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Best and Worst Car Purchases

C

CurseTheSky

Diamond Member
What are the best and the worst car purchases you've ever made? It could be the fact that you way overpaid, or the fact that the car didn't live up to it's hype. Maybe you bought a cheap beater that ended up lasting another 100k miles, or you got hit head-on and walked away unscathed.

I personally haven't bought enough cars to really make a judgement, but I'm curious to hear from others.
 
Best: Purchased 1992 4 cyl Mustang notchback in 2001 from the back lot of a Chevy dealership for $135 plus TTL ($200 even OTD). Salesman thought that it had 143k on it, carfax confirmed later that it had only 43k original miles on it (5 digit odo). Everything worked, A/C was even cold. Drove that car all through college, my brother used it as his first car in that time as well. Required very minimal maintenance / repairs when I had it, and got decent mileage. Finally the transmission went out, and I sold it as a parts car for $450.

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Worst: Purchased 1988 Chrysler Conquest Tsi off Ebay for $700. Huge money pit, barely running, nothing worked properly. Bought lots of extra parts for it, with the intention of fixing it up, but it needed tons of work. Far more than I could give it at the time. Drove for a while (maybe a year?) then it stopped running completely and I sold it (again on Ebay) for $8xx.

Pic


Honorable Mention: Purchased 1977 Cadillac Coupe DeVille as a college beater (for $400 IIRC) prior to picking up the Mustang mentioned above. Canary yellow, landau top, 8 track player, 425 V8. Brake line ruptured / rotted out on the way home, and I almost rear ended my friend who took me to get the car. Parked it in the garage, drove it only once or twice after that. Sold a few months later for $450.

Pic
 
I don't regret anything I've bought...

First car - '98 Corolla (back in..2001? I forget) for $3k. I love that car - gave it to my mother after my parents divorced, she drove it until she got her own vehicle, then we gave it away. It's still rockin'. 😀

'86 MR2 for $1000. Drove for 3.5 years, had a blast, traded at $1500.

'86 Ford Bronco II for $100. It was going to be my winter beater, but I got a deal on the Tacoma. Sold it for $300.

'98 Tacoma in December '05 for $5000. Sold back to Toyota in May '08 for $12,142.50. SCORE!

'91 MR2 for $7000 (minus $1500 for trade). Fast and fun. Still have her. :heart:

'05 Tundra in May '08 (Tacoma replacement). Bought for $15,995 (from a dealer) with 36k and change. Has less than 44k on it now, still books for $19,830. 🙂
 
Heh. Never had to buy a car in three years of driving, worked for my first and only so far. I'd call it a win, esp. since it gets good mileage and is pretty cheap to maintain.

1993 Cutlass Ciera w/ 3.3L V6 and 4-spd
 
Originally posted by: alkalinetaupehat
Heh. Never had to buy a car in three years of driving, worked for my first and only so far. I'd call it a win, esp. since it gets good mileage and is pretty cheap to maintain.

1993 Cutlass Ciera w/ 3.3L V6 and 4-spd
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I like how you consider a 21mpg combined fuel economy as "good mileage". That's terrible mileage!
 
2005 Chevrolet Cobalt LT - Purchased brand new at 15k

Was built by apes/one handed mentally disabled monkeys/cavemen. Pieces of this thing would break at monthly intervals: AC broke, key would get stuck in the ignition, shifter would get stuck in park, headlight leaked water, burned through tail light bulbs, suspension sounded like a dying cat going over bumps, engine stalled a couple times while driving, 20 mpg city driving (22 if I went easy on it). Traded it in for 9.5k 4 years later for a 2008 VW GTI, couldn't be happier.
 
'98 Tacoma in December '05 for $5000. Sold back to Toyota in May '08 for $12,142.50. SCORE!
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a coworker did that, 12k for a car i reckoned was closer to about 6k in value. a once in a life time score 😉
Was built by apes/one handed mentally disabled monkeys/cavemen. Pieces of this thing would break at monthly intervals: AC broke, key would get stuck in the ignition, shifter would get stuck in park, headlight leaked water, burned through tail light bulbs, suspension sounded like a dying cat going over bumps, engine stalled a couple times while driving, 20 mpg city driving (22 if I went easy on it). Traded it in for 9.5k 4 years later for a 2008 VW GTI, couldn't be happier.
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My guess is that was the most annoying of the problems you had, was it? That just sounds like it would drivemeup the wall.
 
