BEST and Worst Cars You've Ever Owned
 

I'll start:

Best is my 2009 Boxster, obviously. Second to that, a 1990 Celica. Fit my price range at the time, had a lot of torque, fun to drive. Oddly roomy, I was able to wedge quite a few pieces of furniture inside it and drive them home, including a large rocking chair. I got way too many tickets in that car, though.

Worst was a 2000 Mercedes ML310, bought used. Sluggish, no actual interior room, steering felt muffled. In retrospect, I think the engine was underpowered for the weight. At about 40K miles, the ML started getting weird; burning plastic smells, mushy brakes. The dealer could never find a problem. Then one day the brakes just weren't there at all, pushed down with my foot, and nothing happened. Managed to slow the car by nudging the curb and limp into a parking lot. Luckily, not driving fast at the time. The dealer couldn't find the problem! They guessed it might be the sensor that tells the brakes to pull up (sorry, guys, I don't know what that's called) and that would be a $4,000 repair. But it drove fine for them. Long story short, we made the dealer buy the car back. I wonder if he just stuck it back on the lot and let some other sucker drive it away.

My favorite line in the ML's owner's manual: Don't operate cellular phones inside the vehicle, results may be unpredictable. What . . . ?

What were your bests and worsts?

After all of these years, it's still my favorite. I relish the thought of driving it !

The best... 1995 Jeep Wrangler Sahara. (220k "not easy" miles) Don't get me wrong the Porsche has been an excellent car that doesn't leak, sputter or give me any problems- but it is just a weekend toy.

The worst.... Don't laugh. 1998 Cadillac Catera, it was the extended warranty companies worst nightmare- the Bose sound system was incredible other than that it was junk.http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1357871000.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1357871019.jpg

Hmmmm . . . looks pretty slow. All the other cars would definitely ketchup with you.

:D

I wan't to go cruising in the "Danger Dog" mobile!

Worst...1982 Alfa Spider purchased in 1983 with 10K miles. Beautiful car purchased right out of college after 3 Fiats (2 X 1/9's and a 124 Spider). I thought I was stepping up but the car about broke me. Head gasket, bent valves, dry rotted top, oil leaks, non-working speedo, distributor slipped 180 degrees (car dies on freeway).

All in two years.

Guess what I have now? An 1984 Alfa Spider and yes, I am an Idiot.

Best car:
Hard to say...My current Boxster S certainly a candidate, but I really haven't had any other car that was a POS or boring. It kind of competes with my 99 BMW M roadster that was a very cool car.

Even my 93 Explorer purchased in 2001 with 107K miles was a rock and served every task asked of it without incident.

Hmmmm, well I have owned a s@#% load of cars in my lifetime. 60 maybe???

Most fun- Boxster no contest. I still can't believe how much fun these are to drive.

Best dog hauler/grocery getter? - Lexus RX330 Build quality is unbelievable and it's a leather couch on wheels.

Best Workhorse- 89 Toyota 4Runner. We did things with that truck that no one should ever do and it always came through. Never broke down, never overheated in 260k miles.

Worst car ever- 86 Ford Aerostar. I had a young family and needed a minivan. Parts started falling off before we even left the dealers lot. It stranded us 1/2 dozen times, leaked oil, burned oil, overheated, LCD dash went blank, couldn't tow a canoe. Limped it into the Toyota dealership after 3 years and they gave me far more than it was worth in trade for the 4Runner. Somebody probably lost their job that day. :o

Not once I get my "buns in gear" !

Thanks for being so frank. I find that most people don't give a bean.

That's cool I bet it's so fast nobody could ketchup with you

Ha didn't notice someone beat me to it!

I considered getting one, but I didn't think it's cornering ability would cut the mustard. If it could, however, it would be French's yellow.

1971 Triumph TR-6. Both the best and the worst.

Good - Classic British sports car. Good power and handling.

Bad - POS. Spent every weekend fixing it so I could get to work during the week.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...TR6small-1.jpg

Most fun: the Box ;)

Prettiest: Cherry Red 1985 Camaro with an '80 big block Corvette V8 454. Was a beast!

Most reliable: 1998 Dodge Neon...yep, that's right :D owned it for 13 years now and almost 200k miles later, just broke down on me a few weeks ago for the first time(fuel pump). Been well maintained and...just...keeps...going!

Worst: Geo Metro...enough said, lol!!!

