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Earlier today in my Celica Supra Mark II CC, I lamented about not buying a Supra instead of the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe I impulsively bought in 1983. How about you? With the benefit of hindsight, which one specific car purchase would you do over? What did you buy, and what should you have bought instead?
103 Comments on “QOTD: Which Car Buying Decision Would You Do Over Differently?...”
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Was going between an 85 300D and Eldo Biarritz, chose the Eldo should have bought the 300D. The MB would have lasted longer, the Eldo was pretty much shot at 74k and 11 years old. May even still have had the MB today.
Yeah, but you’d have traded the Benz the minute you got outrun by a kid on a bike, so it would have been a wash… :)
Seriously, my dad had a ’85 300D, and while I’m sure it’d have lasted as long as his repair budget held out, the whole diesel thing got REAL old after a while. Noisy, turbo-lagged, smoky and SLOW. He had it for about a year and dumped it.
I stupidly traded in a 2000 Ranger for a 2002 Nissan XTerra. Stupidest car buying decision ever. It’s mighty hard to haul around a toolbox in the back of an XTerra, and 2x4s are also a real pain in the buttocks. Not to mention the fact that the Nissan never really lived up to my expectations. I should still be driving that damn Ranger!
I would have bought the 1970 Barracuda convertible that was for sale for $4,500.00 at the time it was just another used car and I thought it was too much money. I bought a two year old 1986 T-Bird instead. I liked my T-bird but wtf was I thinking?
I would have bought the Yellow Dino back in 1982 and shipped it home from Germany and kept it forever. Instead I bought a thoroughly practical Opel Rekord.
’96 Lexus SC300. I found a local one and didn’t do the proper research on its history. It had a multitude of electrical problems, largely stemming from an integrated car phone that wasn’t installed properly. The interior fell apart, the trunk hinges failed, and when it failed an inspection due to the headlights not lining up properly, I discovered that the front had been wrecked and repaired very shoddily. I learned my lesson, never buy anything used without a full service history and clean title.
My wife didn’t like the way her Civic handled in the snow, and because we were young and insanely stupid we traded it in on a used Pontiac Montana, which shortly turned into a new Saturn ION purchase when gas prices spiked, which then morphed into a new Saturn Vue when the second child arrived. I just dropped $1000 in repairs on the Vue yesterday. We could have simply replaced the tires on the Civic and called it a day, but noooo…
Man, where to start……
2001 Durango- Nothing wrong with the truck (I liked it, actually). But buying it was the ex-wife’s idea (“for the family”)……she wanted it until she had to pay for it, after we split. So I ended up with it (and the payments).
1961 Ford 2 door post-sedan- Never buy anything your old man thinks is cool.
2001 Seville STS- My thinking at the time was that a top of the line GM product should have better durability than the half dozen Dodge Neons our family has owned over the years (all of them were pretty reliable, and anything that need fixed was easy to work on)
Silly me.
A better subject would be “Cars I should have bought, but didn’t”
In ’93 it was between a Saturn SL2 and an Acura Integer. I got the Saturn. The turning circle was huge, the engine had lots of NVH, and started burning oil at 17k (and it was a real pain dealing with Saturn on this, although I finally got a new engine for $700 at 65k–which still used a bit of oil and had bad NVH), and the car became very unreliable around 135k. Had I gotten the Integer, I might still be (happily) driving it, and if Acura still made the Integer, I’d probably get one. On the plus side for the Saturn, I miss those plastic panels. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/the-truth-about-saturn/
True confessions!! For years I’ve been hearing from you how much you loved your Saturn, and what a great car it was. David, did some slip you some truth serum, or is the passage of years having its effect?
Acura never made an “Integer”, (a naturally accuring number, ie 1,2,3) The made an Integra.
@ MBella – I’d check my own spelling before dogpiling Mr. Holzman about his!
@ David, I’d hazard a guess that if you had bought that Integra you’d still be driving it, depending on the type of mileage you drive. My ’96 had over 170k when I sold it in ’04. Shoulda kept the damn thing.
Back in the fall of 88, I had some cash saved up,and I wanted a 4/4 long box pick up. The 89 S15 nicely optioned was $1800 less than the full size V8 Sierra,with a few less options. However an 88 Sierra demo could be had for the same price as the 89 S15.
I bought the S15……..big mistake,one I lived with for nine long years.
I’m a little too young to regret my sole car buying decision so far, but I know the one my parents regret most is buying the ’86 Ford Taurus Wagon. Only lasted five frustrating years, but led to the ’91 Volvo 740 Wagon that lasted until 2004. However, that purchase led to my Dad having to get rid of the bright red ’90 Acura Integra 4-door, manual of course. Dad always regretted not finding a way to keep that car.
’05 Jeep Wrangler. They’ve been making them forever, and it’s a pretty simple machine, so I figured they’d have them down. Mine was garbage on wheels. In the shop 5 times the first year for various engine maladies. Developed “death wobble” the dealer couldn’t fix. Traded it in for a used SAAB 93 which was a much better vehicle. That tells you how bad the Jeep was.
This is not me, but my mother. Being trustworthy and naive, she paid cash for a car and didn’t get a receipt. It was a used car, but nonetheless. Perhaps it was 5000 dollars or so. A couple of days later, the salesman phoned and asked how we were doing with the car, and asked why we hadn’t transferred his money yet to his bankaccount. My mother, perplexed, phoned everybody, the lawyer, the police. It didn’t matter that we had several witnesses, there was nothing we could do. The police knew that the guy was a fraudster, but there wasn’t anything they could do. So, she had to pay double. Always get a receipt, guys and girls…
2004 F150, bought used in 2006. I should have looked longer and bought a mid size truck. I’d use less fuel and likely drive it a little more. I don’t commute with it but there are times that I hate that the truck is basically useless for anything but serious truck needing jobs. A stripped Ranger standard cab with a manual transmission would have been more like a Swiss Army Knife then the large butcher knife I bought.
I had a 2007 Lexus IS250 6-speed manual. I liked pretty much everything about the car except for the clutch, which sounded like a jar of marbles once everything got warmed up.
After about three months, I nagged Lexus into warranty replacement of the entire clutch assembly, which worked initially, but then the noise came back. About this time, other members of the Lexus forums came forward with the same issue, and the general consensus was that it appeared to be “normal” and a product of the design.
I only kept it for a year, and was SO happy when it was gone.
1. 05 Odyssey. I bought it in a hurry when my 96 Voyager died with electrical problems, and we had immediate vacation plans. I never even test-drove it. The Odyssey ended up in Lemon Law court, with a multitude of issues starting on the day I bought it, with 26 miles on the odometer. I got rid of the Odyssey after 20 miserable months. I should have just rented a car for the vacation, and then repaired the Voyager when I had the time. I would have been ahead by $10k.
2. 80 Mercury Bobcat. I bought it for $1 from a friend trying to help us as newlyweds in 1987. It matched the 76 Pinto I had at the time, which was both romantic and handy, since I do my own repairs. The Bobcat was a money pit, leaked water, and never got more than 14 mpg.
