CAR BRANDS

[pocaracas]

I can't say I've tried them all, so I can't say which is best...
The ones I've tried
- '97 Ford Fiesta techno - still running under my brother's hand. ~10L/100km
- '98 Volkswagen Golf mkIII - Diesel - this guy became an expense every year just to keep it road-worthy... sold
- '09 Seat Ibiza 1.2 petrol - cruise control, fits in 3 kids - what else do I need? Not a lot of grunt under the hood, but meh... no need. ~8L/100km
- My dad's '08 Volkswagen Golf mkV - Diesel - runs pretty much like the other Golf, but with cruise control and an average of 6L/100km

SEAT - Siempre Estaras Apertando Tornillos (roughly translates to "You'll always be putting the screws back in")

Considering that SEAT is almost VW, as in same engines and same chassis, I guess I lean for the damn germans.

[Brakeman]

I work in the automotive sector and deal with almost all of the manufacturers. Quality varies by design and by manufacturer. What most fail to realize is that Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota and the others barely do the painting on the outside. All the parts for these cars are sub-contracted out to several manufacturers depending on the component. My company makes brakes and we are now one of the biggest brake manufacturers in the industry and we periodically swap model year awards like cards among our competition. Thus, I can tell you that the brakes for a 2015 Ram 2500 is being made by a low price company with marginal engineering that would have a great deal of customer complaints but the 2015 Chevy Silverado 2500 is made by a different brake company with both better design performance and manufactured to with a much higher level of precision, BUT in 2017 the producers may switch depending on the companies' bean counters. Almost all of the major components of a car or truck are like this.

My favorite brand is Daihatsu. I had a standard gas car that got 59 to 60 Miles per Gallon.
I own two Ford trucks, one of which should be in the hall of fame for the most piss-poorly designed vehicle. (1997 F150)
I also own a pretty good Honda.

[Ravenshire]

First
On
Race
Day

All this time I thought it was

Found
On
Road
Dead

Nah... It's:

Fucking
Old
Rusty
Disaster

[Thumpalumpacus]

Cars owned one time or another:

Two Toyota Corollas, both 1973s -- bullet proof. One sold (got all my money back), one stolen.
1980 Datsun 200SX. Not bad, but had a shitty airflow valve-meter. Good riddance.
1979 Datsun 280ZX -- now that was a goddamned car. Two-seat version, non-turbo, inline -six with plenty of torque and decent top end too. Loved it.
1991 Geo Storm squareback. Reliable, could fit three guitars, a half-stack, and a gig bag of pedals in the hatchback, and still get 32 MPG.
1985 BMW 325i. Another funfunfun car to drive. Got rid of it because maintenance cost an arm and a leg.
1997 Dodge Shadow ES. Piece of shit, and won't own another Chrysler product ever.
1997 Ford Explorer XLT. Great truck, reliable, expensive to run.
1995 Ford Ranger stepside V6. Reliable. Wrecked 18 months ago.
1995 Ford Ranger extracab, 4-cyl, 5-speed. Good mileage, not very fun, reliable.

Think I'll stay with Ford. Best bang for the buck ... but I will be buying another 280ZX in the next couple of years. Too much fun to pass up.

[AFTT47]

1967 Chrysler Newport
1966 Cadillac Sedan Deville
1972 Chrysler Newport
1976 Chevrolet Chevette
1972 Cadillac Sedan Deville
1975 Cadillac Coupe Deville
1981 Toyota Celica
1987 Pontiac Grand Prix
1991 Dodge Conversion Van
2007 Honda Element

The 72 Caddy was fun because it was so quick for a battle cruiser. Plus it was painted camouflage, had no power steering and had a Why Be Normal? bumper sticker.

The Grand Prix was one of my favorites. because it was comfortable, had reasonable power and good gas mileage.

The Element has good utility and reasonable fuel economy for 4000 lb. vehicle. Could use a little more power though. Honda quality is impressive.

I wish I had a Tesla Model X!

[The Valkyrie]

I have a soft spot for BMWs.

[Drich]

My first car was a 79 ford 2wd f100 (it was my dads throughout the 80s) had to pay him 500.00. I drove this to high school. It got a about 8 miles to the gallon. (Best way to keep your kid out of trouble/can't afford to go anywhere or can't afford to drink/toke and then drive home. It was one or the other.)

Then just before graduation I had saved up 500.00 and bought a 67 mustang. (Better way to stay broke and working all the time) I've now had the car 22/23 years now. I was able to restore it 15 years ago. 10 years ago I put in a fairly modern (heavily modded) motor and drive train/the electronics out of a 95 mustang cobra. Now the car screams! Or that might be the passengers, it's really hard to tell over the engine noise. This is my favorite car btw. It is hard to drive this car and not be smiling. (Not counting traffic)

After that one I bought a 64 ranchero ford falcon front little pick up truck rear. (500.00)

Then a 68 mustang parts car
(200.00)

85 vw golf gti
What a doo doo box that was.. First time I paid more than 500 for a car, and it was a nightmare. Those Germans really know how to make das shitsa auto.

