The car you loved....and hated.....and loved

[El Presidente]

I once owned a Series 1 Discover Deisel.   It could go up the side of a 10 storey sandhill.....as long as you let it do 2 km per hour.  generally it couldn't pull the skin off a bowl of rice pudding. 

It had personality in spades.  No use turning it off as the engine would still run. It would  turn off eventually when it wanted to.  The radio worked  in 1999 and 2002. It went missing the years in-between. 

It never overheated in the soft sand driving....it would just stop and take a break.  it once lost its footing on a river crossing and started floating....it found its feet again and kept going as if nothing happened. 

There was an air-conditioner in it but no repairer could ever get it going.   The horn would occasionally go off by itself. 

I loved/hated/loved that car. 

[benfica_77]

For me it was my first ever car! I bought a 1991 pontiac sunbird in white, mine had a decent amount of rust as well. I still couldn't complain I paid $400 Canadian so 300ish USD. You can't find many cars for that price in 2008. I bought it from a lady where I did my first internship. I was over the moon! 

What I loved was that it gave me freedom. I was in my second year of uni and asking girls out and then taking the bus to head back to my place was no bueno. So the car for  the next 4 months was my wingman. It did really well

Unfortunately on my way back from uni after visiting my parents aka stocking up on food the car made a thunderous noise what sounded like a small explosion while I was driving on the highway. Smoke starts coming from the engine bay, thankfully I had enough momentum to get off the highway and into the curb area. I took my backpack and waited, I thought it would burst into flames at any moment. Thankfully it didn't. After getting a tow and arriving at the mechanic he said the engine overheated so badly that the cylinder heads had expanded and couldn't move aka it was toast. This was the bad. 

I decided to sell the car for scrap for $150 which I then proceeded to go to the local LCBO (liquor store) and buy copious amounts of beer. Which was good. Parting gift for the old sunbird. Here's a picture of type of car (not the actual car). 

  

[Smokin911]

1976 BMW 2002.  Jade Green. 

I pulled together every penny I had,  and my Dad loaned me $1500 more to buy it.  No AC,  crank windows,  no radio,  but I loved that 4 speed BMW engine.  Ran like a tank.  Owned it for 8 years,  and then it started to develop carb issues.    I had to carry a gas can in my trunk and prime the carb every week or so as it stalled.  I had it looked at by several mechanics and no one could figure it out--HATE,   but I still loved that car.

 

Amazing that I bought the 2002  in 1976 for $5800,  and sold it in 1984 for $6200.  Try doing that today.   

 

[Rocketman64]

Love/hate: 1999 Volvo S80. One of the last of the true big luxury cars.  Great ride. Roomy. It felt like sitting in one of the Cadillacs of old. It was a  joy to drive when it wasn't in the shop.  In the first 51,000 miles, all the calipers replaced, all the rotors replaced, and the transmission blew at 50,100. Volvo wouldn't chip in on the tranny repair, warranty ran out at 50,0000. Last time I ever looked at Volvo. 

 

[SteveH]

1988 VW Scirocco 16v.

 

Was faster than it should have been considering the brakes.  Great handling, was faster than I was.  Unfortunately it has some ignition issues which would decide to intermittently rear its' ugly head at the most inopportune times.

Her: "wanna go back to my place?"

Me: 'Sure!'

Scirocco: "...crank crank sputter sputter.....crank crank sputter sputter"

 

Wish I had the car now.  It would be awesome with a nice 1.8T in it...

[Stump89]

2005 Nissan Sentra, first car I ever owned.  Saved up from high school summer jobs and bought it brand new in cash.  I thought I was so cool.  Then again there's nothing cool about compact economy cars that sound like an anemic vacuum cleaner when going up hills.  Handled like total crap in the Pennsylvania winters. Nor could anyone over 6'2" ride in it.  Hated it.

But old blue lasted over 10 years, 350k+ miles, and a hell of a lot of good memories before she crapped out. 38 mpg was also hard to complain about.  Loved that car. 

[zappaFREAK]

Wow! Just wow! Never had any hate for a car in me. Did however have 2 of the cars mentioned. My father was a car freak of a sort and a bit of a rebel. For years he owned vw beetles and I have memories of riding in the well behind the back seat. My dad bought a 1968 bmw 1600 which he kept till 1976. That car was sold to me for 500 dollars and he bought a new scirocco. Of course I loved the bmw, what more could a 16 year old kid want! I loved that car!