J-car hell,
1982 Cavalier which was junk (engine) traded for a 1984 Sunbird which suffered numerous $200 (mostly electrical) problems. The final straw was the turn signal lever which broke off (for the second time) – repaired for $200 and traded for a 1988 Beretta – a pretty good car.
’88 Mercury Tracer. I was a traveling salesman at the time, and my ’85 Civic S (which, by the way, was a BRILLIANT car) wasn’t much of an Interstate warrior. So, I traded for the Tracer, which was a bit bigger, softer-riding, quieter, and had power options. I figured it was a Mazda 323 in disguise, so how bad could it be?
BAD.
All kinds of problems, and even though the parts that needed to be replaced were identical to Mazda parts, it took weeks to get them because they had to come through Ford instead.
Should have kept the Civic and driven it until its wheels came off.
So, I traded it on a ’93 Mazda Protege, which served yours truly faithfully for 12 years and 200,000 miles, until it died in a heap on the dealer’s lot on trade-in day.
I passed on a two-year-old Toyota MR2 Spyder due to known issues with the pre-cat disintegrating and ruining engines, even though the intake header had already been swapped for a non-precat one. Instead, I bought a brand new Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V — you know, the ones that turned out to have issues with the pre-cat disintegrating and ruining engines. I needed a new engine (under warranty) at 8,000 miles. Oops.
Well whaddaya know? I, too, bought a ’83 T-Bird Turbo Coupe new in Oct ’83. I also remember looking at the Supra and a Mazda 626, but fell for the sensuous lines of the ‘Bird which were especially sexy in black. Don’t regret buying it, and actually liked it. What can I say? I was 23 (yep, young & stupid), fresh outta college, and it was my first new car.
Then two years later, still young and stupid, I traded the T-Bird on a new Bronco II. Big mistake! By far the worst vehicle I’ve owned. Boy was I happy when I unloaded that POS.
In 1985 I was ready for my first new car. I drove a lot of them, everything from a Chevy Cavalier (one of them was supposed to be kind of sporty – it was not) to a Saab 900 Turbo. Regret no. 1 was that I did not test drive a Supra. My best friend convinced me that after 5 yrs it would be a depressing, rusting hulk (albeit a reliable and fast one). This was a reasonable take on Japaneese cars of the era in the rust belt, so I passed on it without further thought. Bad idea.
When it came time to sign papers, I was stuck between a black VW GTI and a black Mustang GT with the 5.0. Both were 5 speeds. Both were about the same money, though the Mustang had more toys. I picked the VW. It seemed more sophisticated, which is more important when you are 23. In hindsight, I only kept the VW for 2 yrs, long enough to know that once my warranty was up, the thing was going to require a lot of money in repairs. In those two years, I would have had an absolute blast with that V8 stick shift. Screw sophisticated, the Mustang GT was just fast. As someone once said, I was older then. I am younger than that now.
Yes, I fell into the same trap with a 06 Mazda3 loadedwagon, I could have gotten an 05 GT for the same price.
And the last line is from a great folk song, but I can’t remember the name right now.
A Holden (Opel) Vectra while living in Australia. It looked good and came well equipped but mechanically it was a lousy handling, unreliable POS. It seemed to spend most if its time in the shop getting minor reports such as the central locking or replacing trim that kept falling off. It could manage understeer at parking lot speeds. 18 months later I got rid of it and bought a ’99 Miata which turned out to be one of my better car buying decisions.
2004 Volvo V70R, 6MT. It was Volvo’s “halo” performance car. I ordered from the factory and waited 4 months for its arrival, reading anxiously about 4C suspension complaints and the huge turning radius the whole time, agonizing over selling my beloved 1995 Saab 900 3-door (whose new owner picked it up the day I brought the V70R home).
After the initial excitement of having my first-ever brand new car, I began to realize what a big, unyieldy tank it is to drive, with somewhat limited space on the inside. A year on, the interior started rattling and hasn’t stopped. The 4C suspension just keeps getting worse too.
Whatever finally replaces the R, it will certainly not be another Volvo…
Snagged a 2007 GTI instead of a 2007 Civic Si, mainly because the Honda dealership in Hollywood wouldn’t let me test drive an Si, but insisted that I order one blindly. After a few encounters with the notorious VW dealership experience (“so your speedometer is ONLY 15% inaccurate – that is well within VW’s accepted tolerance levels, and you should be able to figure out the speed in your head…”), I now have a 2009 Civic Si. At least the 2 year delay let me get the sedan (which when comparing insurance rates, cut mine almost in half compared to the Si coupe).
I have many stories, but the worst of them happened in succession.
I had a mint 93 toyota MR2 turbo. The car overheated and the entire engine was replaced mostly under warranty. I could have driven the car for infinity at that point becuase every merchanical bit was new. I sold it for decent money to buy….1984 Porsche 928s euro. It had about 35,000 miles and I knew the owner.
The 928 was the undoubtedly best car I will ever own- when it was not in the shop. The euro engine was good for like 320 hp and the sound was incredible. The fuse box on the car was the size of my freezer.
I spent over 10k in little over a year trying to keep in maintained. I had a deposit on a 99 10th anniversary endition Miata before I chose the 928. If I had kept the MR2 or bought the miata I would be a lot richer today!
I knew where this one was heading the moment my eyes hit that number 928.
My first and worst car a ’78 Buick Skylark w/231 v6. Purchased used with a bad main bearing, sold with a bad rod bearing. Didn’t put many miles on it, fixed pretty much everything. It epitomized the type of american car that sent comsumers running to the Japanese imports in the 70’s & 80’s. Thank god I talked my father into buying the ’81 Olds Cutlass I found at a good price and dumping the Buick as I was in school at the time and didn’t have money to do it on my own. At least I wasn’t afraid to start it every time I needed to go someplace.
Why lament? I bought the Supra. I also bought a 1999 C43, which ten years later still takes me where I want to go , quickly.
I bought a 2008 M3 that someone else had passed on and had their deposit refunded. This was very early in delivery (I was the 2nd delivered at this dealership in Houston) and (at the time) I thought that it was a great piece of luck that I was able to jump ahead.
I haven’t had any problems with the car, but in hindsight, I should have waited to get the exact color and options I wanted….or heck, just kept the 2004 I was already driving.
In 1997 I bought my last new car, a Ford Escort LX with the Sport package. It was a great little car, hardly any problems at all. But here was the problem…it was purple (Boysenberry Blue actually) and people kept making fun of me for owning a “girls” car. So, I traded it in on a slightly used 1997 Contour GL V6 with the Sport package (basically an SE without the visual flash). The car only had 28k on it and I figured to myself “I don’t out that many miles on a car, this should be fine. Little did I know that in three months time I would be living in Michigan and traveling like mad. In three years I managed to put 71k on that car, which is amazing when I stop and think about how many times that car was in the shop! The car was a blast to drive, one of the best I had ever experienced. BUT…Two starters and flywheels within the first three months. Wheel bearings constantly went bad. The transmission had a habit of drinking fluid, never to be found. Every 5,000 miles, without fail, the car needed a brake job, and I am NOT hard on brakes. The really amazing thing was that I had taken it on several multi-state trips, and it would always run fine. But as soon as I got home, it would fall all to pieces. By late summer ’02, when the brakes were shuddering, the tranny was slipping, the wipers were dying and the AC was trying to quit, I had had enough. With 99,700 miles on it I traded it in on a 2000 Contour (I was desperate for another car).
