Best and Worse Cars you have driven (rental, vehicle, convertible)

[minibrings]

What cars have you driven in the past?
Of these which were the top 3 best cars and top 3 worse cars and why?

Here is my list (CARS I HAVE OWNED)
AUDI: 1990 100
MERCURY: 1984 Topaz
MERCEDES: 1978 300 CD
MINI: 2004 Cooper S, 2006 Cooper S convertible
PEUGEOT: 1992 405mi16, 1992 505 DL wagon, 1989 505 turbo wagon, 1984 505 S, 1986 505 GL
SAAB: 1978 99GLE, 1995 900 SE CON'T, 2003 9-5 ARC
SUBARU: 1979 DL, 1999 FORESTER, 2001 FORESTER
VOLVO: 1984 240 DL
VOLKSWAGEN: 1982 Scirocco

BEST (TOP 3 IN NO ORDER)
1. 1992 Peugeot 405mi16 - fast, comfortable, beautiful to look at, reliable
2. 2006 MINI COOPER S convertible - fast and fun, made you and others smile
3. 1984 Volvo 240 - plain but reliable, character, had major front end accident at 190,000 miles and it still ran. Loved it so, it had a name

WORSE (TOP 3 IN NO ORDER)
1. 1978 Saab 99GLE - pain to work on, liked to leak everywhere, not always reliable
2. 1995 Saab 900 SE convertible - timing belt needed change every 30,000 miles, clutch cable broke and left me stranded, lots of problems covered by warranty with the top, and oil pump
3. 1984 Topaz - mechanicals, not fun to drive

[grannynancy]

Cars in my adult life

1973 Dodge Dart, my first car-too expensive sold it and rode my bike
??Mazda with the rotary engine-a little disaster of a car
1971-Karmann Ghia We loved that car but it broke down a lot [but we could fix it with just about anything]
19?? VW Beetle - I bought it for $50 to deliver newspapers and sold it for $100 for parts
1980 Volvo 240D - solid reliable - but when it started needing work it got expensive
19881/2 Ford Escort - one tough little sucker - we abused it and it treated us well
1994 Plymouth Voyager - took us and the kids everywhere then became my husbands work van
1996 Ford Explorer still have it as a run around town vehicle
1995 Chevy Astro - my husband's work van
2007 Toyota Tundra - my splurge truck

I don't really know which are best which are worst - some were more reliable and others had more personality. The car that won the personality contest hands down was the Karmann Ghia - we had most of our early marraige adventures in that car but we parted with it after we had kids, became concerned with safety and switched over to the volvo. I mean, you sat UNDER the gas tank! But what a fun little car to drive.

[studedude]

I won't list all the cars I've owned. It's late and I don't want to spend that long typing. The three best cars would be;

1953 Studebaker Commander, 406 cu in Chevy V8, 6.29 sec 1/8 mile @ 115 MPH

1966 Chevy II SS, 350 cu in V8, 11.40 1/4 mi @ 122 MPH

1964 Plymouth Belvidere 426 Hemi. 10.4 1/4 mi @ 132 MPH

I'm a drag racer, handling and comfort not needed.

Among the junk I have driven would be;

1969 Sunbeam Alpine Fastback, not the neat, quick V8 sports car, Maxwell Smart drove. It was a 4 cyl, 2 side draft solex carb model that would not get out of its own way. I had a plastic piping system that I could use to inject eather, from inside the car, so it would start in the winter.

1953 Buick Roadmaster. While driving down the street in Urbana IL the fuel tank straps rusted through and the tank fell on the street. This was also the vehicle that got me a warning ticket for driving with bad shocks. Lever action rear shocks did not work at all. It would bounce for 1 or 2 min after it stopped.

1994 Kia Sephia. Rental car in CA. I was given the opportunity to drive one of the first of it's kind in the u US and give my opinion. With 4 adults this turd could not maintain 55MPH in the hills around LA. I did neutral drops, in a wet parking lot, and could not spin the front wheels. I gave them my opinion, they sold them anyway.

[Colddiamond102]

Best- 1996 Buick Regal with the 3800 Series II engine. Great gas mileage, minimal maintenance, 180,000 miles and still going strong.
I love my lil car...

Worst- 2002 Dodge Durango. I fall out of it, we've already had to replace the tranny, it can't keep turn signals, eats gas like its cheap....I HATE this car/POS.

