Cars, Trucks and Minivans... oh my!

[podmate]

I've been going through my car list, so here it is:

ME:
1985: bought a 1978 Honda Accord LX for $2000
my best friend in college decided that he wanted to go for a joy ride one night. He took my keys while I was sleeping. Rolled the car 2.5 times and killed one of the passengers.

1997: drove my grandparents spare pinto for 1 month until I could afford to buy a car

1987: bought a 1980 Audi 4000 for $2000. 6 months later I blew the engine (all my fault).

1988: bought a 1988 Mazda 323 for ~$6500.

1991: traded in the 323 for a 1991 Honda CRX. What a damn fine car it was. I still miss it.

1995: sold the CRX (for $2000 less than I paid for it) because I figured I wouldn't need a car when I moved to Boston

1995: stupid me, I did need a car in Boston.

1995: Bought a 1990 Audi 100 for ~ $6000. God I loved this car. Hit a fiberglass cooler that flew out of a truck bed on the interstate. Totally f'd up the transmission. Traded it in very quickly

1996(late): traded the 1990 Audi 100 for a 1995 VW Jetta. Can you tell I love VW/Audi's

1998: went back to school full time. Sold the Jetta for what I paid for it in 96

1998 (late): Bought a 1991 Audi 100S for ~ $4500
drove it for 40k then traded it in

2000: Traded 1991 Audi 100S in for a 1997 Honda Accord LX Coupe. My wife and I learned to hate this friggin car

2001: traded the 1997 Accord for a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria LX.
This is one sweet ride. Fast, handles very well and is very comfortable.

2003: debating on a Mercury Marauder, VW Passat, Chevy 1500 or just keeping this car until it dies. Or, should I get that 1970 240z, or how about a 1970 442 or a 1971 Camaro or.........


MY WIFE:

when we met in 1997 she had

1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Was way too unreliable, so we traded it in

1998(early): traded Jeep in on a 1998 Subaru Legacy. Very nice car

1999 (late): pregnant wife enters nesting phase and states, in no uncertain terms, that we are buying a Volvo Wagon. So, I trudge out to the Volvo dealership. Nearly die from sitcker shock. We trade the Subaru in for a 1996 Volvo 850 Wagon.
its currently got 84k on it and still runs perfectly.

[Sogni]

Bikes:

Currently Have:
2002 Bajaj Legend Scooter, think: Old Vespa with all new parts and better engine!

Want:
2004 Kawazaki/Bajaj Eliminator 125

Hey - what can I say? I love inexpencive yet fun rides!
Both are around $2k, on the Legend insurance is $250 for the year, and aprox 100 Miles per Gallon. What a way to beat the gas prices!


Cars:
Have : 1977 5.0L V8 Ford Mustang - paid $100 for it, got free engine rebuild ("sponsored"?), needs a little more work but is a fun ride and makes people do double-takes!
Was "My First Car" and I still have it!

Want: Jeep Wrangler (or a Van of some sort)
Want: Mazda RX8

Past: 1984 Ford LTD - Aside from it's foobar'ed TBI, it was a nice ride. Got totalled when a small import jumped out in front of me at 40MPH - wrecking the engine.

[Arden]

Sorry, Sogni, this thread is for vehicles with 4 or more wheels and a padded interior. Just kidding...

Well, as I said, I'm driving my dad's blue Camry, which he bought new. Here's a list of all the modifications it has, whether technical or cosmetic, that I know of:

• 2 plugs on back of trunk for ham radio antennae; these lead through the interior via coax to a box that he used to plug his radios into.
• White sheepskin seat covers for the front seats
• Replacement radio/cassette deck, though the light & cassette player don't work
• Shades for the rear windshield (my dad put those in, and I never took them out)
• Black wheel cover w/white dragons on the sides (because the wheel gets hot! )
• Cup holders that sit in the window groove... very handy
• A hole in the muffler that makes it sound phat as stated above)

My mom drives a blue 2001 Sienna LE (hint hint, Nick & Sogni). It's quite a good car, and it has a lot of pickup for what it is (it's built on the Camry chassis). My dad drives a 2003 Corolla LE with a stick, and he put the obligatory seat covers and ham radio plug (this time on the roof ).

We used to have a '94 Volvo 940 station wagon. It was quite stable, even after surviving the airbags blowing out (at 5 mph—faulty shocks), but we eventually got rid of it because stuff kept breaking on it. For example, the shifter popped off, one of the seat belts locked up, screws came out, etc. So we traded it for the van.

I had quite a bit of trouble today with my car. I was running low on gas, and I forgot to ask my mom for the Costco card last night, so I went to my first 2 classes and went home. I found my mom's old Costco card (which, unknown to me, had been demagnetized) and ventured out, intending to get gas before going to class. Well, when I got to Costco, the card wouldn't work, as you might imagine. I tried my bank card, but (not being an ATM card) that was unhelpful. I tried it at another gas station around the corner, as well, but that was a no-go too. So I just came home, and I skipped my remaining 2 classes. (I had forgotten to put my ATM card in my wallet, but I don't think the money is good until tomorrow (it's not good for 9 days, as it's a new account).) So I finally got gas this evening after 7. :whew:

I was thinking this could also be the place to come to with car questions, since there's no forum (on this site) specifically for that.

[mdnky]

Originally posted by podmate
1999 (late): pregnant wife enters nesting phase and states, in no uncertain terms, that we are buying a Volvo Wagon. So, I trudge out to the Volvo dealership. Nearly die from sitcker shock. We trade the Subaru in for a 1996 Volvo 850 Wagon.
its currently got 84k on it and still runs perfectly.

84K on a Volvo is like 21K on the others...just follow Volvo's maintenance schedule and it should last forever. Especially the timing belts...every 40K miles or your engine could be toast if it breaks.

[Arden]

Yeah, unless stuff starts falling off it, making it cosmetically a pain in the ass. That's why we got rid of ours.

My Camry needs a timing belt every 60K or so... and it'll be time to change the oil soon.

[Sogni]

Bumper Sticker required for Fixer-Uppers and restoration cars in progress:

HONK if parts fall off!

[Arden]

LOL...

Here's some advice for you guys: avoid Nissan trucks. The neighbors across the street were having some trouble with the panic system on their Frontier, though it thankfully stopped a bit ago.

[Sogni]

Noooo! Don't tell me that!
*Plugs ears with fingers*

I like two Nissans (Frontier and Xtera).

Not that I'm in any position to buy anything anyway.