I think I’m going to be an outlier here - over 30 years I have only owned six (all second hand). My favourite is my Golf - reliable, economical and good to drive.
Bring on the Porsches and Lamborghinis then.
I think I’m going to be an outlier here - over 30 years I have only owned six (all second hand). My favourite is my Golf - reliable, economical and good to drive.
Bring on the Porsches and Lamborghinis then.
33 years of secondhand car owning. A Mini, a Corsa, two Golf estates and a Honda Civic tourer.
Overall character and greatest likelihood of death in a light shunt: the Mini. Reliability: the Honda, which I think will outlive me, although I have reached the stage of giving it a lucky pat before it goes in for its MOT (which it passed thank goodness, no issues).
Also 6. Volvo XC60 was my fave by far. Like driving an armchair. Loved it.
Needs a hell of an effort to move in one direction, maximum speed of 2 mph, and no air con?
5
Vauxhall Astra was besd. Had 2 of em
'74 (? fook knows, that's what I remember someone telling me?) auto Mini was sweet but tank had shit in it and couldn't afford to sort it so scrapped. Gutted.
Over 45 years and across five jurisdictions 17 or so of which a few were new . My favourite was the XK8 convertible (not new) which I kept for the best part of two decades. There was a choice of two second hand XKs at the garage at the time. The XK8 and an XKR which had been owned by Sir Clive Woodward. I could not quite stretch to the XKR but one of my partners bought it. Kewl story I kno.
5 over 35 years
still got three of them
None
Ever
I walk
But my wife has had three (owned) and one (leased) during the 15 years we have been together
1978 Honda Accord - loved it. Milkman wrote it off.
1980 Fiat 126 - nightmare in all respects
1984 Renault 4 - held together by rust
1999 Vauxhall Corsa
1998 Vauxhall Vectra
2008 Vauxhall Vectra Estate - loved it, had it for 16 years
2021 Volvo v60 - current car, love it
ooh, forgot my 2010 Mini cooper convertible - loved it
4
All second hand - let some other guy pay for the depreciation.
Only actually 9 over the years. Had great fun owning a Jaguar XF in Germany where I would routinely drive at 120 mph which the car would achieve at about 2000 rpm. Also owned an Audi S4, but someone stole it and set it on fire.
5
Audi A5 was my fave
12 in 44 years.
Best was a beautiful Jaguar S Type
1 Citroen and 2 Toyotas.
Current Toyota CHR is the best of a dull bunch and very, very safe to drive, so I’m told. It’s my first car with reversing cameras, which were a game changer.
But none of it really gets the blood pumping, and as soon as the kids move out I’m getting a motorbike.
Ten over the years.
Joint best was an outy yank tank I bought as a youth, and the best actual motor to drive was a 2008 petrol Saab 93 Aero Turbo that would (a la Top Gear) beat all comers between 30 and 70
Just 4. Bought two this century and two in the last century. but has no car from 2007 to 2013, and only do about 2000miles a year now.
The two cars I bought this century are still on the road.
306 D-turbo the clear winner (but alas was merged with a tree by the scrote I sold it to).
6 over 45 years.
Fave was the first: Triumph Herald that I nicknamed Mother Superior. LOTS of good memories, despite the discomfort entailed.
Personally owned only 2 - my first car a Corsa and my now car Merc convertible.
I have chosen and held for 3 years many company cars incl Saab 94, BMW 1 series, Sportage and Evoque.
Favourites to drive were/are the Evoque and the Merc.
6, all secondhand. Some a bit esoteric by rof standards. Fave is the latest. Barely use it but it has heaps of character, just 20 years young.
Across 42 years (excluding plant and pure agricultural vehicles):
1969 mini 1000 super deluxe (came with very little floor or sills, ended up with only one forward gear, but a lot of fun over several years)
1972 mini clubman (no second gear)
1975 mini 1000 (hand painted)
1977 maxi (first car with five forward speeds and a hatchback)
1981 Triumph Spitfire 1500
1999 Fiat cinquecento (new car)
1999 Mercedes SLK230 (lease car so may not count, roof went wrong)
2002 Mercedes A class LWB (last new car, and good car, massive interior space, as much as a Merc S Class it was claimed)
1995 Mercedes E300D S124 multivalve estate (kept for nearly 20 years until it self-immolated - very scary experience)
1995 300tdi county station wagon (current)
1958 Unimog 404 (current)
2016 VW Golf 1.4TSI (current)
2016 VW T6 camper (current)
Favourites of these, either Golf (practicality and reliability) or S124 (just cool).
Favourite is hard because they were all awesome for different reasons at different times. And the first three were gifts which made them feel extra special. I do love the current one though. I've also had a 6 year hiatus without a car so loving the freedom.