[fnord]

Worst: 1987 Isuzu Trooper I bought (in 2001) to go camping/exploring. Clutch cable broke a week after I bought it, stranding me in Mexico. A few months later, was driving in snow, put it in 4WD, and it got stuck - wouldn't get out of gear. Finally it just wouldn't run anymore and it was determined it needed a new engine and transmission. Bye bye. I sold it to someone for $100. My poor judgement, I only blame myself - but to this day every day I see an Isuzu Trooper I shout at it.

Best: 1996 Toyota Tacoma. Very expensive but well worth it. Most reliable vehicle I've ever had, only had one mechanical failure in 3 years. Sold it and broke even.

[Colddiamond102]

Originally Posted by fnord

Worst: 1987 Isuzu Trooper I bought (in 2001) to go camping/exploring. Clutch cable broke a week after I bought it, stranding me in Mexico. A few months later, was driving in snow, put it in 4WD, and it got stuck - wouldn't get out of gear. Finally it just wouldn't run anymore and it was determined it needed a new engine and transmission. Bye bye. I sold it to someone for $100. My poor judgement, I only blame myself - but to this day every day I see an Isuzu Trooper I shout at it.

Best: 1996 Toyota Tacoma. Very expensive but well worth it. Most reliable vehicle I've ever had, only had one mechanical failure in 3 years. Sold it and broke even.

LOL so if I see someone in their car shouting at a nearby Izuzu, I'll wave to you..

[fierce_flawless]

Best:

Toyota Previa van (both of them!)
Honda Civic
my "bitchin' Camaro" ... in high school, even though it got like 10 MPG
my (still running) 1982 Datsun (i forget the model) that I paid $500 for

Worst:

Volkswagen Dasher (arrrgh!)
Ford Taurus wagon
Chrysler Sebring Convertible

[Steve_TN]

Best:

2008 Jeep Wrangler. I love this thing. Even if it proves to be a POS, I love it's "fun factor".

1991 Plymouth Sundance. Great to drive and extremely comfortable. It had it's share of problems, but I still loved it.

1986 Chevrolet Sprint. My first car. I bought it brand new for $6200. It was a 3 cylinder. Never gave any trouble and Lord knows I drove the crap out of it.

Worst:

1994 Honda Civic. Problem after problem after problem. I hated that car! It was so uncomfortable too. Like sitting in a bathtub.

1999 Saturn SL1. I inherited it through marriage. What a piece of junk! Everything in that car felt like plastic!

1995 Ford Thunderbird. The "Thunderbomb". It was a nice ride that leaked every possible fluid it could. Piece of complete garbage.

[square peg]

Good cars:

I had 4 Buick LeSabres 1989-1991 and all were very reliable. The 3.8s were a great motor and a great fit for the car. Loved those stainless exhausts. Looked like old lady cars, though.

I've also had a slew of Volvo 240s and loved every one of them. A bit quirky, but then so am I. Such comfortable seats - could drive them all day, and I still have a 92 wagon.

Volvo 850 - perhaps the best used car on the market today - cheap! Great ride, all the comforts of home and close to 30 mpg. Have one now and will buy another. Drawback: so many failed AC units and usually not an easy fix. (mine still works!) Probably reason #1 why their so inexpensive.

Audi 90 - same 2.8 they put in the 100 but 1000 lbs. lighter. Fun Fun Fun! Proved to be a little too much fun for the missus as she totalled it.


Horrible cars:

76 and 78 Fiat Spyder 124s (I didn't learn my lesson the 1st time) When they ran, I had a blast - when they ran. They really were fun to drive and quite sexy. Something was always busted though.

87 Ford Tempo - Couldn't keep an alternator belt on this car to save my life. They just kept flying off like rubber bands. Kinda inconvenient.

91 Ranger 4x4. The 2.8 with a 5 speed was pretty neat. (when it was new) Couldn't carry anything substantial in the back. It needed front hubs at 20k. I'd still take it over an S-10.

[IonRedline08]

For me, and nothing too exciting here

Nissan 350Z- Owned it, loved it, kicking myself everyday for getting rid of it

Audi A4 Turbo- Awesome car, loved driving it, was a friend of mines, a complete and total POS though

Scion tC- Another car i had and got rid of ... Loved that car!