[Zedman05]

2001 Dodge Dakota. 

Bought it, ran for 9 months then one day there was no reverse. Played around with it, checked a few things out, but never had the money to get a new tranny. Drove that thing for 2 years with no reverse gear. Had to be clever in where I parked. Driveway- facing uphill. Parking lot-pull through the stall. Never once got stuck with that issue. Then one day I had my buddy in my truck, smoking cigars and pulled into a parking lot somewhere. Forgot about reverse. Whispered "shit" to myself, tried throwing it into reverse and we were back in business for the next 4 years I owned that thing. 

[El Presidente]

12 minutes ago, Zedman05 said:

2001 Dodge Dakota. 

Bought it, ran for 9 months then one day there was no reverse. Played around with it, checked a few things out, but never had the money to get a new tranny. Drove that thing for 2 years with no reverse gear. Had to be clever in where I parked. Driveway- facing uphill. Parking lot-pull through the stall. Never once got stuck with that issue. Then one day I had my buddy in my truck, smoking cigars and pulled into a parking lot somewhere. Forgot about reverse. Whispered "shit" to myself, tried throwing it into reverse and we were back in business for the next 4 years I owned that thing. 

[kwsaw63]

1981 Austin Metro 1.3S. It was my first car, bought for me by my parents when I started University.

Loved that it handled like a go-kart and had decent acceleration (for the 80's....0-60mph in 13.2 secs these days is slow!). Loved the ability it gave me to explore the English countryside and sheer convenience of driving to the Supermarket instead of walking there in the cold & wet.

Hated that it would burn through a litre of engine oil every 1,000 miles. Hated the seats which were designed for folks 5'7" and shorter. At 5'10" I would get backache after 30 mins.

Loved the small size which let me squeeze through gaps and park in spaces most cars couldn't get into. Oh! And did I say I loved the handling? This was my favourite thing by far. I could go round sweeping corners without needing to brake and the car would feel like it was on rails. I once kept up with a fast driving Jaguar XJS on a two lane A road from Cambridge to Warwick during a late night drive. He would lose me on the straights but I would catch up at the bends.

Here's a pic of what the car looked like, though not the actual car itself.

 

[zeedubbya]

A 1990 Cadillac Sedan Deville (battleship gray) a friend of mine gave me when I was out a car. I loved that car for the smooth ride, the cool features it has which no other cars had like a gazillion way power seat. It drove like a tank in the snow. It had ashtrays front and rear!

I hated it for the Hall Effect sensor which kept going bad (if you know what this is you’ll know why it was a really bad thing), 4 spark plugs along the firewall, an air ride system which would sometimes run until the battery went dead, and the 100 times a week I got pulled over as a suspected drug dealer.

I think I ended up trading it for a pitcher of beer and a pizza, or lost it in a card game (seriously)...hmmm...details are fuzzy.

Ahhhh...memories.


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[scap99]

First car was an 86 Chevy Cavalier Z24.

That thing ate alternators like candy.

Lockup solenoid failed so it would stall in traffic.

 

Loved and hated that damn car.

[Fuzz]

2002 Alfa Romeo 156 1.8L Twin Spark

First car I bought with my own money. Loved driving that car, but it had issues. Firstly, for such a small car, it could be out-turned by my brother's Holden Berlina. There was no such thing as a "3 point turn". I always wondered how anyone in Rome could drive this thing around on their narrow roads. Then came the maintenance costs. The 60,000km needed all the belts changed, else the damage to the engine would run over $5000. That service cost $1800 in 2005! An average service cost around $400-$500.

As for the build quality, after picking up the car, I found that you could not open the glove box with the passenger door closed. The glove box door would rub against the passenger door paneling, scraping the leather. Dealership had to order another door panel... from Italy. If you ever needed to use the hazard lights, don't press the button with you bare finger, else the colour would rub off and you'd have an orange finger.

And finally, the air con. That thing was definitely not designed to handle Australian conditions. Imagine an Aussie summer afternoon, sitting in traffic, the air con on full blast... and you get heatstroke. The air con had been checked over three times, but there was nothing wrong with it, it was just woefully underpowered.

Despite the problems, I loved driving that car. The design made it look like a 2 door, the Recaro style seats held you in turns, and at the time, it was the most powerful car in its class. The gearbox was smooth (though the clutch travel was a touch long), it accelerated well, hugged the road and you could fling it round corners. Just fun to drive.

I miss it, and have been seriously thinking of picking up the Giulia.... if only it came in a coupe.

[El Presidente]

9 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

2002 Alfa Romeo 156 1.8L Twin Spark

 

Great to drive.

Insane to own 

[Fuzz]

43 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Great to drive.

Insane to own 

Damn straight! After that 156, everyone is telling me I'm nuts to even consider buying another Alfa.

 

 

[El Presidente]

22 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Damn straight! After that 156, everyone is telling me I'm nuts to even consider buying another Alfa.

