May I ask....Why all the foreign vehicles?

[glastron_79]

In 1993, I bought a used '87 Civic. Never had a problem. Not even one. Moved to FL in 2000 with that Civic in tow and it still ran like a charm. I replaced it in 2001 because it had some rust from living up North and I simply wanted something newer. So, this '87 Civic was sold to a guy a few blocks away and it's STILL running in 2008! The guy did a little cosmetic work and had the rust removed and the car is in impeccable shape for its age.

I guess it's a classic now.

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by glastron_79

In 1993, I bought a used '87 Civic. Never had a problem. Not even one. Moved to FL in 2000 with that Civic in tow and it still ran like a charm. I replaced it in 2001 because it had some rust from living up North and I simply wanted something newer. So, this '87 Civic was sold to a guy a few blocks away and it's STILL running in 2008! The guy did a little cosmetic work and had the rust removed and the car is in impeccable shape for its age.

I guess it's a classic now.

My spouse and I had a similar experience with a '90 Acura Integra. We drove the tar out of that car for 15 years, then turned it over to a friend when we moved cross-country. Last I heard, it's still going strong. We replaced it with a used '98 Subaru, and it's not nearly as dependable. We plan to get rid of it shortly, because we live close enough to work that we require only one vehicle.

I drive a '99 Acura TL. It's never required anything other than regular maintenance. I love that car and plan to drive it until it absolutely falls apart on me, which I suspect will be for many more years.

[Jake Gittes]

I idiotically bought a new Dodge years ago thanks to an aggressive financing campaign....huge mistake. EVERYTHING went wrong with that car, and the dealership could have cared less. We've had a great deal of luck with Honda's and BMW's, we'll stick with them.

[zionvier]

I'm a firm believer that any vehicle can run for a very long time, no matter what make it is. With a few exceptions of course, because sometimes there's really just a horribly designed car that makes it to market.

My reason is because of my dad's vehicles he's had. He had an '88 Nissan Maxima wagon. He sold it to the company he owned for general use after it had about 320k miles on it. He then sold the company a couple years later to an employee/friend. The new owner then gave it to his mom to use. Last we heard (a few years ago) it had 480k miles on it and was still running strong.

When he got rid of the Nissan he got a used '93 Buick Century wagon that had 30k miles on it. He gave it away to a friends relative about 2 years ago that desperately needed a car. It had 530k miles on it when he gave it away. It's still running today, but I'm not sure how many miles they've added to the tally.

So, if you look at the last 15 years of my dad's driving, he's only on his 3rd car and has driven almost a million miles... he spends a lot of time in the car... averaging 45mph you'd have to drive for 24hours a day for 2 1/2 years.... plus however much time it takes to fill up the gas tank. I don't even want to guess at how much it's cost in gas, luckily gas was under $1 only 8 or 9 years ago.