You got it all Johnny, secret agent, kewl yellow Boxster, and a big wiener!

I could be all over on this topic, because "Best" and "Worst" are subjective and depend on what attributes you most value in a car.

For combination of acceleration, handling and grins, it's my recently purchased 01 Boxster S followed by a 1990 Eclipse GSX. But the GSX tore up the harsh 90's Winter weather and averaged 27 MPG whereas the Boxster is spending this mild winter in the garage and averages 22 MPG. On a single year of ownership and being able to afford alternate winter transportation, I'm choosing the Boxster. But I still miss the Eclipse. And IMO nothing Mitsu produced after that first gen is worth my consideration.

For reliability and "practicality" the best were my 1993 Accord Coupe and 1999 Acura CL
(which is my current winter DD). Over more than 10 years for each, maintenance was minimal, and MPG averaged 30.

Maybe "worst" is easier for me to choose. My dad gave me his 72 Mercury Colony Park wagon in 78 when he fell for Lee Iacocca's Reliant. The car had a 460 cid engine, seated 9 and could tow anything, but it averaged 14 MPG and within a month, tore the crap out of the timing chain. I limped it at 15 mph to the local High School auto shop for my dad to claim the charity donation, and 3 years later they still were working to get it running.

DBear

I donno, I've owned a lot of cars and some were real pieces of sh|t. I had one of those down sized luxury Fords that must have been in an accident cause when I put on the blinker the car accelerated with each blink, scary as crap at stop lights. One of my favorites but the worst car ever was a late 80s Audi 5000. I paid $9600 for it when the price dropped through the floor because of the acceleration issues. I bought an extended service plan and it covered $6800 in repairs in the 6 months I owned it. I ended up selling it for $8400 with the extended service plan to some sorry soul who's wife HAD to have one.
I've got a lot of favorites, my Boxsters are wonderful, my E350 was a dream, but my 88 mustang GT I bought new was a young mans dream. It was fast and had lots of torque. Drove it for 62,000 miles and I don't remember it breaking down once.

[QUOTE=particlewave;323318]Most fun: the Box ;)

Prettiest: Cherry Red 1985 Camaro with an '80 big block Corvette V8 454. Was a beast!


1980's Corvette with a 454 ? Guess again...

I have never regretted buying any of my cars so for worst I will have to go with cheapest. $500 1967 Pontiac Catalina 2+2 428 c.i. 376 H.P. this is 1 of the best engines Pontiac ever made & I bought it to put the engine in my Firebird, the body was just a convenient way to drive the engine 100 miles to my house. This car turned out to be fun to drive since it was faster than most new cars when I owned it in the mid 80's. It had a huge speaker grille in the middle of the rear seats, the speaker was missing so when I burned rubber the smoke would come thru the grille & choke everyone in the back seat. It had the optional 8-lug wheels with integral aluminum brake drums, & all the drums were worn way beyond minimum thickness to varying degrees, so when I had to brake hard each wheel would lockup at different times. I liked the car since the huge trunk was great for hauling engine parts but my wife wouldn't be caught dead in it, so I sold it for $700.

Oh yeah, best car: 2000 Boxster S + 3.6 :D

[QUOTE=BYprodriver;323326] You're right...that should have said '70, not '80.
LS5 454, 390 bhp, iirc...

I relish your car Johnny

Yep, I heard it was a dog.

Worst Alfa 164, build quality, 3 engines in 8 months, found extra parts like seat belt buckles not installed, rattles, weak brakes etc etc. Best thing was the engine, really sweat and when running (especially the 1st one) smooth and powerful.

Best, hmmm, difficult. I loved the Audi V8 (the first one), Quattro was a relevation! Others include my various 911 ('78 SC, '83 SC, '89 C4, '90 C2), the C4 was with snow tires a blast and unstopable in the winter. Our Cayenne just today (also with snow tires) was again the choice transportion in the snow.

But, of course, the current Box is the best :) !

Hands down the most reliable is my current DD which is a '98 Lex GS400 with 210,XXX on the clock. The Toyota 1UZ-FE V8 with VVT is one of the best V8s I've ever driven. 4.0 with 300HP and 310ftLbs. It burns almost no oil between 10,000 oil changes and has onle stranded me once (diff failure@198K, likely due to my driving style). The build quality exceeds any European car I've ever owned (and I've owned all of the German and Swedish makes). Still able rip off sub 6 second 0-60 times after 15 years and 210K

The Boxster is the most fun, but seems like an expensive and unreliable trinket after 8 years of Lexus ownership.