 

 

You are a classic. You need a classic. I see you in this:

 

[MIKA27]

My TJ Jeep Wrangler

[cmbarton]

‘91 Toyota Camry. Blue exterior/Blue interior. I drove that ugly car all over America while in college. I made out with tons of girls in that thing ... even rounded the bases a time or two.

Never will have another shitty car like that again! Old blue ... how I miss you.

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

You are a classic. You need a classic. I see you in this:

 

Rather have the $500K it costs to buy one.

[cfc1016]

My first car. 1990 German spec (imported) bmw e30 325is. I spent so much money tuning that engine that i didn't have any left for maintenance. that poor car lived on the shoulder for a while on numerous occasions. I was not exactly a responsible car owner at the age of 18. all rebuilt titanium internals. ported/polished. chip tuned. high-restrictive exhaust so I didn't wake up the entire neighborhood when i came home at 4 am. 265rwhp e36 m3 killing sleeper. If you did less than 85mph in 5th, the gas pedal felt like it was pulling ITSELF down to force you to give it the air it needed to breathe properly. Many speeding tickets ensued. synchros on 3/4 were wonky. I learned how to slipshift.

porsche rule applied. every oil change costs a thousand dollars.

the most embarrassing/frustrating bmw moment was on a long drive back from the beach, in summer weekend traffic. right as i was about to hit the 4 mile long bay bridge... the rpms skyrocketed to redline as soon as i threw it in neutral. i dealt with this for another ~75 miles of awful drive home. Throttle body cable had frayed and snapped itself off inside the sheath that contained it - from the gas pedal, through the firewall, up along the back of the block, and up to the throttle body. $85 part that took me 2 hours and a lot of swear words to replace.

the leather was black and the windows weren't tinted. I had to keep a box full of beach towels in the car to keep from melting my rump and back to the seats when I got in during summer.

It broke down about twice a month on average. Just stopped. I'd have to get the ecu flashed. some tiny $500 part replaced for $1500 worth of labor. It never ended

Ultimately couldn't afford to keep it running.

I hated owning that car. I loved few things more than I loved driving it... when it ran.

 

Ultimate dream car that I wish I could afford to love/hate/love???? BMW Z8, baby. gimme that e39 m5 5 litre 400hp v8 in that classic roadster body. perfection.

When it runs.

[prodigy]

My first car was a 1985 Chevy suburban, choo choo edition, with a 454 big block. I loved that truck, but it was a gas guzzler! I think I averaged 7 mpg on a good day. It was nice being able to go places with a dozen people in there and room to spare.

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[Martin_F]

My 1936 Ford truck.

Loved it when I bought it as a shell. Hated it while I built it, Loved it when I drove it. Sold now...

[ayepatz]

My first car was a 1993 Ford Mondeo Mk 1 I bought second-hand when I was living in Leeds. Gunmetal Grey. Looked just like a mini-cab.

So much so, that when I stopped at a red light, driving home through Headingly (read “student-land”) late one Saturday night, three drunk lads jumped in the back and asked to be taken to Roundhay.

I had nothing else on, so I drove them and charged them £30 - way over the odds.

They paid up without batting an eyelid between them. ?

 

 

 

[Ethernut]

Funny, I've never hated any particular car I've owned.

 

My first car:

1987 Volvo 240DL. Put 250,000 miles on it and sold it for $100 just to have someone come get it. Probably the car I've liked the least. AC never worked right. It was a very rudimentary system.

Second car:

2000 Dodge Durango - put 16,000 miles and sold it in the divorce

Third and Fourth cars (owned somewhat simultaneously)

2000 Buick Regal Bought (because it could absorb the negative equity in the Durango) - Sold at 311,000 miles

1997 VW Passat TDI - Sold at 348,000 miles

Fifth Car (Current)

2016 Ford Explorer Sport AWD tuned to 480 horsepower. (this is the car I've liked the most out of all of them so far) 0-60 in under 6 seconds is snappy for an SUV.

 

..and that's the last 26 years of car ownership. 5 vehicles. I drive them and make them pay me back. It's always cheaper to repair in the long run than to buy a new one up to that 300,000k/mi range (and perhaps longer depending on the platform). Cars are a math problem for me and I make the numbers work to my advantage.

[KnightsAnole]

First car was a 1971 VW bus when I was 18. It would redirect exhaust into the cabin which meant you had drive with the windows open, but luckily, there was a sizable hole in the floor board so you could get good cross ventilation. Loved that bus. Always had to have friends with me cause it needed a push to get started. Finally got broadsided and totaled it, in front of the parents, leaving the driveway for school.