What's the Best Car You Ever Had?

[Miatatom]

I've asked folks about their worst car so what about the best car you ever had?

Way back when, I had a 72 Valiant with a slant 6. Great reliable car with decent gas mileage, for that era. My 2000 Mazda Miata Special Edition was the most fun, outside of my race cars. It was super reliable and got a steady 30 mpg. Wish I still had it but my back wouldn't allow my to climb down in it any longer. Had to sell it. Broke my heart.

I'm been driving a 2020 Kia Niro Touring S hybrid since November 2020 and it's pretty nice. Averaging about 48 mpg. Not as sophisticated as the Honda Insight Touring hybrid I traded in for the Kia. That car was really nice. Got about 52 mpg with it. But like the Miata, it was like climbing down into it and had hard seats. Again, it's my back that forced that trade. The Kia has a 10 way adjustable drivers seat. Super comfortable and a little sporty with 18" wheels and wider tires. The Miata has to be the best (most fun) street ride though.

[jaymcminn]

My '95 Miata "M Edition" is definitely the most fun and definitely my favorite car, but the best all-rounder I've ever had is my '13 Kia Soul. Heated leather seats, Bluetooth streaming, lots of cargo room and it's even pretty fun to drive. In 9 years of ownership it's only needed front brakes and a rubber steering isolator replacement.  Best of all is it lets me drive the Miata when I want to. Obligatory Miata pic in 3...2...1...

[jaymcminn]

28 minutes ago, Miatatom said:

I've asked folks about their worst car so what about the best car you ever had?

Way back when, I had a 72 Valiant with a slant 6. Great reliable car with decent gas mileage, for that era. My 2000 Mazda Miata Special Edition was the most fun, outside of my race cars. It was super reliable and got a steady 30 mpg. Wish I still had it but my back wouldn't allow my to climb down in it any longer. Had to sell it. Broke my heart.

I'm been driving a 2020 Kia Niro Touring S hybrid since November 2020 and it's pretty nice. Averaging about 48 mpg. Not as sophisticated as the Honda Insight Touring hybrid I traded in for the Kia. That car was really nice. Got about 52 mpg with it. But like the Miata, it was like climbing down into it and had hard seats. Again, it's my back that forced that trade. The Kia has a 10 way adjustable drivers seat. Super comfortable and a little sporty with 18" wheels and wider tires. The Miata has to be the best (most fun) street ride though.

'00 Special Edition, right? 

[CabDriver]

I don't wanna break the chain...my Miata was my favorite car too.  The perfect balance of being inexpensive to run, comfortable, affordable whilst still making me smile every time I felt like putting my foot down a little and throwing it around.

My current 'stang is close, and more practical, but not QUITE as good as any of the Miatas I've owned, overall...

[Ace-Garageguy]

"Best" isn't really an adjective I'd use for my vehicles, as they've mostly been oddballs, prone to a variety of maladies.

But my all time favorite was the Lotus 7 Series II/III SCCA race-spec car, acquired from Coventry Car Sales back in the early 1970s, after it was sold on by Lotus following its appearances as the London Auto Show car in several incarnations. Pushrod, crossflow 1600 Ford "Kent", with Cosworth rocker stands, main bearing caps, and two side-draft Weber 40s. The most responsive thing I've ever driven on the street, period. I still dream about it some nights...and parting with it was one of the stupidest things I ever did. The Beck 550 Spyder I have now promises to be right up there with the Lotus, but still needs work.

Second favorite is a tie between the '89 GMC 5-speed pickup I have now, and a '72 Chevy P-20 Step Van I fitted out as a mobile shop when I had fleet accounts back in the late 1980s. Both of them are/were as reliable as bricks, after having had long, hard, abused lives as commercial vehicles. Simple and very tough, they responded happily to being repaired reasonably correctly and well maintained, and never let me down once.

[Rob Hall]

As far as favorites, It's a toss up between my '87 Mustang GT (5.0, 5spd) and my '96 BMW M3.   Still have the Mustang, been in storage a long time..need to get it on the road again.   Both were very fun to drive on the windy, twisty back roads of Ohio (the Mustang) and Colorado (both).  

Had others that were more practical daily driver cars (a couple Cadillac sedans, two Grand Cherokees, an old Mercedes S-class) but for fun, it was hard to beat the 5.0 or the E36... 

Edited April 21, 2022 by Rob Hall

[Mike C.]

Has to be my 1970 GTO even though I had to sell it before I got a chance to start to restore it. 

[stavanzer]

My 1926 Model T Ford Speedster. My Favorite, although the '17 Kia Sorento, run a close second.

The T was stolen in 1993. I still miss it!

[JollySipper]

The "best" as far as being reliable would be the little Mazda GLC hatchback I had. It had a quarter-million miles on it when I finally retired it. I drove that little car all over North Carolina painting houses out of it. It still had the original clutch, the only thing I ever had to replace was the CV axles.