A close second in the fun department was an '89 BMW 325is (E30). This was one of the best mixes of practicality and fun in a single package. It made it to 255K before a girlfriend unintentionally took it off road and trashed the undercarriage cracking the engine block and transmission case...

Honorable mention goes to my 1992 Audi 200Q. One of the first Audi S cars to be imported even though it was not named as such. This was my city car when I lived in SF. 240hp I5T 5 spd. I blew the doors off more than one older, normally aspirated 911 at 8000ft on I80 when Tahoe bound. It had 280K on the clock when I let it go...

Best Car - 1967 Sunbeam Alpine I bought at 18 and still have. Drove it out west to Colorado and back to Ohio and up to the tip of the upper penninsula of Michigan. It never stranded me. It's sleeping next to our 2000 Boxster now which has replaced it as our fun car.

Worst Car - 1978 Dodge Omni. Left front ball joint broke and almost killed us.

It took owning my Boxster to make me appreciate what a true gem the 2005 Corolla is, haha. I was going to give it to my son when he gets his license, but I've changed my mind. 198,000 absolutely trouble-free miles. Never seen the inside of a shop, and not even a light bulb has burned out. The car is like an appliance! Gas, oil, tires. Never a clutch, or even a battery yet. 35 mpg all the live long day, the paint still shines, and the interior looks new except for the floor mats.

The worst have to be both of my Explorers. Oh Ford, why cannot you avoid rust like the boys at GM? Oh, my '85 Vette is definitely in the running though - that car fell apart faster than it took them to screw it together in Bowling Green.

Best for reliablity and practicality - probably my MK4 Golf TDi. SUV size in the back (unreal what you can fit in there, amazing heated seats, never breaks and unreal fuel mileage (I got 1437km out of a single tank of diesel on a trip between Ottawa, ON and Halifax, NS)

I would have probably said the BMW e46 until recently. I've just bought my 3rd - I previously had a 99 328i and a 00 323i which were both great cars. My most recent however.... 03 325ci which unknown to me when I bought it is a SULEV model and is currently at the dealership with a bad fuel pump. Unfortuntly this pump is non-replaceable without changing the entire stainless steel tank and it is a $10,000 part here in Canada. It is suppost to be under warranty though which I am currently trying to have approved.

Most fun - probably between my 00 Box S and my 90 Celica All-Trac. Neither one is cheap to maintain but they both offer great smiles when tearing up a back road or just crusing around downtown.

Best for fun, 1970 Porsche 914 85HP (I was young and foolish and drove it like that). Second best: Boxster 1999 (I was old and foolish and totaled it.)

Worst reliability: 1970 Porsche 914 (I worked 3 blocks from the dealer and the joke at work was they had a parking space with my name on it ... well it might as well have, the car spent 1/3 of it's 2 year life in my ownership sitting there waiting for parts. I sold it 3 days before the warranty expired. Second worst: Volvo PV544

Fun topic!

I've owned more than 20 cars in my three decades, and my top three:
987s
955
923

The worst was a '97 Mitsubishi Eclipse FWD Turbo that a kid racer owned before me. That thing had so many problems from the cheap DIY motor mods I got rid of it a few weeks, a new turbo and a new head later. That was a money suck. :(

Worst 1972 MGB - lots of electric issues , had to get a push start lots of times.
Blown head gasket , broken rear springs - top leaked around most of the edges.

The best vehicle in terms of dollars spent and use was an '83 Toyota diesel pickup.
Bought the truck for $1,800. put 100K Kilometers on it and sold it for $2,500.
Other than oil changes and two tires that's all the work it needed in seven years.

I find what should be my worst cars were more my favorites.

1973 Caprice - Body completely rusted through. 400 small block. Used to have to stop every fifteen minutes when doing donuts in the snow to shovel out the trunk or the body would rub the rear tires.

1987 Caprice - Very clean car. 305ci with a 2.56 rear axle ratio. Used to drive it from Oklahoma to Chicago all the time. Pulled out the 15 gallon gas tank and put in a 20 or maybe 22 so that in combination with the rear axle, I could drive 500 miles on a tank of gas.

1978 GMC Flare side - More rusted out than my '73 Caprice. No floorboards, wooden bed. Everybody would start humming the Sanford and Son theme song when I would pull up.