Originally posted by: PhoKingGuy
2005 Chevrolet Cobalt LT - Purchased brand new at 15k

Was built by apes/one handed mentally disabled monkeys/cavemen. Pieces of this thing would break at monthly intervals: AC broke, key would get stuck in the ignition, shifter would get stuck in park, headlight leaked water, burned through tail light bulbs, suspension sounded like a dying cat going over bumps, engine stalled a couple times while driving, 20 mpg city driving (22 if I went easy on it). Traded it in for 9.5k 4 years later for a 2008 VW GTI, couldn't be happier.
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Jesus. My 98 Cavvy is better than that :shocked:
 
Originally posted by: fleabag
Originally posted by: alkalinetaupehat
Heh. Never had to buy a car in three years of driving, worked for my first and only so far. I'd call it a win, esp. since it gets good mileage and is pretty cheap to maintain.

1993 Cutlass Ciera w/ 3.3L V6 and 4-spd
Click to expand...

I like how you consider a 21mpg combined fuel economy as "good mileage". That's terrible mileage!
Click to expand...

He may get better than 21mpg. My '00 Maxima is rated at 20 (18/26) but I haven't gotten less than 25MPG per tank in at least 4 years and regularly get over 27. I consider that to be good mileage.
 
1990 Chevy Cavalier - 1400 at a city auction with 65k miles on it. No issues, needed new brakes. Drove it for 20k miles and exactly a year later, I t-boned a guy. I got a $3300 insurance check out of the deal

1992 Buick Century - bought for $1500 with 102k on the odo, drove it for a year and sold with with 122k for 1100 (ac was broken, and it was sold in the summer). Had one issue with the distributor cap that was fixed at a dealer for $700 (i got ripped off).

1993 Pontiac Bonneville - bought for $3750. No issues with the car when I had it, I do miss this car. GM went all employee fire sale prices, KBB tanked. Trade it a year and a half later for 1300 after putting 10k in miles on it.

2006 Corolla S - bought for 14.5k OTD, will be paid off in a few months, worth over 10k now, with 56k on the odo
 
Best:
1991 Infiniti G20, Was beaten to hell and back and had nearly 180k on it, but still ran like a top.
2003 Ford Focus, Underpowered and cheap, and other than a few annoying items breaking (like the power window switch and a rubber tube on the PCV valve) it has worked fine.

Worst:
1996 Chrysler LHS, Car had major issues (Computer was bad, wouldn't turn on the cooling fans) that I didn't detect when I was inspecting it. Left me stranded on the side of the road attempting to evacuate from Hurricane Rita. Thankfully I was able to sell it to carmax and not lose much money on it.
1994 Ford Escort, Seller was not the owner and gave me a bunk title. Spent the better part of 6 months being unable to drive it legally while trying to clear that up. Once I got a title I drove the car for about 6 months before the transmission and engine shit the bed at the same time. 🙁
 
Worst car...

'91 CRX - Car had a bent frame that the owner failed to mention. Also I had to fix almost everything on that car, including the brakes! Which went out on me on the freeway. 🙁

Best car...

'04 MR2 - Great deal on it and it's in great condition! Slowly making it my best car ever! Handles like a go kart.
 
Worst: 1986 n/a Mazda RX-7. Bought it for $2k, the a/c worked for the 1st 100 miles. Drove it back from WI to CA, due to shot apex seals and no compression, got stuck in Colorado on the way back. After a friend's advice to pour 1/2 qt of oil down the combustion chamber, I finally left the town (there was a half mile cloud of white smoke behind me for 15 minutes). The whole town was fumigated. Drove this POS car for another year until the engine seized. Parted it out, sold it to the pick-a-part place for $50.

Good: 1988 TII Mazda RX-7. That was a fun car that drove like a Caddy in comparison to the previous POS. A/c worked, the car never had any problems. Sold it later, I still regret it.

