Cars!

[orecklover]

FantomFan,

Those large sedans are very popular in my family! My uncle drove a Crown Victoria, he is now getting a Grand Marquis. My grandparents both drive Grand Marquis; a 1999 and 2003. 

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I DO like a lot of American cars.

I've always had Chevrolets. Just my thing.  My aunt had 2 Lincoln Town Cars. loved driving those.


  I have friends who are Cadillac people.


  A friend of mine, (accountant) has several cars... just had a "custom made Mercedes".....it's unbelieveable.  Not my thing,  but, hey..  I had another friend, (antique dealer), had a Benz... didn't like it at all.  But,  I'd never 'bash'.To quote the great Johnny Matthis, 'It's not for me to say".

 

[jmurray01]

I have always been and will always be a Ford guy.

The blue oval gives me 100% confidence that it will go wherever you want and get you home again.

Yes, some people dislike them and say they are unreliable, but not in my experience!! Our current Ford, a year 2000 Focus 1.8 LX has been with us for over 2 years now and has NEVER been in the garage for anything other than scheduled maintenance. Same with our previous 1997 Fiesta 1.25 Ghia which we had for 5 years. Same story, nothing other than oil changes and MOTs. Amazing for what are now classed as "old" cars.

My dream one day would be to acquire a 50s or 60s American Ford and import it over here to Scotland.

 

[suckolux]

Slight advantage there as those are more simple cars, less to break!

 

[bikerray]

I saw a cute one the other day, when I went to Goodwill, someone had a Volkswagon Rabbit that they were selling. In the rear window it had a sign "Fur Sale".

 

[sries]

My family has a...

1998 Chrysler Town and Country lxi. And a 2004 Dodge Durango limited edition. Chrysler products seem to be the only cars that work for us.

 

[s31463221]

Town and Country

Rhonda,

Like you we have had some type of Chrysler product since my wife and I have been married. For the most part I really can't complain about them, however at the moment our Town and Country and I aren't getting along too well.....

 

[redneck]

I've got 2 trucks, a 1982 F150, 302 automatic and a 1997 Dodge w150. That one is my baby, she's got a 5 inch lift, 328 engine, 4 speed manual and true dual cherry bomb exhaust.
Sure, both get around 12 feet to the gallon haha. But I love my old pickups.

 

[fan-of-fans]

My first car was a 2001 Chevrolet Malibu. Good little car that got great gas mileage and was very reliable. Unfortunately started having transmission problems at about 150,000 miles and I kept driving it a while but the repairs were more than I was interested in. Sometimes I wish I still had that car, you can never replace your first car, I don't think.

My current driver is a 2016 Ford Taurus Limited, has every option on it. Got it certified used about a year and a half ago. I have about 25,000 miles on it. Like it, but it's just not as nimble as that Malibu was.

At some point, I want to get an older Dodge Grand Caravan or Chrysler Town and Country for hauling things with and to not put so many miles on the Taurus... especially going to estate sales and thrift stores, etc on weekends. Hopefully I can find an older one that wasn't driven much.

 

[brando_husky]

Up to 9 cars here I'd need my own thread to go through em all lol 

 

[human]

Wow, how time flies. I no longer have either of the cars mentioned in my earlier post. The Aurora is one car that I just plain kept too long. The problems kept mounting up and I finally donated it to my local public radio station for a tax write-off. My weekend toy now is a 1995 Cutlass Supreme convertible. Great fun on sunny days when it isn't too hot.

A vehicle that passed through my hands during this time, which I probably should have kept, was my late father's 2002 Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan. It was a great hauler. I ended up selling it to a single mother, who really needed it, so I know it went to where it was supposed to be.

The Impala met a somewhat ignoble fate right before Christmas last year when I got rear-ended in a three-car collision caused by a drunk driver—at noon on a Sunday! The car was still perfectly drivable after the accident but the insurance company wrote it off as a total loss, anyway. I have to say that mechanically, it was absolutely the most trouble-free car I've ever owned.

Even before I got the (quite generous) insurance settlement, I found a 2013 Buick Lacrosse hybrid to replace it. It was on an independent lot up in Danville, Va. and the guy wanted to move it before the first of the year so he wouldn't have to pay inventory tax on it. The car only had 57,000 miles on it and had been ridiculously well maintained. His asking price was so low that I really didn't see a whole lot of point in dickering. I was able to write a check to cover the purchase and almost recouped the whole thing from the insurance. So far, I'm quite pleased with it.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Impala and LaCrosse

My driver's ed car was a base model 2006 Impala LS, when the new model came out. I've always liked those W body Impalas, and wanted an LTZ model, but when it was time for me to buy my first car a few years later even the earliest 2006 models were still too expensive.