The one that I wish I still had would be the fox Thunderbird I drove in High School. It was an '83 I believe. Everyone else wanted the Mustang, (I've had a fox Mustang also), but I liked being 'different'......

[espo]

I guess I have been fortunate to have owned several cars that I thoroughly enjoyed as well as a few I have really regrated owning. I think the one that I wished I had kept was the car I got when I retired. We bought a '05 Pontiac GTO, the Americanized Manero. LS2 engine with a 6-speed manual and the only option at the time was the "big brakes" that would become standard on the '06's. Black Matelic paint and Black Leather interior.  I added a set of 1" wider TSW wheels and one size larger Michlin tires from the Tire Rack. I also got all of the pretty red Peter bushings for the suspension and the rear differential carrier. With a set of Peter Shocks, it was a kick to drive. Problem with advanced age is that you don't bend like you used to getting in and out of a car. My wife convinced me we should get her a new car and I would drive her Charger RT with AWD. The GTO reminded me of when I was thin of waist and thick of hair, as opposed to now. 

[1972coronet]

Thus far, it's been me 2004 Crown Victoria P71 (retired Inglewood, Ca. unit # 428). Bought it last year for $1,900!

135,000 miles on its analogue odometer (was 129,000 when I bought it).

Runs great, handles great, and is sans all of the bells and whistles.

Its Certified speedometer is spot-on to this day.

15 mpg in town, 22 mpg highway, 18 mpg combined.

[slusher]

77 Dodge truck an  85/86 Thunderbird  and a 95 Ford Ranger!

[Jantrix]

My current vehicle. 2010 Toyota Highlander. 182,000 miles on her and she still uses no oil. I've rebuilt the front end and replaced all the struts. I did a tune up at 170,000. Hands down the most reliable vehicle I've even owned. I'm hoping she's got a quarter million miles in her.

[NOBLNG]

This is my current favourite! The only thing I’ve added is the intermittent wiper stalk from an RX. It is so much fun to drive!😎

[Miatatom]

23 hours ago, jaymcminn said:

'00 Special Edition, right? 

Yeah. I bought a 99 Miata Sport to autocross in October 99. The 2000 special edition came out in March 2000. Had to have one so my oldest son bought the 99 and I bought the 2000 SE.

[John M.]

My best car was an 1998 Oldsmobile that I had for almost 13 years. in 2018 I started to hear some serious creaking and groaning coming from underneath it, my mechanic found the front sub frame that was rusting out. The worst of it was coming from the passenger side where the sub frame was bolted to the main unibody. Sadly but for reasons of safety. I took the car off the road right there on the spot.

It's replacement is a 1997 Honda Accord which after my mechanic evicted the mechanical gremlins filled the shoes left by the Oldsmobile quite nicely.

[John M.]

1 minute ago, John M. said:

My best car was an 1998 Oldsmobile 88 that I had for almost 13 years. in 2018 I started to hear some serious creaking and groaning coming from underneath it, my mechanic found the front sub frame that was rusting out. The worst of it was coming from the passenger side where the sub frame was bolted to the main unibody. Sadly but for reasons of safety. I took the car off the road right there on the spot.

It's replacement is a 1997 Honda Accord which after my mechanic evicted the mechanical gremlins filled the shoes left by the Oldsmobile quite nicely. As much as I like the Honda, I still miss the Oldsmobile to this day.

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by John M.
Spelling error

[DPNM]

I had a '77 Datsun 280Z that was set up for autocross. This car could corner. I really learned how to drive in it. The engine would have run forever but the steel they used wasn't top grade stuff. The car rusted to the point of letting it go.

Honorable mentions include a '67 Cougar ( my first car), a '67 Corvette coupe, a '78 Dodge Warlock (2WD) and a '89  and a '92 Riviera. 

I've probably had about 75 cars in my lifetime. This is my short list.

[Khils]

My first car ... '63 Chevy Impala SS 409 4 spd....I bought myself before I even had my license...saw it in the back row of a Ford dealership ...took quite a bit of work to get it road worthy as it wasn't pristine...."Had an absolute blast with it!!"   ...it was pretty high maintenance....maybe cause I drove it like I stole it!   Then met a girl..."that somehow"   managed to convince me to sell it...take my word for it!!  "Females"  ....they're overrated!  ..you don't need them!!!

Best car...overall!  (not near as much fun!)  ...minimal expenses,low maintenance, durability, comfort & most bang for the buck!

'78 Chevy Caprice 4dr ...that car owes me nothing!!

[webestang]

My 88 5.0 vert. Been with me now for 20 years, so easy to fix and get parts. 200,xxx miles and it still just runs and runs. And of course that 5.0 sound.............😎

 

[Lunajammer]

Best car would be the 1983 Datsun/Nissan 200SX identical to this web pic.