The mighty Astra, J-reg I had from c2005 to 2017. Best car evva
Then there was Dadwagen #1, an 02 plate mondeo, which then had a power-steering oil cooler leak (£30 part costing over £500 to fix), so swapped it with the garage (plus £1000) for dadwagen #2 (aka the luxobarge), an 06 plate Mondeo estate with all the trim.
The 206 arrived with Mme Cam, and was replaced a few years ago by the maserati quattroporte for shopping
8 owned outright over 32 years (although one for only four days before it was stolen....so really 7 as we had to replace it) and 2 co-owned with Mr Nex.
Ancient green polo inherited from my grandad
Renault 5
MGTF (my only car bought brand new)
350 Z - my favourite, no competition
Volvo XC60 - Zzzzzzz
Mercedes M class - huge lumbering beast
BMW X3 #1 - seemed nice but didn't really get the chance to find out as we had only driven it home from the garage - it was nicked after 4 days when I was burgled and the burglars found the keys in the house
BMW X3 #2 - lovely motorway cruiser, my favourite of the big cars
Co-owned:
Ancient mini-cooper - quite good fun but also quite knackered
Pug 208 EV - speed go-cart, quite fun
And a 2014 Mini One convertible. Not a favourite. Radio went wrong which is a dash out job to fix, and ate clutches.
3 over 33 years. Only bought my first at 34. MX-5 was most fun.
Two favourites:
Mark 1 Toyota MR2
Renault Clio 182
Great thread Jim.
4 total. Unremarkable except for a beloved Volvo 480, the one with the pop up headlights. It was also a LHD so I was a delight for small children in back seats in motorway queues everywhere.
4 in total
first was a petrol Golf, c.2005 build I think. Super reliable and nice to drive. Probably my favourite.
second was a monstrously unreliable BMW 3 series coupe. Looked quite cool, but was forever breaking down. least favourite.
third was a VW tiguan. Ok but every so often had warning lights which always required a few days for the garage to work out what was going on. Annoying.
now I have a family EV which is fine but boring. Not going back to ICE. Not going to name it as is sufficiently unusual to out me to some.
6
Joint favourites - Mk1 Porsche Boxster S (2002) and 2018 Seat Ateca 2 litre turbo
I’m on number 6. Favourite was my 2001 3 Series Compact. So much fun to drive until it ended up in a tree.
Oh I’ve had 11.
Honourable mention for the Leon FR 170. Police told me it was popular with armed robbers when I reported it nicked.
Favourite - Range Rover sport supercharged v8 bought with 800 kilometres on the clock.
Total owned - 11
4 from new
33 years driving
Am on the 6th
Have had 2 Rovers (a Metro i used to love driving even though it was unreliable and always had to have repairs done/eventually finished by rust - plus an awful 200 which was horrible to drive as well as unreliable. And looked like Alan Partridge season 1 car)
2 Peugeots 207 and 208 that I have driven for 13 of the past 14 years, solid and reliable for the most part. Owned from new /near new respectively. 207 written off.
The other year was spent on a dodgy Corsa whose head gasket blew, bought in a hurry with the writeoff money from the 207... bringing back miserable Rover memories
My very first was a slightly dodgy old Escort . insert joke here
only ever owned 2 but driven loads as my father was always buying interesting but cheap motors and my wife of 20 plus yrs always had a a car which we shared. Currently have an old Audi s4 and an almost as old Caterham 7. Both not working. Caterham, when not actively trying to kill me, and in good weather is my favourite. Best car I regularly drove would be a BMW 535 dM, could do everything well. Have a very large soft spot for old school Fiat Pandas
1985 to date not including cars held in my name driven by family members
Fiat 127
Mini Metro
Ford Fiesta
Fiat Uno
VW Golf driver
Saab 900s turbo, 2 door coupe, gun metal grey
Saab 93 LPT
Saab 95 estate got written off by a bus, replaced by a 95 aero sport
Mercedes A class
Land Rover Defender td5
Range Rover vogue se tdv8
Mercedes E class
that’s all the ordinaries of which the best was either the Saab 900s turbo or the E-class
and then the classics
Triumph Herald 13/60
Morris Minor drophead
Triumph Spitfire mkiv
Triumph gt6 mk2
Triumph Tr6
Volvo p1800
Lotus Elan
Daimler Dart (awful)
Austin Healey 3000
Jaguar e-type series 2 coupe
That’s 23.
The Jaguar. Obviously.
3 second handers over 20 years.
The fiesta (a gift) was surprising nippy until its gearbox shredded.
The focus survived being written off for more than a decade before it eventually became impossible to patch up, aged 23.
The i3 is gently introducing me to electric with a petrol range extender backup in the boot. I'll drive it until its wheels fall off.
Maybe one more before I retire?
Sorry, you owned a Ford focus?
Gr8 thread this. And some surprising answers!
5 in approx 7 years (all of a theme...)