I wish I had kept the Escort, it would have been paid off in ’02…
A Mercedes W123, 280E. It was a misunderstanding: I thought German engineering was a guarantee for a refined car but it was anything but. Clunky transmission, roary-tappety engine, so-so power and lousy fuel economy were the downsides. The upsides? It was rock-solid and refused to be terminated, even after I submerged it in three feet of water. Yes exactly, it was one of those things that doesn’t die — instead, it only smelled funny.
A Fiat 131 Mirafiori. The wonders of rear-wheel drive in a small package: in this case, no wonder, only head-scratching. A bouncy solid rear axle, a creaky interior, an engine that felt strangled at 5k revolutions, but only in dry weather, because it refused to start when it was wet. Actually, it refused to start when the weather forecast said wet weather was possible. And when it refused to start, that was final: no jumpers, no steep hill could make it change its mind.
The 280E was a let down. I drove one once and realized what a gulf there was between that and BMW’s six-cylinder sedans at the time. The W123 made a great indestructible taxi cab. But MB played catch-up with the 300E W124.
Some things are painful for a man to admit. This is one of those things. I once bought a new Fiat. There, I said it. My name is Michael and I owned a Fiat 128.
I bought it new in 1973. I was newly-married and a struggling student at the University of Wisconsin. I’d like to believe that the pervasive cloud of marijuana haze that blanketed Madison for the better part of a decade had nothing to do with my decision to buy a Fiat, but I can’t be certain.
The decade old Pontiac I owned suffered traumatic engine failure. No more crappy old cars for me, I reasoned, so I bought a new Fiat 128.
It had, I think, 17 horsepower, and a four speed transmission. It really needed a six speed transmission because the engine screamed along at 7,000 rpm at 55 mph in fourth gear.
It began to rust three months after I bought it, and systematically disintegrated, beginning 24 hours after the 12 month warranty expired.
It was a disaster, constantly in need of repair. The dealer who sold it to me went out of business, and the next closest dealer was hours away. No other repair shop would touch it.
The hood was hinged at the front. Its final act of failure before I had it towed to a scrap yard a few years later was for the hood to fall off the car one morning when I went to check the oil. The body had rusted to the extent that the hinges separated from the car when I opened the hood. As I watched the hood fall onto the driveway, I stared at the hoodless piece of shit and screamed “never again!”
Good luck, Chrysler.
I owned a 74 128 SL for a year, in 1982. I was in college, and bought it with a bad engine, which I rebuilt. It wasn’t my worst car, though. Its good looks were beguiling, but it wasn’t very reliable. Rust and electrical problems abounded. Parts were hard to find, even then.
The friggin’ ’90 Supra that I ragged about in the post on the 1984 Celica Supra Mk II.
75 Ford F-150 with the 360 V8. Biggest POS I have ever owned, and to this day is the reason I will NEVER do business with Ford again. They did not stand behind the product, and anything that could have failed, did.
Ok, I gotta know: what failed on your 75? I had a 72 F-100 with tons of issues. We should trade Ford Failure stories!
My brother-in-law was a car dealer his whole life. When I started shopping for my first car, he showed me a few stellar choices which could have drawn a steady stream of beautiful women to my life including a 1969 Corvette Stingray (it had an automatic, though), a gen1 Scirocco (ugly seats, dude), a BMW 1600 (needed a new clutch) and a 1967 Mustang GT/CS (ick, lime green). Man, I was picky, right?
So, why did I end up with a sh*t-brown 1973 Capri with a tan vinyl top, 3-speed automatic and a Pinto 4-banger? I suspect now that it may have been because he needed to get it off the lot and I was a willing fish. But, he was also known to have taken a full set of leather-gripped, left-handed Top-Flite golf clubs with a bag and wheeled hand cart in trade for $25 to seal a deal for a car, which he graciously sold to me at the same price, so I guess I owed him one.
I ended up selling the car to my buddy’s mom 18 months later. Perfect car for her. That says a lot.
I have two. The first is ironic. I traded a silver 1979 RX7 bought new in 78 that I had gotten on a waiting list for six weeeks and paid full monroney ($7995 I believe) for a New black 82 Supra Sport Model. It was love at first sight when I saw the lovely DOHC six. The Supra was expensive ($16k in 1982 dollars) but I got top dollar in trade for my beloved Mazda. The RX7 was much more fun to drive and was a true sports car whereas the Supra was a GT car. The Supra suffered worn cam lobes at about 16k miles – out of warranty, and Toyota refused to help, I repaired on my own in a one car garage, but it left a sour taste in my mouth for Toyotas for almost 25 years. My second example was my first car, purchased for $1k in 1975 — a 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner, blue in color, It was just a 383, but I added a Crane camshaft, Hooker Headers, Holly Carb, MSD and a posi rear- end. The body was straight and the paint was in very good condition, Rallye wheels, and an overall conservative look (except for the small wing on the trunk lid) suckered many a chevy. The custom exhaust with hemi mufllers kept the rumpety rump idle cloaked also. I traded with my parents when I went to school (to save on a gas…) for their malaise era Dodge “Cordoba wannabe” Coronet Brougham. 318; 2:45 rear end, it was a two door with white buckets but it was slooowwwww. My parents traded the Bird on 78 Pontiac Bonnie, and I would drive by the dealer occasionally and look longingly at my old friend…Wonder what it would be worth today?
Trading in my fully loaded (Air, cruise, power windows, T-roof, MT) red ’81 Z28 with a beautiful engine, kickass stereo, and a Rancho GT suspension…for a showroom floor ’85 Mustang 5.0 – in Calgary. Sure, the ‘Z was leaking every kind of fluid it had, and was sucking downs 1000’s of dollars every year in maintenance, but the Ford was a deathtrap in that climate. Even with winter tires and sandbags over the rear wheels I would routinely get stuck in 7-11 parking lots because there was a 5 degree slope up to the street. In one year that car was damaged in more accidents than I’ve had in all my cars ever to the present day – it had zero traction once the temperature fell below 0C. The ‘Z by comparison was an unstoppable tank that could plow through blizzards of any magnitude with ease and attracted favorable attention wherever I went. I will always regret losing that car…if my wife wouldn’t leave me because I’d lost my marbles, I’d find one just like it somewhere and restore it.
I wouldn’t have sold the 1986 Corolla GTS Coupe with the JDM plastic bumpers that I bought for $53 and I wouldn’t have bought a ’94 miata off my friend that needed some bodywork.
1) I would have waited until I found a white 2000-01 Impreza 2.5RS instead of settling on silver because I ended up hating the silver after 2 or 3 years.
2) I would have bought said white 2.5RS from my parents when I got my first job (they “loaned” it to me through college) instead of buying a new 2007 GTI. I like the GTI, but it cost about $20k more than the Subaru would have and I’d like to have that $20k to throw at paying down my house instead.
