Car News Articles

With explanations, justifications, final analysis, etc.

TTAC reader Menno’s rides below. My list to follow.

Yeah, I admit to being a slow learner. Here’s my abysmal record so far (though I’m vastly improving over the past 7 years). Of course, being unwealthy for so many years doesn’t help, either. Thanks a bunch, Jimmah Cartah… OPEC…. Keynesian economists…..

1966 AMC Ambassador  - Well, okay, it wasn’t my choice; I worked hard for my dad and he thanks me with a green 4 door?! At least it had a 327 V8, factory Holley 4 barrel and 270 horsepower…

1968 Pontiac Catalina (ditto)  - Awful POS

1975 Ford Pinto (new) - WHAT was I THINKING?

1973 Fiat 126 (paintshaker with 2 doors) (only kept it a couple of weeks if that)

1971 Volkswagen 411 - Automatic transmission detonated/took taxicabs for the next 10-11 months/still had a car payment, too

1975 AMC Pacer - Absolute total drek; my LAST AMC

1977 Plymouth Volare - Totaled thanks to a woman having a nervous breakdown, going through a stop sign. POS, tho’.

1971 Cadillac DeVille - The only car I could buy for $300 cash I had during a major fuel crisis - not my actual choice. Considering it was nine-year-old and cost me what it did, it did the job as well as could be expected and was actually reliable.

1967 Chrysler Newport Custom - A reasonably good car; Chrysler tricked me by building one good damn car. Saying that, the damn Chrysler starter went out twice in a row over three days, had to be replaced. “Oh no, oh no, oh no” - fail.

1975 Dodge Charger - Absolute total and complete drek.

1977 Plymouth Volare Wagon - Pretty damn poor. Left us stranded a few times. I think I was hoping Chrysler would come through, after the 1967 Newport.

1975 Plymouth Gran Fury (our “first second-car”) - It wasn’t so bad, except that it started out life needing a water pump on the 400-big block.

1984 Pontiac 1000 (new) - Chevette in disguise. It was an “okay” car solely because it was a rush-job and GMNA hadn’t fouled it up; it was a Brazilian engineered Opel, in reality )

1979 Citroen Dyane - Fun but crude, old and worn out

1987 Lada Riva 1200 (new) - Not as bad as you think but it needed five gears.

1981 Talbot Horizon - Yes, a Plymouth Horizon built in France.

1979 Renault 20 - A very good car; didn’t pass an MoT test so had to go away to the scrapyard.

1979 Peugeot 505 - I liked it but it was slow; got clobbered by a massive truck/kaput.

1977 Saab 99 - I liked it at first, then discovered it was an amateurmobile - what a POS - died when the head gasket detonated. While we were on vacation. NOT convenient.

1990 Lada Riva 1300 (5 speeds, new)

1983 Audi 5000 - Expensive to keep up, had multiple issues. Very “needy”

1984 Plymouth K-car Reliant - I  simply cannot tell you bad this car was after having to broom the Audi due to not being able to afford to constantly fix patch & repair with Audi-priced salvage yard parts. I only kept it about two months– if that.

1984 Buick Skylark - Head gasket almost immediately went kerpow. Fixed and ran it since fixing was cheaper than replacing the damn car.

1987 Dodge Spirit - My God, what an awful POS. You’d think I’d have learned from the Reliant K, but NOOOOOOO…. It didn’t break “a lot”–  just enough to keep us poor, not enough to make me want to push it off a cliff. Then the head gasket started to leak….  

1989 Ford Taurus  - Not great but also not awful - did leave a massive hole in my wallet once, subsequent to leaving us stranded

1990 Lincoln Town Car - Oh…. My…. God….. Words cannot express how I wanted to shove this thing off a cliff after having it constantly nickel & dime me near to drink. My LAST Ford product.

1997 Chevrolet Cavalier (new) - Nobody else would take the Lincoln in trade, and they offered 3.9% APR over 5 years… you obviously get what you pay for out okay, but rapidly became a skinking pile of continuous niggling problems which the dealer and by extension, GM, refused to properly fix. My LAST EVER GM product. 

1999 Dodge Neon (new) - Started out fun to drive and surprisingly capable, went completely downhill from there. Head gaskets 2x in under 70k miles

1999 Dodge Neon (new) - Bought during the honeymoon period of Neon #1. Head gasket blew. Our LAST EVER Chrysler product)

1962 ½ Chevrolet Corvair “classic” - What a mistake, overall. Had fun with it for about 10 minutes, then it became a millstone around my neck. Leaky, stinking, troublesome, smokey, half-assed engineering…. GM at its “best.”

2002 Hyundai Sonata - Took a gamble on this one: “Do they build cars even as well as Detroit?” It was better than average and when it had problems, the local dealer bent over backward enough that I gave them and Hyundai a second chance. Overall, better than virtually every car that preceded it, but thank God for that long warranty.

2002 Daewoo Nubira - A COMPLETE gamble, bought it at half price “used” with 25 miles on the clock after Daewoo went bust (”thanks for nothin’ GM.) Actually, one of the better cars I’ve ever bought and I consider it a NEW purchase since nobody owned it/drove it before we did)

We passed one of the Neons on to a college age son, needed something cheap as a second car. Subsequently it was passed on to son #2, still going like the energizer bunny at 80,000 miles with no major failures, only normal maintenance and small problems.

2005 Toyota Prius - One of the best cars I’ve ever had. Traded it after 48k miles in 2.5 years. Virtually TROUBLE FREE. 

2007 Hyundai Sonata- Oone of the best cars I’ve ever had the privilege of owning with different positive attributes to the Prius. Again, trouble-free.

2008 Toyota Prius- As good a car as the 2005