What car do you drive?

[Ice_Fire]

I got a new car yesterday and thought it would be interesting to find out what other folks drive and why.

I just bought a “silver fox” (aka blue-grey) Ford Fiesta ST. It’s the most powerful car I’ve ever owned and a model that I’ve wanted since I was 17 and first got my license. Eight years later and here we are!

It’s a manual and I’m in the UK, where automatics are just gaining popularity and I think in a few years will be the norm.

 

[Lionheart]

I don't have a car and I no longer drive, but my last car was a black Chrysler La Baron with a red and black interior. It was a good car until I loaned it to a family member who failed to keep water and oil in it and it cracked the block. Lesson learned. I stopped driving because of driving mistakes and depth perception problems.

 

[VioletButterfly]

I have a Honda Civic. She'll be 7 years old in December. She's got some wear and dings on her, has issues and needs some work, just like her Momma, but she's sweet girl. We've shared quite a wild ride these past few years.

I looked at a lot of different cars before I bought B, but Mazda and Toyota didn't have 2012 models available at the time, and Ford and Hyundai didn't have what I needed in stock. So, it was back to the Honda dealer because my Protege was literally melting.

 

[Missycat]

I have a Ssanyong 4wd. Got it new 2 years ago ( it has 5 year warranty). Chose this car as it wins many Caravan tow awards and i’m a caravaner and needed something powerful enough and reliable. She really comes in to her own when she’s on the open road and towing the caravan but quite costly to run as a get around town / get to work car. I live on quite a hill as well so having 4wd is great , particularly in the bad weather. my first car was a Ford Fiesta.

 

[Ice_Fire]

@VioletButterfly is it a UK/Europe style hatchback civic or the US, more sedan-style one? I’ve always liked Hondas, my uncle will not buy anything else because they are so reliable. He had a Honda Accord that he bought new in 1994 just before I was born and only sold it 18 months ago (for another accord). It had done 200,000 miles and apart from a couple of timing belts and the normal replacement wear parts it ran like a dream. He only changed it because he decided it was time to get one with a satnav! I was looking at a civic type r but over here they are so ugly this time around, I don’t know what they were thinking with the back end design.

@Lionheart777 i had to look up that car, I’d never heard of it. This is already a pretty cool thread, thanks for sharing!

@Missycat again, not a car I’m familiar with. There are a few Ssanyong cars in the UK but they are very rare. 4x4 sounds like its ideal for you.

I’m loving my new fiesta, it’s taken me a wee while to get the seating position dialled in and I’m still not 100% sure, it might need fine-tuning. Or it might just be that I’m not used to supportive bucket seats! I’ve had it a day and already done 80 miles in it. Which for me is a heck of a lot! I’m making the most of the weekend before I go back to work, this time of year there’s very little opportunity in daylight to drive it as it’s dark before work and dark by the time I finish as well!

 

[somerandomguy]

A couple of years ago we needed a reliable family car so we bought a Kia Forte. I always liked Kias and this one has been very reliable. We also have a '99 Camry we got from my in-laws. I'm old enough to remember when a 20 year old car was considered a classic. Our Camry is in no way a classic ?

 

[siniang]

I have a blue 2008 Toyota RAV4 that I love and that already came with a few dings and dents when I bought it 4 years ago. It's reaching 190k soonish, which starts making me really nervous. I probably paid half the sales price in repairs over the last years, already. Can't afford a "new" one, though, and the used car market in my place is insane. But I certainly would love to have something more fuel efficient (I have a V6 engine :oops: ).

I need a big car because of field gear and sport's equipment and because it makes me feel safe.

Hubby got his childhood dream and got a SUBARU WRX earlier this year after his previous used Impreza got totaled in a MVA. It's soooooo much fun to drive :inlove:

 

[Friday]

No car! Boooooo...

 

[Gs172003]

2011 ram 1500 crew cab. I love trucks lol

 

[Teasel]

I've got a Honda Jazz, bought it in May having not had a car in 20 years. I love it, dearly ♡

It's pretty old (12 years old) but it had 2 careful lady owners before me and was in really good condition for an old car. Only 45000 miles on the clock.

I did a lot of research before I bought it, and ended up thinking this was the one for me. It's an automatic - being a nervous type this takes a good bit of the stress out of the equation for me.

And having a car again has really opened up my tiny little world a good bit. I've taken it camping a few times and just loved it.

I got a 1.4 engine cause though I knew I wanted a small car I knew I wanted it to have a little bit of power.

Reckon my research did me well, am really pleased with my little car. It's small but surprisingly roomy inside. Though you can never plan for everthing hey.

Turns out Honda jazz is one of the most popular choices for thieves to steal the catalytic converter, which happened to me just a couple months ago.

Still, replaced it with a cheap, less attractive to steal part and though she's noisier now, am so glad to still have her. ❤

 

[Ice_Fire]

Our Camry is in no way a classic

A twenty year old car is nothing these days, keep it another twenty and then it’ll be a classic!

It's reaching 190k soonish, which starts making me really nervous

Oh my Lord that’s a lot! Wow! The most mileage we’ve ever had in the family was my uncle’s Honda mentioned above that was over 100k. My first car which my Nan then used we got rid of last year after she passed away. I still miss it, but then I think most people have a soft spot for their first car, that had 75k on the clock. It ran like a dream after getting the radiator replaced.

SUBARU WRX

Awesome!

Only 45000 miles on the clock.

thieves to steal the catalytic converter, which happened to me just a couple months ago

45k after 12 years?! Wow! That’s obviously not been driven much by the previous owners, you got a bargain there. Nicking catalytic converters is a new one on me.

Speaking of stealing cars, I got a steering wheel lock today. I’ve never bothered before as I’ve never had a car worth stealing until now. ST’s are very popular to steal here and I don’t have a garage or anything and it’s kept in a public car park whilst I’m at work. I’m currently looking at ways to disable the OBD or add an additional immobiliser.

 

[VioletButterfly]

@Ice_Fire - B is a LX sedan (US). I had always heard Hondas were great cars as well which is why I felt comfortable when I settled on this car. Unfortunately, I haven't had that great of an experience with mine. B has about 36,500 K on her and she has had numerous problems from the jump. In the beginning, I even reached out to American Honda for help. They were rude and unresponsive.

I'm getting ready to drop another bag of money on repairs in the next couple of weeks - replace CV axle, 2 new tires, replace engine mount, replace cabin filter which I don't think they did the last time, and repair a/c that's not cooling (hoping it's just a charge).

There are also other issues which I'm not even dealing with - seats creak like old bus seats, window guides are crumbling, directional buttons in the car are smearing, etc.... Won't touch this either.

I came from Mercurys and a Mazda. My favorite was the Protege. She fit and drove like a glove - tight, responsive, and zippy. The Mercurys were actually Mazdas with a Mercury frame as Ford owned part of Mazda at the time. I worked on these cars myself as they were the same, for the most part. Not major stuff, but the routine stuff - oil, spark plugs, filters, a/c charge, fluid flushes, batteries, fuses... Not my Honda; its scary under that hood! If I get another car, I doubt it'll be a Honda. Plus, I'd like to have a baby SUV.

As an aside, do you ever listen to old episodes of Car Talk on NPR? Hysterical!! If not, you might enjoy a listen. :) I enjoyed it on the radio, but it's still online.

Car Talk

P.S. I test drove a Fiesta when I was car shopping. To say that the car was fuel injected is not doing it justice! Room-a-zoom-zoom!