I’ve bought the wrong car twice:
1. In 2007 I bought an S60, and I should have bought a V70R instead.
2. In 2002 I bought an A4, and I should have bought ANYTHING else (or kept my 10 year old Jetta Turbo Diesel).
1977 Ford Cortina 3.3l 3 speed auto, first car, brand new. Didn’t realise Ford Australia built these things a crappy as the Poms. got rid of it after 10 months and traded up/down/sideways to a 1972 Rover ThreeThousand Five. Oh the joys of being single, not overly endowed with cash and owing a pommie car designed by engineers from the second world war. Engineering marvel, maintenance nightmare. Just like a spitfire, go out, shoot a few things, not expected to last long enough to reach a major service. :)
Bought: Volkswagen CC
Should have bought: Pontiac G8 GXP
Should never have sold: ’68 Camaro RS/SS Convertible
My very first decision was by far the worst: I was to receive a car as a college graduation gift and quickly narrowed the choices down to the BMW 2002 and the Saab 99 EMS. The tale of the tape:
BMW – Sexy, iconic, perfect handling, RWD, easy to maintain, justifiably abundant on the road, 80hp
Saab – Sexy, funky, nasty torque steer, FWD, impossible to maintain, never seen on the road, 115hp
Needless to say, I went for the weird car that could out-drag a BMW but do little else. After I learned my lesson I moved to NYC and didn’t own another car for 10 years.
Chose a used 1996 GTI VR6 over a new 1999 Mazda Protege.
Starting at 45,000 miles and ending at 105,000 miles the GTI still had acceleration, money pit otherwise. Replaced in those miles – 2 throttle bodies, maf sensor, 2 sets of tires, soon after the purchase a job change meant stop and go commuting with a stick, wouldn’t pass emissions because OBDII said misfire even after tuneup & coilpak replacement and clear codes. Worse part, being upside down on the loan for three years.
Coulda had – XKE for not so much money around 1988. Chickened out. Then they went up. Way up. It really needed nothing. $10,000.
Shoulda kept – sold my 1999 RAV 4 manual FWD right after installing then-excellent Michelin Cross Terrain Allsports 20 mm oversized. Boy did that settle that car, it went 15 mph faster down favorite roads with same effort.
Shouldnt have bought – 2001 Protege. was OK but boring and too small cockpit.
Shouldnt have given away – 1991 MR2 non-turbo. Had moonroof not t-tops. Should have spent the $1000 to tune it- cam and exhaust. Another ? to quiet the loud tranny/final drive. Gave away to nephew who just sat there while pickup truck slid towards him, slo mo, got t-boned.
I regret my fiances GLK350. For one, neither her nor I like suvs/crossovers, whatever you want to call it. We both like sedans. But the GLK had just hit the market and we both liked the way it looked. I was also guilted into it because I work at a Mercedes dealer and we both drove audis. So I suprised her by taking her car to work and leasing a GLK through my employee plan. The lease is insanely cheap, but neither she nor I like driving it much or care for Mercedes products. She did like it at first, but she misses her a4 and really likes the new body style. I wish I would have just gotten her another a4 or even a c300. At the time I could have gotten a p2 c300 4matic for under $400 a month with taxes and $0 cash down
1971 Opel 1900 Sport Coupe. I thought I was getting a well-built car, but it was a German Vega. 2-barrel carb meant that it would barely move until the 2nd barrel opened, then squirt forward. Fun in parking lots. The floor mats started coming apart in about the 6th month. The shift lever buzzed like crazy at any speed over about 50. I duct-taped a 4-inch piece of 1-inch barstock to the lever; that toned down the noise a little. Effin’ Buick dealer was like “they all do that”. Traded it after a year and a half for the 72 Celica I should have bought instead. Better car in every way except that the Opel would out-handle it.
1966 Rover 2000 SC. Bought used in 1967 with 60k showing. I have already pissed and moaned at length about that car on this site; I’ll spare you. I loved the way it ran and handled when it was up, but it wasn’t up often enough.
My ’79 Audi 5000 was gorgeous and a hoot to drive but nickel and dimed me to death. Bought with 40k on it and traded 10k later.
My ’98 S70 was a similar concept – squareish sedan/tank, slow but tasteful. Bought new, sold at 70k needing $10k in (apparently common) repairs.
The first one to mix Euro design with Japanese reliability wins my money….not that it will ever happen…..
I should have NEVER sold my second 1992 Subaru SVX. Fantastic car. Needed stiffer suspension bits and upgraded tires, but an absolute first rate GT. Fast (really fast) and silent and impervious to weather. Awesome car.
Car I missed out on…when I was in undergrad school, I had a shot at an absolutely cherry P1800 – red over black. I let it get away and wish I had it to this day!
When I bought, tourist delivery, the car that could of saved Saab, especially in the US, a 40mpg, 90+ mph 03 93 turbodiesel, the only mistake was not buying TEN or FIFTY.
Instead of the new Chevy 2004 Silverado that GMC refused to repair multiple defects that I found but they failed to, obvious to me they hid behind the “Can not replicate mantra” and saved money by NOT diagnosing the defects and losing several thousand dollars in my lost wages and having to rent cars when leaving the truck at the dealer for days at a time…..
I could have had a Toyota Sienna that with removal of the seats would have given me the vehicle I wanted that allowed living within if it became a necessity.
There will never ever be a GMC vehicle in my driveway again. I do not want to even buy a GMC part ever since that throws wealth at the undeserving.
I never should have yielded to the pressure from my parents (who were storing the truck on their farm – plenty of room, but the still felt it was “in the way”) to sell my 4-speed 1976 F-150 4×4. That was a good year for those trucks – first year for front disc brakes on the 4×4’s and the first year for integral power steering instead of the old ram-assist system. It was also the last year for the slow but durable FE big blocks, and mine had the 360 version of that legendary family. My engine was a little odd though, and I know it wasn’t modified since I bought it from my best friend’s dad, who bought it new. Mine had the medium-duty block from an F-600 (identified from the reverse-image “105” on the front of the block where most FE’s say “352”) and it had flat-top pistons in it instead of the normal dished units. With a little judicious tuning, that truck ran fantastic and got decent mileage considering it was little more than a fancy tractor. Solid axles, cast iron trans and t-case, and probably less than 20lbs of plastic on the whole truck….make ’em like that again and I might consider one.
Not my regret, but that of my father, ex-British Army, who mentioned many times over the years the poor decision he made in 1956 by turning down the offer on good terms of a fellow officer’s 1936 Rolls Royce in favor of a new Morris Oxford, which he then thought more suitable for someone with a growing family. I would so liked to have had a Rolls Royce in my family ….
Me? No car regrets. Rode motorcycles until the age of 25 when I left the UK for the US, bought my first car in 1981, and now, at the not-so-tender age of 56, am only on car number four, a milestone many native (note lower-case “n”) Americans reach before they’re out of high school.