2013 C63 AMG
2011 GLE63s AMG
2018 E63s AMG
2018 C63s AMG (estate)
2018 E63s AMG (estate) (current)
Brilliant thread, Jim.
And bravo to many with h/t to Avi, Mutters and K4sper (hello btw).
Had blimmin loads as used to semi (heh) trade them. But some highlights:
Escort MK1 Mexico
Escort MK1 1300 (top 5)
Ferrari 330 2+2 (first and only company car scheme)
Jensen Interceptor FF (actually as lowlight as a dog but sold on too cheap)
Esprit GT3 (top 5 for brilliant and annoying)
Many, many Landie products, currently own RR, Disco 4, Series 2.5, Series 3 (BMW engine)
Daimler double six (yum)
Maserati GT 4.7 MC (see it as a sub 20k aural adventure with lunches and worry not).
Getting old and driven too much. As a business we have silly stuff from a Daimler 20/30 limousine, a few DS.420 and the latest purchase is a Phantom. Softens the blow after lunch.
Now, Jim, if I recall your passion there should be one on planes .....
canaryjim now scooping up everyone’s passwords or answers to change the password question. 😉
9 - with my first being a rust bucket X reg Ford Fiesta that cost me £200 and had a faulty handbrake and would never start well.
My favourites being all brand new Range Rover Sport (two of those) and my last car Mini John Cooper Works Convertible, it was the most fun.
No cars now though - no point but I love Maserati GranCabrio’s
Why personally?
My first which my parents bought for me was a B reg for Fiesta from the era when headrests and left hand wing mirrors were luxury extras. If you drove fast enough for long enough the knob on top of the gear stick would unscrew itself and fall off.
6 in 30 years - as above, all second hand.
The first new micra - nice little car, but looking back it appeared to be made of aluminium, everything rattled over 75 and I was very conscious that I was the crumple zone.
A Skoda Fabia estate - brilliant car - did 250k miles and I had it for 10 years. At the end, almost everything squeaked and felt like it was falling apart, but the engine was still like new. Probably my favourite. Traded it in for £250 and felt like I got a bargain.
Two Skoda Octavia saloons. Ok.
Skoda Octavia Estate - close second favourite. Lovely car (and better engine and spec than the saloons). Only complaint with the Skoda / VW group is the cambelt which is horrifically expensive to replace and has to be done far too regularly (when I used to do 25k miles a year as standard).
Current - a Qashqai - a bit boring to drive, but otherwise the most reliable car I've ever had. Had for 6 years now and can't afford to replace it. On most journeys over 10 miles, I get 65-70 mpg. Last 3 years' servicing and MOT under £400 - this year it was £275.
Got my nan's red Nissan Micra when she died in 1998. Car died in 2003. Nickname "Rode Monster (Red Monster)"
Peugeot 308 cc when I became an associate. Fun. Nickname "Mr De Vries (Mr De Vries)" so I could say I was going to the beach with Mr De Vries. Lease car for 3 years.
Mitsubishi Colt from 2007 to 2018. Was 6 months old when I got it. Never spent anything on that car. New set of tires once I think. Loved it. Cheap as fook but did the trick. Nickname "de Muts". Can't really translate that but reflects how seriously uncool that car was.
No car when in London.
Subaru Forester from 2020 onwards. My dad had bought it new in 2017. My favourite of them all. Called "de Boswachter (forest ranger)". Reliable, not too big but spacious, drives fantastic. I love driving it long distance too. Not pretentious. No extra payment for a brand name. Just a bloody good car.
4
Fave and longest lasting was my my 2 l engine Honda civic
it is quite hard to detach the vehicle itself from the stage of life: for me the liberation of having my own wheels and just setting off, aged 17/18, across the country under my own steam to see friends etc. So the Fiat 127, which was an absolute crock of shit (though really the first "hot hatch" that ever was), was in many ways the best feeling.
But then the Saab 900s turbo. Really the first "grown up" car I owned. No longer a small hatchback. First bit of proper money spending on cars. A great gurgling battleship of a thing with absurd turbo lag, such that you set off up an open road, put your foot down and then, by the time it had recognised what you were asking of it, you were in heavy traffic and braking like a maniac to avoid rear-ending the car in front at 70mph. It had such class and originality. A curved aircraft-like dash surrounding the driver. A big fin on the back to avoid loss of rear end load. Mean look. Loved it.
I grew to hate my Range Rover. Everything that could go wrong with that did. All the time. Hateful build quality. Clarkson drives round his farm in an identical green one, same age and marque. 2007, and he is still driving it 18 years later. He swears by them but I assume he has spent thousands just ensuring it stays in one piece.
You have reminded me of my mum's Montego which also had terrible turbo lag and which also had terrible breaks where you'd press the pedal and then press it a bit harder and then eventually floor it hoping you would start slowing down at some point. As a new driver there were many times in that car where my life flashed before my eyes.
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