gets great mileage and has lots of torque.
We drove one of the new 1.6 diesels and they are DOGS by comparison. The 2.0 has a lot more power.
My 2011 Eclipse Spyder has been nearly perfect.
Only regret is that GM didn't bring the Buick Cascada over in 2013 when it was released in Europe.
I would've waited a year and would be driving one today if it were available.
In had been considering small SUVs but couldn't get past the gas mileage (I was coming from a Honda Civic and previous similarly sized cars.)
When, in 2014, I found a CPO 2011 Acura TSX Sportwagon, I was done. D-O-N-E! Completely smitten! It's 4 years later, and she has just over 100,000 miles on her. The guys stop and stare. The service people always tell me how nice a ride she is. And I rarely ever see others on the road! She's a head turner and drives like a dream! I've been trying to find anything else I love as much (in my price point) as a "plan B" in case something happens to her, but I just can't see any other vehicle matching my wagon unless I win the lottery.
The last vehicles I have purchased, I would buy again. One was a Lexus LX that was purchased from the original owner (my mother) with only 12k miles on it, as it was her go in all winter weather vehicle, since she replaced it with a new one.
I also bought a Volvo S60 AWD and would buy another one. This one replaced a Volvo S60 AWD that I keep in Manhattan, and has very low mileage, that I shifted to DC. I wanted a Macan, but the shuffling in the garage and extra fees for luxury insurance and SUV size, on a Macan, more than doubled my garage maintenance, so I opted to get another Volvo. I was going to buy a Cayenne Hybrid that was CPO and less expensive than the Volvo, but would still be hit with "luxury" maintenance because the brand/model is on the garage manager's list. They even charge SUV rates for a Forester, so it wasn't worth the argument in the long run.
A few months ago, I bought an Acura RL on the spur of the moment. I was dropping off another car for service, and saw the car having the plates taken off. Since my car was not yet out of the car wash, I was chatting with the lot porter as he swapped the plates on to a new MDX. I asked about the RL and found out it had very very low mileage, about 22k, and saw the couple who traded it, upper middle aged range and they matched the car that was perfect and garage kept. I could not resist it since my mother has one that has been nothing but reliable, and it's less ostentatious than a Mercedes, yet the interior is well appointed and comfortable. I didn't need the car, but couldn't let it pass.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
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