In 1976 I needed a new car pronto. Bought a BMW 530i because it was relatively new design and I wanted something bigger than the 2002. Big mistake. The ’76 2002 was a cherry year, notwithstanding the hideous bumpers. The 530 blew the automatic transmission in a year. The car ate brake pads: the oil change interval was 7,500 miles, but I never could go more than 7,000 on a set of brake pads. The car was built with a “thermal reactor” to avoid using a catalytic converter. It got 11 mpg in the city and about 16 on the road…..with a tiny gas tank. The A/C never got cooler than tepid, a bit of a problem in Los Angeles summers. Sold it with about 3 months left on the 3 year warranty. Had I waited a few months more, the BMW 733i came out and was much more reliable and the first real shot at the Mercedes dominance of the American luxury import market.
I have a few, mainly because I let my emotions fog my judgment. Here are two of the latest…
– ’82 Rabbit pickup, complete with the Diesel engine. The body looked really solid (I looked at it on a rainy day) and I really wanted the truck so I bought it. Got the motor running and did some suspension work before realizing the reason the seat wouldn’t stay in place was that the floor was mostly rotted out and the carpet was glued in to provide what little structure it had.
– ’85 Volvo 240 wagon, my winter car last winter. After selling my ’03 Golf TDI I wanted something older again. On paper this car was perfect, a light blue wagon with the four-speed w/electric overdrive, a little crusty but pretty complete. With delusions of a Volv8 conversion down the road I bought it, slapped some snows on it and drove it for the winter. Car made it to March before the main wiring harness, you know, the one that runs along the crossmember under the engine, crapped out. After spending on a bunch of little things making the car right and with an appointment to have the floors welded up, I was so disgusted that I gave the car away. My wife still won’t let me say the “V” word in the house.
And don’t get me started with the ’68 Volkswagen Fastback taking up space in my garage, or the future bad purchase decision I want to make once I get said Fastback out of my garage… an early Vega into which I can swap the 2.4 turbo Ecotec from a Solstice GXP… if I can find the right Vega and the driveline that is.
I think a good follow up QOTD would be “what car do you most regret selling?” Now I could write paragraphs on that topic.
89 Cadillac coupe Deville, when I purchased the car (used in 95) I thought I had arrived… After 1 year of owning the car I had replaced engine sensors 4 times in addition to about 3 other $800 to $1200 repair bills for “minor problems”,
In 1987 our choices came down to a Honda Prelude or a Ford Mustang. We went for the Mustang because it came with a/c and the Prelude didn’t. Never occurred to us the Mustang would be unreliable. They had been making them for over 20-years. Wrong!
New car warranty back then was the earliest of 12,000-miles or 12-months. Car went through a lot of oil from the get-go. Ford said it was normal! Canada, then and now, has no lemon laws. By 18,000 miles it was pumping through a quart of oil every 600-miles. We wound up suing FoMoCo and won!
It’s been over 20-years since we were in a Ford showroom. Have no intention of going near one any time soon.
I f I had to do it over again, I would have never bought that 1980 Skylark. I briefly also considered a Mazda 626 or a Subaru, but based on the reviews in the car mags I felt GM finally had their problems behind them. What a mistake– I had a simple vehicle–4 cyl, 4 spd and it still turned out to be a money pit. To say it spent more time in the shop then on the road was not much of an exaggeration. On the positive side, it was my last GM vehicle.
The worst car I have ever owned (out of damn near 40): an Acura RSX (2008?). What a blasphemous POS. A suspension to die by; a drivetrain to get killed by; and fugly to boot. I should have bought an A4 Avant!
A 1997 BMW 328i Red/black with the sport package. After years of austerity I was finally able to afford a decent car, and I thought I was smart for buying it 1 year old with 11K miles. I performed several trips to the dealer to inspect it and asked them multiple times if it had been in an accident. The salesman swore up and down that it was perfect and not to worry. Guess what I found out after buying it? It was in an accident.
In the 1.5 years I owned it I socked BMW with about 8K of warranty repairs. It never handled “right” and had all sorts of weird random shimmies and vibrations. The shock boots kept falling down, the sunroof kept getting stuck open in the rain. The engine consumed lots and lots of sensors and other expensive parts. The brake rotors warped for some unknown reason after 1000 miles and I didn’t abuse the brakes.
The car was a death trap when the roads turned wet. The high performance tires had no wet traction and it spun out many a time and would fishtail with minimal steering wheel movement. I had an accident on a highway on ramp when trying to merge in a rain storm. The back end fishtailed and the front end lost traction when I tried to regain control and slid into the guard rail at 50 mph. After sliding along the guard rail for about 50 ft. I regained control looked at the damage. My insurance company repaired it, and the body shop showed my all the previous accident damage, which was pretty extensive. I had a nice M3 front end put on as part of the repair.
I finally traded it in on a new ’99 BMW motorcycle that I still own. I still like E36 3 series and BMWs in general, but find something off-putting about the BMW “culture”. The wife recently went to a BMW dealership to look at a 3 series wagon to replace our aging bulletproof but boring 2003 Subaru Forester. The first words out of the salesman’s mouth were “You do realize how much these cost right?” Rather than respond to that we ignored him and left after 5 minutes. My enthusiasm for BMW cars has waned, and I think we’ll just hang on to the Forester for awhile.
One more thing – About 1 year after after buying the car the dealership manager sent me a personal mail saying that he wanted me to know that salesman who sold me the car was let go, and to let him know if I was interested in another car. Um – no thanks.
When I was a kid, my mom bought a ’96 E320 after a great deal of debate. That car paled in comparison to the previous generation E, not to mention the decade old W126 it replaced. It was in the shop way too often to justify the un-MB-like highway manners and the gutless I6. I really tried to sell her on a 5-series, a car I’d still like to own someday.
Day after passing my driving test, I was so excited to get a car I didn’t test drive or even sit in the Camry I would end up owning. I just sort of went around 3-4 dealerships and price-shopped silver Camrys without examining the car. Later, after I bought the Camry, I actually knew how bad the interior was, and started test-driving the competition. The Civic was just as nice, and 2 grand cheaper.
Should’ve gotten the Civic. Better car, 2 grand cheaper. Or at least instead of the LE Camry, I should’ve gotten the base, as it would’ve saved me 1k. All I would’ve lost is the power driver’s seat. Bah.
First and only car buying decision was a failure. All because I couldn’t wait another day to get a car. -.- Now it’s even more expensive to switch into a Civic because depreciation!
So lesson learned: Go with the car you actually like and want, not what you think you want, or something that you think will impress your friends.
In 1986 I had just finished a three year stint in the Canadian military and returned home, after serving overseas most of that tenure, with a whack of cash. My dad had a 1972 Mercedes Benz 280SE. It was a European model, with no power toys of any kind, just a honking great sunroof. Dad had taken European delivery of it and it was a wonderful car, light and solid at the same time. Metallic sky blue, it was art in motion and to this day I have never driven a better car.
In 1986 Dad was ready to buy a 560SEL, a fine car that was, too, but I digress. He offered me the 280SE for $5000. The car was PERFECT. Garage kept, never saw salt or snow, really pristine and only 110,000 km on it. I can still remember the sound of that inline twin cam six firing up! Anyway, I was a dumb kid and I decided I wanted a NEW car, dammit! So the 280 was sold and Dad got his new ride.