I tried to find one again this time, since they were actually still made alongside the new Impala model until 2016, but I couldn't find any around here for sale. I like the Buick LaCrosse and saw a few, I wish I had test drove one of them. But I stupidly couldn't get over being a 29 year old in a Buick. That to me says Buick has been able to appeal to the younger crowd with their newer cars. I wish I had tried one of the newer Chevy Impalas too, but I didn't. Oh well.

I had a 2014 Dodge Charger rental for a while when my old Malibu was in the body shop. That was a nice car too, but it just felt so big to drive. I think it was because the body stuck out on the sides like old 60s and 70s cars.

Since most sedans are out now I don't know what I'd replace my Taurus with. Probably a Toyota Avalon, Hyundai or Kia sedan something, or a Ford Explorer.

 

[human]

fan-of-fans wrote:
But I stupidly couldn't get over being a 29 year old in a Buick.

I reply:
Shortly after I got the LaCrosse, a friend of mine saw me getting out of it and she couldn't believe it was a Buick. It definitely doesn't feel like the grannymobiles Buick is traditionally known for. The funny thing is the Epsilon body LaCrosse is essentially an imported design from GM of China, where it's considered a prestige brand and is actually the only reason Buick still exists at all. The government pressured GM to drop all of its brands except Chevy, Cadillac and GMC during the 2009 bailout but GM countered that it was better to take the axe to Pontiac, which was outselling Buick domestically at the time, and spare Buick because of its popularity in China. And even though the LaCrosse was dropped from the domestic lineup in early 2019, it's still being made for the Asia-Pacific market in Taiwan.

 

[madman]

Currently I have a 03 Honda Accord. That's my 'good' car. It's in good shape, minus a few dings and hail damage. It's got 260k miles on it, but before everyone fawns over how reliable Hondas are, know that it came from rural Idaho, where it saw nothing but highway miles. So those were very easy miles. It was a chance occurrence, the previous owner was visiting Chicago, and broke down near my shop. It needed a transmission, and she didn't want to spend the money, so it became mine. Good thing I'm a transmission mechanic.

It was about the right time, too, because my other 'good' car was rapidly becoming my 'bad' car. That was a 94 Chrysler Concorde. I really liked that car, it was big and comfortable, but it had been in a MAJOR accident many years prior and though I did a lot to fix it, it was never completed and it looked like crap.

Speaking of looking like crap, my long-time 'fun' car is a 93 Chrysler LeBaron convertible. Enjoy the picture of it, which is from 2006, basically the height of its life. As I got it a couple years before that, it was an ugly old beater. I did a crazy amount of work to make it the beauty you see below. I also upgraded just about everything on it. It was a base model from the factory, now it has just about every option. (Let's not talk about how many scrap yard LeBarons gave their parts to accomplish that.)

Sadly, it's not 2006 anymore, and she's starting to rust away. It's probably been ten years or better that I've retired it for winter - to spare it from road salt - but even that has not helped. I'm looking for another one, preferably one with a problem, but with zero rust. That way, I have a perfect parts car to take all the goodies from.

Still driving it, though. Just put in a new gas tank. The old one had been leaking for years. First it would leak if filled past 3/4, then it'd got so bad I couldn't fill it past 1/4. And a 1/4 of 18 gallons doesn't get you very far.

That's part of being the 'fun' car though, it's a constant battle to keep it running. It actually has dozens of little problems. But that's part of the fun.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

I ran through more beaters in high school than some people will own in their life. When I started driving I was rolling around an an 82 Ford F250 dump truck from my grandpa. The brake lines ended up rotting out, and the truck was on it's last leg as it was.
We scrapped the ford and I bought a used Mercury Grand Marquee. I dont remember the year. It had the feature where you could remove the key and keep the car running. Nice in the winter to keep the heat on while you ran into the pharmacy! But sadly the computer started going out and it would shut down at random. Shame, it only had 102000.
That was replaced by a $500 94 Caprice Classic wagon that was a neighbors winter car. I could put my feet on the road while driving, the floors were so far rusted out. It ate it's head gasket.
This was followed by another family vehicle...a 1996 Plymouth grand voyager. I racked up miles on that like crazy. I removed the rear seats so I could haul lumber, and frequently hauled my riding mower to the farms to mow farmsteads. Being a 90s Mopar, the tranny gave out around 120k miles.
This was when I started driving a 2013 Honda ridgeline pickup. As ugly, and lightly built as it is, that truck has taken 7 years of abuse as a farm truck. About 80k of it's 106k miles have been with overloaded trailers that do not have brakes. The truck is starting to show its salt rot, and the tranny slips pretty bad. I've rebuilt the front end once, and it needs another rebuild. This fall we are putting it out to pasture. The body looks like swiss cheese...

My little fun truck is a 1979 International Scout II Terra named Oscar. I won't get into the juicy details, but I had to rebuild the entire braking system (lines, booster, master, and converted from drum to disc brakes), as well as oodles of ignition work to get this old guy roadworthy. He's my summertime toy.