Then an 88 mustang (500.00) that was actually a really nice car with tee tops. It was stolen from me, by a crooked towing company.

Next I got my motorcycle licenses and a 74 Honda 330 60 miles per gallon (100 bucks)

While I had that I obtained my sisters 95 mustang to take Trich out on dates. She was not i to "vintage bikes" or her words "crappy looking"(take over payments) I went from 500 per car to almost 500 a month!


Then in August of 01 I bought my first new truck. A dodge Dakota. 2 weeks later 9/11 happened and they were giving cars away with no intrest and here I was paying like 12%.

After that was paid the AC went out and they wanted 1800 for parts at the dealership. So I waked in the show room and traded it for a new 05 dodge hemi ram quad cab. That truck is (still have it) a rocket ship.

Then a few work/commercial trucks over the years

Then in 08 bought my first new bike. Suzuki c50T it looked like a well dressed Harley. It got 50 miles per gallon, and was my fav for a while. Until I hurt my back. Afterwards everytime I went more than a 100 miles my back would go out and I could not even sit up for like two days.

Stopped riding the bike, I got better.

So I went on Craigslist and eBay looking for another 79 ford pick up, but this time I wanted at least an f250 4x4 extended cab. (These are rare.)

I found a beautiful f350 super cab camper special 4x4 about 100 miles from me on eBay, and told him about the bike and my back and asked if he wanted to trade. He said yes so I traded my bike for this old truck..

That was three years ago. that truck is the only thing I drive/driven since I got it, unless it is on a weekend. I love driving it. It has 460 (7.5 liter) engine it lifted slightly from the factory, and it makes more noise than the mustang. I can get maybe 10 miles to the gallon if I drive like an old lady. But on the plus side it has two massive fuel tanks so you can get almost 300 miles per bi weekly fill up.

Yup! I'm doing my part to keep Boston from ever having a winter like they did this year ever again!
(What are you all doing to help little old ladies from freezing to death because they can afford the heating oil?)

I am currently planning to install a power stroke diesel and an e4od Trans out of a 95 f350 into it this summer. (Once I reconsile all of the wiring problems one will have getting the 95' electronics to talk to the 79' switches and relays, but that is what I like to do for fun eg.95/67 mustang cobra.)

Plus on top of the new turbo sound, I get to dump lots of black sooty smoke into the open windows of hybrid owners on the interstate.

Cars I would like to have 69 charger (dukes of hazzard year) and or a 67 Shelby cobra.

If I get my truck project working reliably I don't think I will need to ever by another car or truck aside from what Trich what's to drive again. I'll just keep rebuilding this one.

[Napoléon]

Is that poll taking the piss? Not a single European manufacturer?

[Exian]

My whole family worked and retired at Ford, so that's sort of my only option. My second car was a Saturn Ion for reasons I can't remember...I still have no opinion on it.

I remember having a fight with my girlfriend and leaving in the Saturn Ion. It was about 2am and snowy as hell when I decided to go back home. I was concentrating on the windows of our apartment to see if lights were on when I suddenly remembered a giant rock existed in the center of our parking lot. Everything was just covered in snow so there were no peripheral clues. I slammed on my breaks but it was too late. Luckily, I was only going parking lot speeds.

I got out and checked the damage. The front grill and license plate were up about a foot inward in the engine area. I looked at for second just dreading the cost of repairs when I remember the whole damn car was made out of dent proof plastic. I reached down and popped everything back into place and you couldn't even tell I hit anything. I couldn't believe that shit. I laughed pretty hard afterwards partly because the dread left so quickly and partly because my car was plastic.

[Drich]

Is that poll taking the piss? Not a single European manufacturer?

Those aren't real cars.. I think their refered to as horseless carriages or some such nonsense.

---

My whole family worked and retired at Ford, so that's sort of my only option. My second car was a Saturn Ion for reasons I can't remember...I still have no opinion on it.

I remember having a fight with my girlfriend and leaving in the Saturn Ion. It was about 2am and snowy as hell when I decided to go back home. I was concentrating on the windows of our apartment to see if lights were on when I suddenly remembered a giant rock existed in the center of our parking lot. Everything was just covered in snow so there were no peripheral clues. I slammed on my breaks but it was too late. Luckily, I was only going parking lot speeds.

I got out and checked the damage. The front grill and license plate were up about a foot inward in the engine area. I looked at for second just dreading the cost of repairs when I remember the whole damn car was made out of dent proof plastic. I reached down and popped everything back into place and you couldn't even tell I hit anything. I couldn't believe that shit. I laughed pretty hard afterwards partly because the dread left so quickly and partly because my car was plastic.

I'll never understand why or how people can live in snow like that. I was in my late to mid twenties before I even saw it for the first time, and an hour later I had to drive in it.. Never again!