I bought a 1986 Jetta GLI for $14,000. It was great ride, that is when it wasn’t in the shop for one thing or another. Rarely a month went by when something was not wrong with the car. After the 24 month warranty was up, things really went bad. All the electrics went one after another. The dealer was new dimension in VW snottiness which is really something. After thee years, I flogged it took a huge bath on it.
I then bought a 1990 Accord four door five speed, a car I drove for fifteen years without a major mishap.
NOTHING, well almost except the bit about my X-wife.
For one trying to buy a Prius when gas was approaching $5 a gallon. In hindsight the fuel saving wouldn’t have helped me when I had an accident; a 7 series BMW decided to run a red in a no-left turn lane and T-bone; OR the DUI driver going 120 mph and rear ended my wife on the freeway (now X, so maybe I should of had it), the Buick was driven the next day! Los Angeles…
I’ll stick with paying more for gas driving a large sedan than have either happen again.
I couldn’t stay off the gas pedal, so to stay alive I sold my ’70 Pontiac T37 and bought a ’73 Plymouth Cricket (cue the cricket sound effects).
I feel your pain…..
Worst car-buying decision?? My 1993 Mercury Cougar. What the hell was I thinking? Oh, yeah…it reminded me of my parent’s 1976 Mercury Montego (which, by the way…lasted 13+ years and never gave us any mechanical issues…my mother “gave” it away to a salvage yard for something like $100 when they moved back to Germany…and I saw it on the road for years after that!). The Cougar looked cool to me (I was in my early 30s)…big, comfortable, dark metallic grey. That lasted less than a half a year before it completely fell apart on me. The last straw was driving it home in the dead of a bitterly cold Detroit winter day…heater out, car itself overheating, fluids leaking from every pore. Sure, I bought it used, but it had less than 100k when I limped into a dealership to trade it for just about anything that ran (wound up with a Dodge Neon…while not an upgarde, that little bugger at least ran for several years after I gave it to my late father-in-law).
Car I wish I still had in my garage? Easy…my 1974 BMW 2002…actually cried when I sold it…stupid, stupid, stupid…
First car was ’72 Cougar with a 351 Cobra Jet. On day, coming home I went to pass a slow poke at ~ 50 MPH. All 4 barrels opened, the FMX kicked down, both rear tires broke free and squealed. I drifted sideways as I passed some bewildered fellow putting along. I had never tromped it before, so its’ reaction took me totally by surprise. (I’d driven it gingerly since taking out the village population sign the winter before due to black ice – that was an expensive repair for a penniless student.)
But as much as I loved it, that big engine with the jumbo ports ate 3 FMX trannys, a fuel money I really should have saved for school. Still that machine gave me place of pride in a big block town which still has an active hotrod / muscle car club to this day. However, if I’d been smart, I’d have listened to my uncle and got a used V6 Capri with stick – they were cheap as sin in those days. My friend had a V6 pinto (only one I ever saw), and his engine was bone reliable. Hindsight…
You can add me to the list of people who regret getting rid of a DA (90-93) Integra. Dumped it in 2006 for $3k, bought a new Mazda3 wagon, loaded out. Not a bad vehicle, but at 65k miles it was starting to show its age rather quickly. Rattles, creaks, bad motor mounts, etc… also thought I’d like an automatic even with manual-mode.
And with a second child, it was getting a little small. The Subaru dealer was eager to take it in on a trade and gave me Edmunds TMV for it.
Traded it in on a 2007 Outback (CPO) with manual, 37k miles, 100k bumper-bumper warranty, new tires, and in a very nice gold color. Already have new Geolander tires and skid plates. It’s ready to roll well past that warranty. Paid $4k out of pocket.
But, I sure wish I had kept that Integra…so does my dad (brother is 15), and my uncle (they have just one car since their kids are off in college).
I went with a 1992 Nissan Stanza 2.4 manual over a beautiful 1994 VW Corrado VR6. I loved that VW, oh the smell of the leather, the smooth shifting 5 speed, the beautiful green colour, the handling.
But the Corrado was a couple of thousand more (both mildly used) and it was a VW afterall, which I didn’t trust for reliability. Someone should have told me that I was buying a car and not choosing a wife, so go for the sexy one; for if it gives you a problem, it’s relatively easy to trade in. Not so much with the former.
1975. Stoned out of my gourd. Driving in my 72 Riv at night. Saw new Olds Starfire in showroom under spotlights. Bought it next day. Should have bought drug rehab…
Just out of college, failed the Army physical (1967), bought a 65 Impala SS 283 instead of a 65 Buick Skylark Grand Sport 401 auto w/air. What was I thinking?
Bought an 1999 Escort ZX2, but I should have bought the Contour V6 5-speed I was looking into. My father was the “buyer” since it was my first car, and he did all the negotiations, although I paid.
Secondly I regret purchasing the 2004 Accord V6, should have held out for the Mazda6 I ordered, but the dealer was giving me the run-around. The Accord had brake problems the day I drove it off the lot. Boring, except for the V6.
I don’t regret the ’06 TSX I’ve replaced it with.
Needed: Good gas mileage, impress the girls import sport sedan to replace my redneck-tastic 2003 Dodge Ram hemi short cab.
Bought: 2002 Audi A4 1.8T for a steal, and CPO, because it looked awesome in red with a dark tint and the sport package and got great mileage. Plus, CPO man…you can’t loose? It only had 19k miles on it in 2007 when I bought it. Anybody who ever owned a B5 A4 knows what I’m talking about. If you don’t check out my piston slap:
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/piston-slap-getting-in-the-zone-audi-a4-18t-editio/
Should have bought: 2002 Lexus IS. Any IS. Preferably the 300 with a manual. But I had a hard time finding one and the Audi was right there just waiting to come home and impress the ladies. Which it did. A lot. Enough that I married a beautiful doctor a year later. We (she, basically) paid that thing off in 6 months, we sold it 6 months later, and I drive the 2008 G35 she got tired of. I guess all’s well that ends well.
Not exactly my car buying decision, but when I went to college, my mom and sisters bought an almost-rebuilt 1978 Mercury Capri (the Mustang sibling) for $500. When I say almost-rebuilt, I mean it. The guy who was working on it stopped and sold the car when his father died and left him some money. The driver side door didn’t work (it fell off if you opened it), the heater was stuck in the on position (but looked like it was off, so I thought it was just running hot… I lived in Tucson, AZ and this was summer), and there was about 5 feet of extra wires that the mechanic had no explanation for. I was there when he opened up, and it looked like the previous owner just used what they had lying around. It died after 3 months the engine blew (rod, piston, shaft… I don’t remember). To this day, I am still certain it died because the mechanic cleaned up all the gunk holding the engine together.
About five years ago, I was looking for a cheap college car. Bought a 98 Saturn SL2 with no power anything and a manual transmission, with 76k on it. The car got me where I needed to go, and I put more than 100k more miles on it, finally selling it at 189k. Thing is, the seats felt like sports bleechers, the car rode like a pickup truck, the engine made more noise than power (which is saying something, since it had decent punch for an economy car), and the A/C provided more fan noise than airflow. It, of course, started burning oil right away, and near the end it wouldn’t go into gear unless I submitted a written request a few days prior. Also, the check engine light came on, so I had to periodically disconnect the battery to avoid tracking down what I’m sure was a vacuum leak. The plastic door panels were great for moving shopping carts out of parking spaces, though. Didn’t even have to leave the car. Anyway, I should’ve bought a Civic. Would’ve still been driving it, and wouldn’t have a car payment now.
