OT - How long have owned your car

[C5 Golfer]

And how many miles you got on it. My daily driver is a 1980 and I have owned it for 18 years with 166,000 miles and many to go. It is the longest I have ever owned a car. ( The C5 does not get out much since it rains here a lot )

[Derf]

I am the proud owner of a 1992 Mazda 323. This is my first car. I got it for 0$ in May 2003 (I was 26) from my dad, had 110000 km (not miles), and is now at 118000 km.

Derf

[knoch]

i was driving a 1988 jeep wrangler that had been in the family since 89, had 200000 when i finally dropped it off and picked up a newer pile of crap, now its a 91 thunderbird with 87000 and i've had it for 2 years. i would do anything now to get the wrangler back, unfortunantly i can't afford to get another one yet

[Baka Dasai]

I have a nice Cannondale touring bike of unknown vintage. I bought it from a friend a couple of years ago, and I've done about 4,000 km on it.

It has a Blackburn rack which I use to attach panniers to, and it also has nice SKS fenders which keep me somewhat dry and clean during the rainy season, the typhoon season, and summer (when it rains more than in the rainy season!).

I ride it all-year around, and have had some exciting rides in the snow. Haven't crashed it yet.

[Jon Dahl]

that I've had since 1985. It gets about 2 dump runs a year now, but its seen 3 engines over the years, a few transmissions, and a cuople of rear ends! Oh, and its been lowered and lifted(indecision!). Its almost like a family member now, rust and all. Every thing else I drive is a use it and lose it when I'm through with it. I'm a lot easier on snowboard gear.

[Jim Callen]

I've got a 91 Thunderbird with 25,000 miles on it that I've had for about a year now.

[mirror70]

I've owned my current car for 3 years and 48,000 miles.

My previous car, a 1990 Acura Legend, was originally purchased by my father and worked its way down through my family to end up with me. It had 207,000 miles on it (and still ran like new!) when I sold it to someone to use as his commuter car. Well, I guess he has a pretty serious commute - in January he called to tell me that he had passed 300,000 with it! :eek: Not only that, but the car went those 100k miles, and all 200k it was in my family, without a single unscheduled repair :eek: :eek:

To put that in to some kind of perspective, my Audi (with a warranty!) had already cost me more to repair in the first 5k miles than that Acura cost anyone in 300,000.

[Enzo]

'97 Jeep Gr. Cherokee V8...100,000 miles...owned since 2000....replaced transmission at 70k two years ago...a big D'OOOHHH!!!...luckily it was warranteed...hope to run it into the ground.

'97 Outback....126,000 miles....owned since new....just discovered a cracked engine block last week.....an even bigger D'OOOOOOOHHH!!!....curently replacing the engine, hope to get another 100,000 out of it.

[mirror70]

Your cracked Subaru block reminds me of a story....

Last fall I had an extra Civic motor (a crappy B16) that was going to be chucked. What do car guys do with extra motors? We blow them up!

Or rather, in the case of this motor, we try. The abuse this thing took was unreal. We tried simple things like changing to an engine computer that bumped the redline up from ~6k to about ~8k. After a few minutes driving around with the revs bouncing off the limit, we had to try something else. Higher revs were needed! How could we get the motor to rev above redline? By shifting into 1st at 65mph! Seeing the tach momentarily buried was priceless. How the motor survived that I have no idea.

So what are some other ways to kill a motor? Well, supposedly draining the oil and then driving like that will kill a motor. An hour later (with countless trips to redline) the motor was still running strong. We needed stronger magic.

Does everyone know what hydrolocking an engine is? Basically, before the spark makes the gas go boom, the stuff inside the engine gets compressed big time (10 or 11:1 in this motor, iirc). Hydrolocking is what happens when water, an incompressible fluid, ends up inside the engine - stuff breaks, sometimes in a spectacular fashion.

To hydrolock the car, we popped the hood, took off the intake, and hooked a garden hose up to the throttle body. At WOT, revs bouncing off the limiter (remember, this is still almost 2000rpm higher than stock and there still is no oil in it), when the water was turned on what happened? The motor bogged a little bit, sputtered a little bit, and then hot water started coming out of the exhaust - and the engine kept running!!