Best: 1996 Honda Accord EX. Bought it new. Very reliable with minimum $$ (brake pads were the most expensive purchase for that car). Drove it for 7 years, gave it to my step son who totaled it a year later. I miss this car.
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
'98 Tacoma in December '05 for $5000. Sold back to Toyota in May '08 for $12,142.50. SCORE!
Click to expand...
a coworker did that, 12k for a car i reckoned was closer to about 6k in value. a once in a life time score 😉
Was built by apes/one handed mentally disabled monkeys/cavemen. Pieces of this thing would break at monthly intervals: AC broke, key would get stuck in the ignition, shifter would get stuck in park, headlight leaked water, burned through tail light bulbs, suspension sounded like a dying cat going over bumps, engine stalled a couple times while driving, 20 mpg city driving (22 if I went easy on it). Traded it in for 9.5k 4 years later for a 2008 VW GTI, couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...
My guess is that was the most annoying of the problems you had, was it? That just sounds like it would drivemeup the wall.
Click to expand...

You would think that was the worst, but the Engine stalling at 80 mph on highway 5 in CA in the middle of nowhere is what did it for me. I had to shift into neutral to restart it then shift back to drive, all the while hoping it didnt get stuck, haha.

Did i mention the radio broke once too? The seat heaters as well.....
 
Worst : 98 Honda Civic hatchback (nothing wrong with it, just didn't get much for the money)
Best : 06 Lincoln LS (so far so good 😛 )
 
Cars owned:
1984 Cutlass Cierra 2.5L: (Basic car, no frills, reliable, sold far too soon 🙁 )
1992 Chevy Cavalier Wagon 3.1L: Kicked ass due to large FI v6
1996 Mercury Grand Marquis: Nicest of the bunch, but car was totalled in accident
1985 Chevy S10 2.8L: Still have this in family for work on property and occasional hauling. OK.
1987 Chevrolet Caprice 5.0L: Honorable mention, great car but transmission currently needs work
1997 Chevy Cavalier 2.2L: Current daily driver. Constantly having to replace things, but it gets me around quite comfortably.

I can't say that any particular vehicle was the 'worst'. Then again, I have a high tolerance for minor issues that can be fixed w/ elbow grease. Dash strokers FTL.
 
best deal i ever made was a 74 dodge coronet with a huge ass engine. i paid 20 bucks and a 10 speed for it (yes, it was to a dealer bud of mine lol) back when i was 14 years old. i worked on that sucker until i was 15.5 yrs old, had that sucker ready for a track. almost. i never got the suspension fixed, so it listed to the left most of the time. it only had 3 working windows, 2 of those being the windshield and back window. it had bullet holes all over one side (dont ask) and would smoke cars i came across on the road at 2am. i never got the title from the guy before he got busted for drugs and ran to a different state, so it was a midnite rider only.

all my other cars i probably got screwed in one way or another, but the truck i have now i can at least say i owe less than its worth. woohoo!
 
Originally posted by: fleabag
Originally posted by: alkalinetaupehat
Heh. Never had to buy a car in three years of driving, worked for my first and only so far. I'd call it a win, esp. since it gets good mileage and is pretty cheap to maintain.

1993 Cutlass Ciera w/ 3.3L V6 and 4-spd
Click to expand...

I like how you consider a 21mpg combined fuel economy as "good mileage". That's terrible mileage!
Click to expand...

the 1991 taurus i got as a hand me down is rated at 18/26 under the current EPA calculation. it did just over 30 on the highway going 80 most of the way. the new EPA ratings seem more wrong in the other direction than the old EPA ratings.



best car purchase: 2008 mazda3 2.3

worse car purchase: 2003 sentra se-r

yeah i've only had the two. the mazda basically fixed everything that i considered wrong with the sentra, from the tight but incompetent suspension to the crappy radio to the bad cupholder placement to the fact that the driver's seat (made for someone 5'9" with a 30" waist) and steering wheel didn't line up. the sentra was a bit quicker, being lighter and having more torque/power. the mazda could really use another 40 hp. it could also use a completely different glove box latch design. rattles like a 1987 dodge.
 
My best snatch couple years ago was a '91 300zx with ~60K on it for $3500. Sold it 3 months later for $7400
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix...made for someone 5'9" with a 30" waist...
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Sweet, I'm 5'9 with a 30" waist! Well, ok, a 32-33" waist, but who's counting. 😀

Originally posted by: desy
Worst 73 Toyota Corona
Best 94 Chev Corsica
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My parents owned two Corsicas - a 94 and a 95. They were ugly somewhat, but then again, everything was from that era. For what they were, those things had some guts, though. Great little cars.
 
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