Two cars I miss and one stinker…
2001 Toyota Prius: Bought it back in 2006 for $6500. It had every single service done at the dealership every 3000 miles. A brand new battery pack. Brand new Michelin tires. It had a couple dents on the passenger’s side rear, but that was it. A complete cherry.
It never left the auction. I took pictures of the car and sold it for $8850. I would have saved thousands if I had simply kept it and let my wife use it as a daily driver.
2) 1998 VW Jetta TDI: I believe it was a 1998. Last year of the Gen 3 design. It had 109k miles and Carmax listed it as ‘Engine Needs Service’. Whoever wrote that, I thank them profusely because I was able to buy it for $2700.
It would have been the perfect road car for me before I got the Insight this year. I did make about a $4500 profit on it though. So this one really could have swung both ways.
The stinker…
3) 1995 Volvo 960 Wagon
God what a terrible piece of shit. Virtually every time I drove it something broke. The last part being two of the cylinders. Had four different mechanics try to fix it. No one could do it. Pathetic. Completely pathetic. I took a $3000 bath on the vehicle and learned that if something is just too damn complex, broom it. Only the prior owner’s amazing maintenance regimen kept me from doing the right thing.
Honorable mentions… for the good…
* Ford Mustang Police Interceptor w/ 90k : Bought for $1500
* Silver Volvo 940 Wagon : Bought for $500, immaculate
* 1972 Ford Ranchero: Bought for $625
* 1988 Mercury Colony Park Wagon: Free on trade-in. Ran perfectly with $500 worth of parts and fluids in the back. Just replaced the breaks.
* 1978 Mazda RX-7: Bought for $100
* 1994 Subaru Impreza: Bought for $25. Sold it on Ebay for $1575 who drove it all the way back to California.
* 1977 Mercedes 350SE: Bought for $250. Euro-only model. Sold to a great guy in Tennessee.
* 1983 Silver Lincoln Mark VI Coupe: Bought for $1500 back when I was scrimping as a grad student. The wife’s Mark VI died and this was absolutely perfect for us. It had been owned by the President Of Coke and was given as a retirement gift back in the day. We used it as the ‘Limo’ for our wedding, which also cost about $1500. Sold it for $1500 a few years later. Should have kept it.
In 1974 my wife and I were looking to buy a car, so I checked Consumer Reports. Their suggestion as the best small, inexpensive car that year? The FIAT 128. The next year they admitted their mistake, but I was stuck with mine. 5 years later I traded it in for 10% of it’s initial price– not a bad deal since it was leaking a mixture of antifreeze and oil from the bottom of the engine. My mechanic cried when I told him– his monthly income must have dropped precipitously.
Am I the first one with a peugeot story here?? (BTW: unbelievable).
It was the year 2004 and mi dad and I were looking for a new car. He decided he wanted Peugeot 307 Break and I, inmediately said “no way jose”. As it was his money he bought it (I wanted more a Renault Laguna, Subaru Legacy or forester, or a Nissan X-Trail). The car is still with us and it has been a POS throughout the years. The catalytic converter broke inside and sounds awfully all the time. The dealer said that he didn’t have a mechanic that could fix it, so he tried to sell us a new one for about $2000 (obviously we didn’t took the bait). Also, a month after the warranty expired (it was just for a year) the center screen died (it cost $500). The ride is pretty much horrible. Later on, we bought a new 2008 Nissan X-Trail (best small SUV ever, believe me)
Anyone else regrets buying a peugeot??
I bought a lovely 1970 Boss 302 in April of 1976…Grabber blue, blacked out shaker hood, pony interior, smooth fast powerful and a chick-magnet….it had 50k on it, and I LOVED it….first car I owned. Only mechanical problem it had was a slight radiator leak….
6 months later, my head got turned by a friend whose brother had a ‘custom-painted’ ’73 Mach 1. I bought it for the paint job, and figured the ’73 being newer than the ’70, with fewer miles, I’d have fewer mechanical problems down the road. How wrong I was. There is a reason they say beauty is only skin deep, I guess.
The Mach’s of that year were the apotheosis of every bad idea Detroit ever had….slow, handled like an hippopotamus on ice skates, horrendous NVH, leaked from EVERYWHERE. Within 4 months, I replaced a blown engine. Just an absolute abomination of a vehicle. After two years of daily battle keeping it on the road, I sold it to my best friend (he really wanted it badly…..God help him!) and bought a used 1971 Charger. Even with the electrical problems it had (replaced 2 alternators in a year and the dash lights burned out) it still was more reliable than the Mach….
Since then, I have owned:
1979 Chevy Van (shorty) bought new
1971 VW Cabriolet
1966 Ford Econoline (hobby project)
1983 Escort (bought new in college)
1985 Tempo GLX (new 4-year lease after graduating, under college grad assistance program. Actually a pretty good car. I will probably be one of the few who say so!)
1966 Thuderbird 7-liter (hobby restoration)
1976 Corvette (30th birthday present from 1st wife…also a hobby toy)
1991 Escort GT (bought new)
1988 Ford Aerostar van (1st wife’s car….a true POS and my LAST Ford)
1990 Plymouth Voyager (traded my sister the Escort GT for it…)
1992 Honda Accord EX Wagon (bought in 1999)
1995 Toyota Corolla (2nd wife’s car bought new)
1997 Toyota Camry (2nd wife’s next car bought in 1999)
1997 Audi A6 Quatro Avant (bought in 2006 and my current ride. Best. Car. Ever. Owned. Dead reliable. Again, I’ll probably be the only one on this post to say so.)
2000 Mitsu Montero Sport (2nd wife’s current antique hauler)
Other than SELLING the Boss 302 (who new it would be worth 20 times what I paid for it….if I’d kept it well….and how much FUN I would have had driving it and how much PAIN I would have avoided with the Mach 1) and BUYING the damned Mach 1, I have never regretted any of the other automotive transactions I’ve made since. But the lessons learned from that damned Mach 1 are still with me in every car decision I’ve made…..(buy carefully, get documentation, choose carefully, talk to owners of cars you are considering and get their experiences, etc.). I read the travails of other owners on TTAC with their histories of litanies of BAD cars they’ve owned and realize I must be about the luckiest owner ever…..since the VW Cabriolet, I’ve NEVER been left at the side of the road or been late for work due to car trouble (other than the Aerostar, but that’s my ex’s choice and was her problem) and other than the Vette, the econoline and the T-bird (which were bought as hobbies and therefore I knew I would have to put some $$ in them) I have spend less than $4 k in my LIFE on auto repairs (other than oil changes, and routine maintenance.) over the course of over 900,000 miles. Guess I’ve chosen wisely, and like I said, been lucky. No regrets.