 

[justinajax]

I love that Scout! Currently I have a 2011 GTI that a buddy and I are replacing the engine in. I bought it new, drove it four years, then sold it to a friend. He sold it back to me last year and I didn't do too much inspection on it. It was just going to be a fun car not driven very often. He's a good friend and I assumed he had taken care of it. I was autocrossing it back in February and blew the engine. Man was I pissed! My buddy found a rebuilt 2.0T EA888 up in Virginia so we road tripped up there in his van and picked it up last month. The pic is when the old engine came out. We have the new engine in it now and it's up and running finally but still needs a lot of fine tuning.

My other car is a 2019 540i that's been trouble free until last Friday when the fuel filler door wouldn't open. At the gas station. With 6 miles range. I made it home and they towed it from there. So sad seeing your car up on a tow truck! It still had a bit of gas so the tow driver drove it up onto the truck and drove it off when he got to the dealership. They got the fuel filler door open and ordered a part that should be here this week. But when I got in my car at the dealership it smells like an armpit now. It's like a "Seinfeld" episode.

My first car was a VW Corrado. Bright yellow. LOL. I really wish I could find one to wrench on in decent condition but every one I come across has been modded to hell and back.

 

[suckolux]

I have to car shop now! My Park Ave was totaled two weeks ago, difficult to deal with after 15 years of ownership and loving. No idea what will replace, I had planned for many more years. Always made it home, never leaked or used fluids, comfortable, pretty

 

[scvacuumguy]

I drive a 2016 Tahoe LTZ and it’s time to replace with a new truck or suv. Does anyone else just feel that it’s ok to put up with the absolutely garbage GM product in order to have a decently large interior for kids?

 

[electroluxxxx]

I have owned 3 blazers and continue to love the comfort GM offers in a vehicle, I got rid of my 01 blazer last August for a ford E-150 (long story and im out a lot of money). I do own a 2008 Lincoln MKZ AWD sedan that is still in rather excellent condition, a 2010 Jeep Compass that refuses to give up, and a 2007 Chevy express 1500 with the 4.3 vortec that the body is just getting ready to hit 300,000 miles and for those who like to hit the road on 2 wheels, I currently ride a 1982 Yamaha maxim 1100 with 17k on it and also have a 1985 maxim 700 special in the shed with 10k on the odo, that needs a title and work which I will have running and road ready by next spring.

 

[brando_husky]

Speaking of gms. The only gm branded vehicle I've got currently is my 2010 Tahoe ltz. Great truck. Good for taking in into the desert for fun.


 


Got limo tint on it for extra comfort. 


 


I guess it's my only gm not counting the wrangler with a Chevy v8 in it 

 

[scvacuumguy]

I’ve already had to put a transmission in mine, and a radiator. For the price, this has been the most problematic car I’ve ever owned.

Luxxx- I used to have a VTX750 that I adored until an accident on the interstate. Haven’t ridden since

 

[gottahaveahoove]

My aunt had 2 Lincoln Town Cars

THe first one was great. THe second one...... kind of a lemon.
I had a simple Chevy Cobalt...238K miles LOVED it. Now, a red Chevy Cruze. So far. love it too.
But the 'classics' T-Birds, gull winged Chevy, Oldmobiles, loved them!!!!

 

[electroluxxxx]

Chris...

It’s actually funny you mention the VTX750, I just sold one that had a seized motor to a guy in Ohio, he bought one at a swap meet and needed the parts from the one I had to complete his. They are a great bike when running, almost like a Harley except more reliable. I myself had a wreck in 2012 that thankfully didn’t cost me my life. The bike was an 83 maxim 750 and the damage was thankfully repairable.
As for the GM vehicles, I feel that you get more out of them than you do mopar. Transmissions aren’t Mopar’s strong point. I bought my blazer with 95,000 on it and at 132000 the sun shell gear split taking out reverse, second, and overdrive which is very common with 4L60E, 4L65E and 4L80E transmissions although the 4L80E is more reliable. I drove it about 45 mins away to our office and parked it until I had a tranny put in it about 6 mos later. It’s common to have to replace at least one transmission in a GM truck but the rebuilds with the aftermarket parts I have found to be better than the OEM and they last longer than a Mopar trans which seem to go at around 75,000.

 

[brando_husky]

Mmm no par with Mopar here lol. Biggest lemon of a vehicle ever. Our dodge Durango with a fully built srt motor after the original gernaded itself as they all tend to do.


 


Well this one's blown again too after using only the best heavy duty srt parts 


 


This sad thing has been just truly awful. Thanks chrysler... Lol. Never again 

 

[madman]

"Transmissions aren’t Mopar’s strong point."