I was 18ish when I had the '73, so that was the perfect car for me. Enough power to get into a little trouble. Big enough I wouldn't kill myself, and if I totalled it, I'd be out $300.

I was in my early 20s with the '87. I loved that car. Great for cruising the expressway. Finally sold it with 300k on the odometer and it still ran like a champ.

I was in my early 30s with the '78 and I was going through a minimalist phase and I couldn't get more minimal than that. I drove that truck all over.

I dig my 1997 Boxster now, and it is very awesome, but I find it difficult to put it in my favorites yet as we've only known each other 16 months.

My worst - Probably my first car. 1977 Lincoln Town Car. 4mpg and of the 4000 miles I put on that car before I cracked the block, I think 1000 were on the back of a tow truck. It wasn't the car's fault, it just wasn't maintained by the previous owner.

NO not you too. I just loved these cars for driving in snow, there wasn't a storm I couldn't drive through, never got stuck.

When I left Boston during the winter of 86/87' there was so much snow the sidewalk plows were riding on top of a 3 to 4 food snow pack. They used to leave these giant balls of snow at the end of my driveway and i would have to bash through them. I left for FL all packed up right before the next snowstorm. While I was looking for a place on the beach in Del Ray I was backing out and my front wheel fell right off, I was so embarrassed. All the rich kids were driving by in their Benz laughing and waving at me.

Best Car owned thus far: 1995 Lexus LS400. Dependable and very comfortable. Wife won't let me sell it and drives it daily.

Worst car owned thus far: 1997 Chevy Monte Carlo. Unsolvable electrical problems under the hood and the sunroof kept coming out its track among many other niggling issues. Lost $6500 trading it in on the Lexus mentioned above.

My particular boxster runs a very close second to the Chevy to be honest with you all. I so wish I had saved my money and bought a much younger example with much lower mileage. They became more dependable every single year they've been manufactured.

Worst: 1968 Opel GT. Fun to drive, but impossible to start if the weather even thought about being the least bit damp.

Best: 1984 911 Carrera, Euro spec. And then again, maybe it was because I got to drive on the autobahn every day. Picked her up at the factory.

Worst; 1967 Triumph GT6. It was a prototype for the model that was released into mass production in 1968. Bought it when I was in high school in 1977 with 110,000 miles on the odometer. It needed repair constantly and finally became a pretty reliable car after I bought a '68 several years later and merged the two cars into one. Fun car to drive around when it was running. Cool looking car many described as a poor man's Jaguar. Sold it in 1984.

Best: 2012 Lexus RX350. Not a driver's car, but still very nice, especially on long road trips and has lots of space for our two big dogs. Lots of cool features, rides nice and expect it will be even more reliable than our 2007 RX350 was. It is the wife's daily driver, but I have to admit, I like driving it too.

Not on the best or worst list: 1980 Triumph TR8. Totally reliable and fun to drive with the factory 3.5 liter (Rover/Buick 215) V8. Bought it in 1988 with 18k miles and sold it in 2010 with around 85k miles. Great car, but not in the same league as the 2003 Boxster S I bought in 2008. Was fun to have them both around but I found I hardly ever drove it after buying the Boxster.

Most fun - my 2001 Boxster but so far the most expensive to fix. So far just preventive maintenance - cv joints.
Early VW Beetles - '58 and a 1972(awesome gas heater when it worked).
Early Austin Mini - cold but pretty reliable - started burning oil at 30k miles.

Worst Ford Mustang Ghia 1978 6 cylinder. Suspension etc.
Fiat 124 = rusty.
Triumph TR3 = reliable but cold and rusty.

Best AND worst was a Lotus Europa. It was unique, fun and handled amazingly.
But, it was very unreliable and hard to work on. Both metric and SAE parts.
Ordering parts from England was slow and difficult at the time.

Fantastic story. Don't you hate rich kids in a Mercedes Benz?

Best Car- my 2006 Boxster S

Best SUV- my current D.D. 2011 Explorer Limited

Worst- my 197? Fiat 128

This is how I roll now:

Best - 2002 Lexus GS 300 - 200k of flawless miles ...wife still loves it
Worst - 1973 Chevy Vega - flawed in every way ...engine blew apart with 84k miles... the body was already shot
Most fun to drive, look at, tinker, own, be seen in, etc etc etc - 1999 Porsche Boxster....I love it