I bought it not running for $400 with 95,000 mi. and it had been rolled 1-1/2 times in deep snow so it was bent up but not a total wreck. I switched out the main CPU and drove it daily for 13 years. Very peppy and dangerous on snow and ice but fantastic low end power and great MPGs. Nimble, quick, and more dash gauges than a jet plane. Near the end of its life it still just wouldn't die!

My mechanic finally told me to quit bringing it in, because the fixes usually exceeded the value of the car and he'd been left with too many abandoned cars with unpaid bills and feared this might become one of them.

Finally traded it for a Ford Ranger long bed as my needs changed. 😟

[Matt Bacon]

In terms of best fit to the needs I have and had at the time, hands down the Skoda Superb estate (wagon) I have now and have owned for a decade. Bought as a six month old demonstrator (so 40% off list new price) with about 3600 miles on it when the kids were 10 and 12. Huge boot for family holidays and vast load space with the seats down for taking kids to and from Uni. Biggest rear leg room in the VW-Audi group apart from the A8L, which came in handy as the older teenagers grew to 6ft or so. Built in Wolfsburg (while Golfs were built in the Skoda factory in Slovakia) so it is Audi quality throughout. Peppy 170 BHP torquey diesel and bomb-proof dual clutch robotised manual transmission for fast A-road fun and relaxed motorway cruising. As a demonstrator, fully loaded with options, most of which are useful rather than annoying with it being ten years old. And it has no less than two umbrellas embedded in the passenger door handles and air conditioned cooling directed through the glove box to stop your travel sweets melting or getting sticky…

best,

M.

[Nitrobarry]

My favorite car is my current one. It`s a 1961 Pontiac Ventura 2 door hardtop. I`m in the process of putting it back together for the summer cruise season.

 

[BlackSheep214]

I had two. The first was my very first car I owned given to me by my grandparents as a commuter car for college- 1964 Dodge Dart, slant 6, push button automatic straight up stock. Didn’t last a month til a piece of rusted frame fell off on the highway. I was sad to give it up. A side note - I was constantly being challenged at traffic lights by idiots yet I managed to beat them all. LOL!

 

My second favorite was a 2003 Toyota Matrix. Man, how I loved that car. Fun to drive too. Wife got in an accident with it due to other driver’s fault. Car ended up being totaled.

[Rodent]

"Best Car" does not equal "Favorite Car" IMHO. "Best Car" suggests at least a bit of reliability and durability.

My first new car was a Fox body 5.0 Mustang. Had a few issues at the beginning, including being cursed with the "paper" heater core that failed every 25-30k miles. Was fun to drive with a few mods. Around 80k miles, it straightened itself out and became dead reliable, except for the fact that I never had a battery that lasted more than 2 years. I sold it with nearly 190k on the clock to a new arrival from New Hampshire that had sold his before moving in hopes of finding one here that hadn't been in the salt. He was amazed and thrilled that everything worked, windows, locks, cruise, A/C, etc. He hit and killed a small dog in the neighborhood on our test drive (dog and owner's fault), but bought the car anyway. Next day, I got a call that he ran over a piece of rebar and destroyed a tire. Wanted to know where I got the tires so he could source a replacement. California chewed him up and spit him out as often happens, so he and my ex-car went back East. I am sure it has either been crushed by now or is sitting in a field with no floor pans.

My 68 Mustang and 70 Cutlass convertible were definitely "favorites" but not necessarily "best". The original owner of the Cutlass spent about $4k in miscellaneous repairs (1980 dollars) before I bought the car for $1600.00

My E30 325is was certainly a "favorite" car (by both of us) but in no way was a "best" car. Sold it with about 180k IIRC to a BMW nut. Was still in excellent condition. Minor mods, a hoot to drive unless it was over 90 degrees F. A/C sucked.

We had a 1995 Altima that needed absolutely nothing except regular maintenance and wear parts until around 130k, then EVERYTHING started falling apart.  Alternator died, radiator disintegrated, A/C clutch wore to the point that it wouldn't engage half of the time, internal distributor seal failed and filled the (horizontal) distributor with oil which is bad with an optical distributor that relies on a series of slots in a metal plate to make the car run. Guess that would have been a "best" car if we had sold it sooner.

My 2005 Legacy GT 5mt was a hoot to drive, but was plagued with stupid problems and a dealer's service department that couldn't fix anything without multiple attempts. Banished/rehomed to Washington with only 67k. A/C sucked on that one as well.

My current driver is a 2016 Mazda3S Grand Touring 6mt. Has about 85k now and no real issues so far that cost $$. Mileage is pretty good, it's fun to drive especially with the RacingBeat springs and Konis I installed last summer. Got a catalyst efficiency code just before 80k. Dealer replaced the main cat (manivertor) under emission warranty and gave me a CX-5 to drive while they had my car. I think this may be my "best" car so far. Pic before the springs/Konis.