Tell that to the TorqueFlite. A transmission so good that Ford literally copied it, and both the TorqueFlite and Ford's C6 were used for more than 40 years.

And when I say Ford copied it, I've literally held the parts in my hands one Ford and one Chrysler, could not tell the difference.

As for more contemporary transmissions, most of them are crap, no matter who makes them.

 

[air-waycharlie]

I had a 1969 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron coupe that was a killer! The TorqueFlite transmission was great and trust me, at that point in my life I was hard on a car. That car went through a lot and never failed me. It needed minimum maintenance but a lot of premium fuel.

Fast forward......it was the only Chrysler I owned until 2015. I had been driving Cadillacs since the mid/late 70's, (except for a dismal time in early 80's when Cadillac was awful), including a 76 Eldo convertivble, and many sedans and Fleetwoods.

I test drove a 2015 Chrysler 300C for fun after seeing it featured on, "Breaking Bad", and found a car with true balls. It has the HEMI engine which is a V-8 but with two spark plugs per cylinder so it is a version of a V-16. It is good on gas, loaded with creature comforts and flies down the road. I just put a set of Pirelli tires on it and now it handles better than ever. AND, if I am not mistaken it is an 8 speed automatic TorqueFlite transmission. It gets a good workout.

I bought the car new and to date no issues. I just change the oil and filters and follow the Chrysler recommended maintenance.

I love it when drivers see me merging on the freeway or entering a lane at a traffic light and they think, "okay, here comes Grandpa with the white hair--another Q-tip behind the wheel", and then I leave them eating my dust.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

My place of Employment is Mopar exclusive in all our 20,000GVWR and smaller trucks. We run them plenty hard, plowing snow and pulling overloaded trailers. In 45 years, and a combined 1.5 million miles across the vehicles we only had one transmission fail early (90K), but knock on wood the rest have been very low issue

 

[madman]

As for bigger Mopars, have a story.

I was driving by some kind of shipping depot. Maybe 10 big Chevy Kodiaks where driving out pulling full size semi trailers. The Kodiak is a big truck that's like one step down from a semi truck. Among the Kodiaks was one little Dodge Ram pickup with a 5th wheel pulling the same trailer! The little Mopar that could!

 

[kirbyklekter]

short and sweet

That describes the time I had with a '95 Chrysler LHS. New, the car was 31,253, I bought mine at an estate sale for 1000.00. Bought in 2007. More car than I needed, it certainly grew on me after just a short test drive. This was the most luxurious car I had ever owned. I constantly got compliments on the ride quality,"better than a Cadillac" was the most common comparison. Fully loaded, 8 speaker Bose sound system and a huge v-6 engine. Just one little problem. 1995 Chryslers had a horrendous transmission problem. Just that year. At 128K miles I lost reverse. I was backing up into my friends garage and half way up(only 10 ft.) it just vanished. No noise, no clunks it was like I shifted into neutral.

I was repeatedly talked out of repair/replacement by at least 3 shops. I was told that the replacements are no better. It's a crap shoot, win or miss on these. I read some reviews on the car. One fellow went through 4 trannys. all during the warantee period! 7 out of 10 said if it weren't for the dicey transmission, they would buy the car again today. The engine is good for 250-300K easy and the rest of the car held up nicely.

Had the car for two years, donated it to charity now drive a '98 Acura Integra that my niece gifted me when she heard about the Chrysler dying. She said she'd rather give it to me than trade it on a new car she was buying. Did I mention Jessica is my favorite niece?

 

[madman]

Shame, those are nice cars. My Concorde (essentially the same car) lasted a long time. Never needed transmission work, not that it would've been an issue for me. I dunno what this nonsense is about their transmissions. I'll grant you, I've heard it from many people, never seen it myself. Sure, I've put transmissions in a few of those... but only a few. I've put transmissions in damn near every car. Let me tell you, I've done scores of Honda transmissions for every one of those I've done. And the ones I have done have had no problems, I can't recall even one of them even coming back to me. There are several other units that are prone to comebacks, but that's not one that springs to mind.

There are certain things in the automotive world that people get stuck in their heads that it's true. ie, Cadillac Northstar engines, Chrysler transmissions, LeanBurn, not being able to mix coolant types, using transmission fluid in the power steering, etc.

Honestly, I wonder how bad of a transmission mechanic you have to be to screw up an A604 (technically a variant), it's about the simplest one out there. I honestly couldn't tell you. Boggles the mind that someone who calls themself a transmission mechanic would say something like that. Far more likely they just didn't want to work on an older car, or were unfamiliar with that car.

Also, that transmission is very well computerized for something from the 90s. The computer is programmed to compensate for wear and tear, specifically with the intention of keeping it working as well as it could for as long as it could. So when it 'just' stopped, in reality it was probably going out for a while, but was being compensated for.