What ultimately killed the engine was having a brick left on the accelerator while the coolant was drained (with no oil, the higher redline, and a garden hose pumping water where it doesn't belong). Of course, even then it took a few minutes for the engine to die. And die it did! With an apple-sized hole in the block and a horribly bent rod.

Oh and did I mention that this motor had over 330,000 miles on it?

The moral of the story? Don't wait for your Honda to die before replacing it. It will last longer than you will.

[Jon Dahl]

I normally try to make them live 'cause I'm a mechanic. I am privileged to see some real attempts at motor death, due to lack of maintainance. Best one recently is a Escort that we tried to talk the customer out of working on, to no avail. Put in freeze plugs, added coolant, and pressurized the cooling system, and watched coolant run out of the exhaust manifold! (had headpipe off to access the freeze plugs) I guess thats what keeps me in snowboards!

[Tommy D]

I have:


'99 Impreza RS with 162,000 miles. 2000 miles ago, I replaced the engine, and should get another 100-150k out of her.

'04 WRX wagon, 25,000 miles. Let's see if she'll go as long as the RS!


Back in the day I drove a '77 Porsche Targa S. It had about 160k on the clock, and then my brother flipped her. RIP. :mad: :rolleyes:

[ncermak]

I have a 1996 Raleigh Mt. Bike...

(and a 99 Passat Wagon)

[thomas_m]

An embarrassing number of cars have come and gone in the last 10yrs(some pretty cool) but my 1990 RangeRover has been in the family since it was new - just flipped over 100k miles after 14 years.

Here are a couple standouts from before I managed to kick the car habit: 400HP RUF modded 930, super rare BMW CSL and an Acura Type-R stripped and prepped as a track car(hugely fun).

http://www.crowmountain.net/Temp/Cars/

We used the $$ from the 930 to buy a new 2002 Eurovan camper and immediately put 25k on it riding back and forth to the ocean surfing. I think I put less than 1,000 miles total on the Porsche and BMW combined over 5 years(both had less than 30k). I sometimes miss having a cool car under a cover in the garage, then I go and pull out the receipt for the $7,000 rebuild/upgrade on the Porsche.

T.

[mtnken]

Gotta 98 outback with 140000 miles on it. But it gets a rest when I take out the Duc Monster 900!

[C5 Golfer]

I did not list my 1980 type in the original post since I was in a hurry and I was wondering just how long one kept a car - not so much the kind. But since we have great stories being told I'll add my car type. It is a Mercedes 280 SL with a 4 speed manual tranny. Not many of these were made and very few imported as a grey market car to US. Mercedes North America did not allow import of the 280 motor which is a dual overhead cam high performance straight six - they only imported the V8s which were the 450, 380 and 560 SLs. I have taken very good care of mine and get complements on it all the time. What has been great on owning it is the very little maintenance $$ it has cost me over 18 years. It still has the original clutch/pressure plate, original shocks, original muffler system and the motor has never been touched by a wrench outside of a water pump, alternator and spark plugs. Also for 18 years the same mechanic has been the only one to change oil and ect - He has a small little Mercedes only shop close to home. My hope is to drive this guy for a very long time and see how far it goes till either I die or it does.:D

[Frappe]

Wow. Now I feel young. Running about 2/3rds of the way through year number 2 on my Nissan. No problems with it that weren't caused by my own stupidity or the previous owner's.

Incredibly nice 930 there, Thomas

[Art]

Thomas, there is a good bet that I worked on the Rover if it went to the old Seattle shop. Worked there from 93 to 99. Im surprised the odometer was able to actually turn over all of the digits 'cause that usually did them in. This family gets around in a 95 Subaru Brighton with 96k and a few minor leaks and one wreck. We also have a 95 golf GTI with about 76k on it. both good cars IMHO

[thomas_m]

Hi Art. You probably didn't do too much on the Rangie since it was out of warranty by the time we moved here in '95 and I've done most of the work on it except the messy stuff done by Gord'n Perrot. However, you did probably work on my wife's '96 Disco. That damn truck was always needing something. Never anything that would strand you, just inconvenient...

I've had a soft spot for LandRovers for a long time. Between my mother, me and my wife we've had 5 since 1990 but only the old County is left. I'll drive that one 'til it falls apart but don't plan on ever owning a FordRover.