I don’t regret any of the cars I bought over the years (89 Plymouth Colt, 94 Integra GSR, 98 Contour SVT, 02 RSX-s, 06 Element, 08 Fusion SEL stick), but I sure regret some of the financial result!! Traded the Integra in for the Contour for surely a lowball trade value, then repeated the mistake 3 years later trading the Contour for the RSX (barely breaking even on the loan, and taking a 72 month loan at$425!). I did make out on the Element > Fusion deal, getting $4k cash in my pocket and lowering my payment to boot!
I was going to give back the Fusion at the end of my lease and get a Fiesta, but it doesn’t seem to make sense to me to pay $21k for a loaded Fiesta to get the same equipment I have now on my 08 Fusion which I can buy for $14k at the end of the lease. Decisions.
I bought 2 used Chevy Monte Carlos. Need I say more?
JESUS..
Ive owned Accords.. with VERY VERY VERY VERY (read NONE) issues..
And Im contemplating buying a Mazda.. 3 hatch.
Do I..
Or
Dont I?
Commando:
Ha! Hind-sight is a bitch…
Had the opportunity to buy a pristine 40k mile 1991 Honda prelude Si and instead bought a 1993 Ford Probe GT. Not to say the Probe was bad (in fact it was very reliable other than wheel bearings at all 4 corners by the time I traded it) but that generation prelude is a timeless design and after I got my Probe drove a friends 89 Prelude which I fell in love with. It was such a better car in every way.
Disappointments include my lemon Cadillac CTS which I no longer own (thankfully! What didn’t go wrong with it!!!) and a GMC Envoy which probably built by some dude suffering from a hangover on a Friday afternoon with 5 minutes left on the timeclock and was in dire need of a bathroom break or had a hot date that night.
Can I change my parents’ decision? Back in 1980 they were looking to replace a beast of a Ford Gran Torino (a blue whale not nearly as kewl as Dirty Harry’s) and was looking at a Datsun 200SX. They couldn’t pull the trigger (too pricey) and, instead, got a Ford Mustang. Absolute worst car ever built by the hand of man. Absolute proof that, at least in 1980, neither the Ford Motor Company nor the UAW gave a damn about a little concept called “quality”, either in engineering or in fit-and-finish. Car was so effing lousy that my dad vowed never to buy American again –and he was a Ford guy from since the 1960s.
Should not have bought: My second 1984 VW Rabbit diesel. The shady used car dealer I bought it from did a very good job of hiding its numerous problems. I owned it for a year and unloaded it on another shady used car dealer for $200.
Should have bought: 1966 Chrysler New Yorker 4-door hardtop that I spotted while vacationing out west with my GF (now wife). Beautiful condition, garage-kept its entire life, every factory option except A/C. After we got home from vacation I mulled it over and finally called the seller but it was sold. Eventually spotted it for sale in an online ad again several years later. It had been bought by an apartment dweller with an outdoor parking spot. Now weathered and sporting parking lot dings. I thought about it, but my wife said my next one had to be a convertible.
Purchased a Porsche Boxster S. Wanted a pre-owned Porsche Carrera 911. The salesman really enticed me with the bright shiny new Boxster instead of a 2-3 year old 911.
Hated (Hated!) the Boxster. Bought the 911 after a month and lost $7,000 in the trade. At another dealer.
Regret buying? Odysseys (2). Older one with sliding doors. Transmission broke twice. Last time not under warranty. Paid big time. Funky shifting so sold it before it broke again. Sliding power doors broke. Gas vapor system broke. Catalyst broke. Brake switch broke. Had hard time moving shift lever to drive. Rear power windows broke. Egr broke.
Newer one has transmission problem. Something about torque converter and engine mounts. Shuddering, vibrating. Another big repair. Also had power steering pump replaced, and rack. Not one of those owners happy with Honda.
After a minor floor fire (high beam foot switch), 2 at-speed brake failures and numerous second tank fuel leaks (New York has some really nice HAZMAT crews by the way) my mother steamrolled me into selling my ’86 F-250. It had a farm truck suspension upgrade from the previous owner and the 460, both of which stood up quite well to my very high speed early off road antics, even if the rest of the vehicle suffered.
This led directly to the worst decision of my life, settling for a Delta 88 that was available and ludicrous cheap. I thought I would be in an out inside 2 months, and yet I ended up driving the pig for half a year and seeing it remain in the family afterwards, popping up in the rearview like a white VW in a Top Gear episode. Every time I needed to borrow a car from then on I was reminded that at one point I put my own money behind the very worst that the used GM market has to offer.
I’ve never had any car buying regrets, but my father still complains about the ’74 Toyota pickup and the ’75 toyota corolla he bought. God he hated those POS’s. The problems on those vehicles never stopped, and anytime we get into a discussion about cars, he invariably ends up exploding with hate for those Toyotas. Has never owned another one since.
My Saturn Ion has been great so far but I really should have just saved up $2000 and bought a beater and drove that till I had enough saved up to pay cash for a car.
Too bad threads like this will always end up in “American car I hated, I should have bought Japanese car X.”
Paul,
I had some great times in the Saturn, especially in the beginning. But the oil use problem really bugged me, especially given the lousy response I got from Saturn for so long. The NVH was a drag on both the first and second engines. I think my the-truth-about-saturn article pretty much expresses my feelings, both positive and negative. An Integer (term of affection, since I like numbers) would have been a much better choice, and I realized that after I’d had the Saturn for a couple of years. It’s a shame–the SL2 came fairly close to being a really nice car. In any case, after the first couple of years I didn’t love the Saturn nearly as much as I love my ’99 Accord. The latter doesn’t have the wonderful light feel of the Saturn, nor does it feel as if you’re wearing it, but the engine never complains, and aside from the greater weight, the handling on the Accord is very enjoyable. Since I went to Skip Barber, I’ve had a powerful desire to do autocross in the Accord, although with 167k on the clock, I’d be afraid I would be abusing it . I probably will go ice racing again this winter.
Mlanghornes on the ’98 SL2) It, of course, started burning oil right away, and near the end it wouldn’t go into gear unless I submitted a written request a few days prior.
This is probably my best laugh of the month so far, maybe my best in several months. Note to TTAC editors: I think mlanghornes deserves some sort of a prize for this. I wish I had written this, but (fortunately) I haven’t had this sort of problem since I abused the tranny on my ’62 Falcon with too much clutchless shifting. Ironically, the switchgear was one of the best features on my own SL2, a ’93.
Regrets? Must be Honda Odysseys. Two. Older one with sliding doors. Transmission failed twice. Second time out of warranty. Got rid of it because the transmission was not shifting right. Had other broken things like sliding power door, egr, gas vapor system, rear power windows. Got a newer Odyssey but it vibrates and shudders. Something about the transmission torque converter and, engine mounts. Steering rack, power steering pump needed to be replaced.
Not good at all.
Our SUV was making noises like it might be about to go to the crusher in the heaven. So I bought a Mazda6 5 door as a replacement. Turns out the truck was not dying and my wife wants to replace the truck with another truck. Life with the Mazda has not changed her mind one bit (Too many women love the high sitting postion of trucks and the false sense of security they exude). Had I known all this, I’d be riding in a RX-8 right now!