What I really want is one of these as the puuurfect SurfExplorationVehicle but my wife ain't buying what I'm selling(same story on my quest for a sportbike...).

http://www.eurotruck-importers.com/images/mypinz-15.jpg

Best,

Thomas

[Al G]

Daily drive is an '87 Golf Gti with 120K Miles - rusting heap of rusty red rust!

Summer car is a '76 911 Carrera 3.0, owned three years, rebuilt with over $35K sunk into her. This is why I have a heap of rust as a daily driver.

Al G:D

[Neil Gendzwill]

Currently a '91 Mazda MPV owned since '94 and a '97 Acura EL 1.6 owned since '01. Wish I could have a cool car again - previous cars were '73 AMC Javelin, '69 GTO (black, 4 on the floor), '84.5 Mustang SVO. My neighbour bought an RX8, got to drive it - great ride. Me jealous.

On the wish list - something topless and fast (ideally a Boxster S), a bike (never owned one before tho I've driven a few, thinking of a Suzuki SV 650 as a nice starter).

[Art]

Range Rover actually had the potential to make a goood product till the bottom line got in the way. The Discos were ok if you didnt mind the puddles underneath. My in-laws have a 64 T-Bird convertible that I work on and would love to adopt some day. Its been in the family since new and I cant believe how well everything still works. American Steel rocks!

[paappraiser]

Just bought a nissan murano... thats a nice buggy.
My honda I had for 4-5 years and my Saab 900 I had for 300,000 miles. My BMW 7series I had for 6 months (POS)

How you like the VW torege?

[John Gilmour]

I got a particulary good deal on my car as it will also serve dual purpose as a coffin when I die- as I would like to be buried with it.

Blitzen Benz 55k 1994- the velvet hammer
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[Justin A.]

My first car is a 1990 Saab 9000 Aero. Love it to death, I'll probally own Saabs for the rest of my life, but I do have my eye on a 1947 Pontiac up the street...
-Justin
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[dr. sandman]

Rookies! '63 Chevy P/U & '72 Dodge Charger. The Chevy was purchased new in '63 by my dad. It was his daily driver/work truck until he gave it to my wife and I in '85. That makes it 19 years proper, and quite a few more if you add the years I rode in or drove it prior. The Charger was 9 years old when my wife bought it as her first car in 1981. That makes for 23 years for her/us. Both great vehicles with well over 300k on both. We have other daily drivers (newer) but these two are both road worthy. My wife is overseeing the construction of a new detached garage for us that will soon offer the area to give both Old Detroits some well deserverd TLC that will put them back to the top of their game. It's all about the metal!

[Speed Demon]

I dont drive yet...:mad:

But I would choose a motorcycle over a car anytime...Blue R6:D
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[Jeffrey Day]

This is just my two cents. I've got a '99 Subaru Outback Sport which I've had since it was new! Almost 5 years and 93000 miles on it!
No records here!

Happy trails!

[knoch]

Speed Demon, just this past weekend on sunday, i had a 2 hour drive back to school, on the way i witnessed a motorcycler get hit by a car, he ended up in the middle of the road and his bike was like 30 yards off into the woods. But that was when i first started, later on the expressway i drove by the scene of another motorcycle accident, not sure what happened there, but i know there were 2 people on the bike, so if you decide on a bike, be carefull, they don't offer quite as much protection as a car would.

[AK in PA]

2003 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4x4 - Have had for 10 months and 15,000 miles. Love this truck, my dream vehicle! Wife drives a 2000 Saturn LW2 Wagon with 45,000 miles. Really like this one, too. I really should drive it to work more often to save on gas.

We've also had...
1998 Dodge Dakota Club Cab (Also nice, but tough to squeeze a car seat in the back. The 5.2 had a nice rumble that I miss with the newer 4.7 OHC.)
1995 Toyota Camry Wagon (Total Garbage.)
1993 Toyota Pickup (Fun little truck, but underpowered. aka; "The Gutless Wonder".)
1992 Geo Prism (Don't look at me. It was my wife's first new car while we were still dating. Ran great though, no troubles.)
1988 Toyota Celica GT (Fast bugger, but very problematic.)
1980 Toyota Celica GT (Owned it through 4 years of college with no engine trouble. Still ran great when I sold it with 240,000 miles.)

Found it interesting that every one of the Toyota's (with the exception of the 1980) blew head gaskets.

[NateW]

1991 BMW 325iX, bought in 1995 (I think?) with 66k, now has a little over 150k miles on it.

Every spring I think about lowering it, every winter I think lowering would be a bad idea. It would be fun though... and I'm getting that itch again...

[Tim W]

Daily driver: 1985 Honda CRX 180,000 drive it like the go cart it is.

Summer car: 1979 10th Anniversary Pontiac Trans AM with a 1970 455 HO motor. With out the bore on the pontiac (it really is a 462) the 7.5 litre engine is exactly 5 times bigger than the 1.5 litre in the CRX. :) The CRX has 75 hp the TA has 465+ hp. No replacement for displacement.

[Speed Demon]

Im still mad that i dont even have my permit...ugh 2 months till i turn 15...then I can talk about cars here....maybe it should be a thread called WHAT KIND OF MOTORCYCLES DO YOU RIDE:p :D

Still want that Blue R6 ooo lah lah :cool:
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[T-Bohn]

I had a 87 honda prelude that I ran for 275,000 miles I ended up hydro locking it. I t ran 270,000 of those miles on the original clutch... had 75 vw scirocco and a 1985 dodge glh that was a fun car raced that one for a while roll bar lowered sways spring shocks
now a 97 prelude with 142,000 this one has a roll bar, adj. rear sway, lightened fly wheeland clutch, strut bars, Aem intake, apexi Vafc, new motor mounts. 17 x 8 SSR's fast and fun

Bike a Ducati 851 that is finally running correctly

[Phil]

2004 Toyota Sienna Minivan - 2 weeks old - 600 miles. I know you are thinking "Soccer Mom - I mean - Dad". Not quite. I just had my first child last week. (Most exciting time of my life!) This is a family vehicle, but I wanted it because I can fit 8 bikes and 8 passengers - it's April, and off to the MTB race we go...

[Speed Demon]

When I get my permit im lookin at a 99 Nissan Altima thats sitting in my drive-way only prob is gotta share with the parents till I can get my car...MOM would never let me get a bike...so Im lookin towards the 2000 VW GTi's :cool:
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[kiwanoron]

I bought the truck new in 1995, it now has 168k on it and still going strong(knock on WOOD)!!!

[Homer Simpson]

I just drive her to work and then to Moe's

[skategoat]

Someone else was talking about their Audi. I own a '99 A6 Avant Quattro. What a POS. Something going wrong with it every frickin' week. Little naggy crap like a 15 cent window guide breaking. 15 cent part, $350 labour.

When the Audi pisses me off, I jump into my '88 Porsche 911 cabriolet that is more reliable than a hammer or my '89 BMW 325iX that is the best, most practical car I have ever owned.

Every alpine snowboarder should own a 325iX like me and Nate. It is the official car of winter.

[Mike T]

'98 Dodge Durango 4x4, bought new in May '98, 77000 miles. I've had the brake pads replaced all around and calpiers and rotors on the front (mountain driving will do that), but that's it. Oh wait - a windshield washer nozzle - $2 part, $60 labor (coulda done that myself if I was willing to miss a pow day).

That thing has treated me very, very well in deep snow and on ice. During the winter, I use studs on all four wheels (The state of Oregon can stop bitching - if they could get a plow out before 8 am, I wouldn't use studs, and it rarely goes anywhere but the mountain in winter). I've pulled a few other cars out of the snowbanks in that thing. I will keep driving that thing until I bury it.

Also an '02 Nissan Maxima, new in October '01, 24000 miles. Horsepower for the masses indeed!

Both cars are shared with the misses... we don't have a "his car, her car" thing, whoever's going riding that day gets the Durango... otherwise, whoever's going more miles gets the Maxima.

[BDZal]

Just a Honda Accord, 1997, cheapest model. With my previous tires, I managed to get through almost three feet of snow in this thing without problems. Now I've got Hakkepelita (sp? ) NRW' s, but where's the snow?

It's got 128,000 miles on it, a few quirks but runs great. A few months ago the front axle broke, and the left wheel was lying on the ground along with some other stuff. I remember when I cracked it going over a curb... whoops. Didn't have much choice...

Next car, Tacoma. A couple of years ago I was at A-Basin after a big snow, the very upper parking lot was almost full but I got one of the last spots. Later I noticed a slightly jacked-up Tacoma just sitting on TOP of the 5 foot snowbank... and have wanted one ever since.