What do you drive?

[mrs.b]

Lindagarr's comments about her Volvo made me curious about the varieties of makes and models we all drive. I'm in love with my car, but my husband is jumpy to get something new as soon as the payments for mine are done, so we're keeping our eyes out for the options. So what does everyone drive?





For my family, we have two:
2010 Hyundai Tucson GLS with performance package - It has just over 50k miles on it at this point. To date, the only money I've put in it is gas, oil changes, and tire rotations, though it's due for new tires soon. I get between 26-30 mpg, and performance-wise, she still handles beautifully (can accelerate great when I step on it even from a stop, and steering is very responsive). I like the size for an SUV; not huge to try to manage, but big enough to fit a group of people or carry things (including my 6'3" father-in-law who fits comfortably in the backseat).

2005 Chevy Cavalier LS - It has about 140k miles on it, and to be fair, we've put no major money into maintenance and upkeep other than the usual belts, gas, oil changes, you'd expect to go by that mileage. He gets about 23-25 mpg, but performance-wise, it's a big sluggish and groans if you try to accelerate too quickly. I can't drive it after driving my baby; the steering feels too jerky and wobbly, I feel like a kid at the adult's table at stop lights with how low to the ground it sits, and I've grown so used to bluetooth I blow the horn half the time trying to answer it until I remember I don't have hands-free in that thing.

[sanantone]

My most reliable cars were a Buick Century and Buick Park Avenue. I don't know about the new models, but Buick's reliability has been underrated. The Buick Century and first generation of Buick Lacrosse were ranked up there with the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. My worst car was a Mercury Sable which is the same as the Ford Taurus. This was a 2000, so it wasn't the same as the Ford Five Hundred that was renamed a Taurus. The Sables and Tauruses from this period had transmission problems. I could never afford to buy a used Toyota or Honda that wasn't 15 years old or had a ton of miles on it, but I would have if I could. I do not trust Chrysler/Dodge. I know way too many people who have had serious issues with their sedans.

[Daithi]

I have a 2002 Ford Thunderbird. It looks like the older Thunderbirds from the 50s, but it's modern. I love my car.

(BTW, I used to have an actual old Thunderbird, and my gas bill was more than a car payment -- didn't love that. Also, my last car was a Volvo, but no love, it was just transportation.)

[mrs.b]

This was a 2000, so it wasn't the same as the Ford Five Hundred that was renamed a Taurus. The Sables and Tauruses from this period had transmission problems.

My previous car before the Tucson was a 2001 Ford Taurus. If we didn't need the pennies we got for trade-in, I would have happily lit the thing on fire and danced around its shell. For the first year it was a great car, but after that, it was in the shop every three months almost religiously with powertrain issues. I hated that thing with a passion that mere words cannot express.

[Lindagerr]

My husband drives a 2000 Infinti S30 it is in mint condition inside and out but has ~160,000 miles on it. We bought it second hand from a private owner we got it for a good price and we have never had to do anything but normal maintenace. I drive it when my husband is away or work rents a car for any business trips over 150 miles. I like the Infiniti but it does feel low. It is my husbands baby and before my Volvo went bad he never even wanted me to drive it. (That might have something to do with the fact the one time he took the Volvo to pick up a large item I took the Infiniti to a shopping center and got backed into:ack:

Before I got my Volvo I had two Dodge Caravans in a row A 1992 and a 1999 the first one was 4 wheel drive and had leather seats and captains seats in the second row plus it was the sports addition fully loaded. I loved it that Van I named it Bessy and I drove it a long time. We didn't know the people we bought it from, we met them later through our church, they could not believe I kept her so long, I drove her until about 170,000 miles and she still ran. The second van wasn't 4 wheel drive and it was bad in the snow but other then that I loved her too. She lasted me to 168,000 then I drove her to South Carolina and my BIL sold her for me I think I still got over $2000 for her she was also fully loaded.

My husband bought the Volvo while I was in SC. I wanted a nice little sporty car but he wanted an SUV. He fell in love with an Oldsmobile Bravada (he had had one before) and he wanted us to get that, but I felt it drove like a truck. I test drove the Volvo and I liked it much better but it was not what I wanted. While I was away he came up with a deal where he traded in the car my mother gave my son gave the old Bravada to our son and bought the Volvo for what I thought was too much money. It's not that I hate the Volvo but it always cost more to get anything fixed and this transmission thing is a nightmare. If it is up to me once I get the car back I will drive it over the winter because it is great in the snow but next spring we are getting rid of it before another transmission goes.

[taylor]

I really respect people who buy used cars. Buying a new car is a waste of money because they depreciate so fast. With that said gimme a dunce hat because I don't follow my own advice, I drive a 2012 Infiniti G25.

[LaterBloomer]

1990 Honda Civic Hatchback. Standard. No A/C. Came w/o radio. 180,000 miles. Can drive it to work in the snow w/o a problem when all of the big SUV drivers are by the side of the road 'cause they've been too aggressive, or are babying their 4-wheel drives at home.

[ncpenn]

My personal car is a 1999 Toyota Camry ('cause I got this thing about never paying more than $5000 for a car). I've had the Camry for about 5 years. Before that, I had a 1990 Camry for about 5 or 6 years.

(Oh, and I have a 2005 Toyota Matrix that's a company car that I drive more than anything else, but it's not mine, of course)

[Jonathan Whatley]

I grew up in a family without a car in Toronto, which loves its public transit including a fairly awesome old-school streetcar network. But you can't rely on public transportation nearly as well everywhere, as I saw very quickly when I moved to suburban Fort Lauderdale. …Yeah. I quickly bought a 1999 Mitsubishi Mirage coupe rebuilt after a salvage title. It served me very well through torrential rain and thunderstorms, carting around more scuba tanks than you could think would fit in, etc.

My family's also been served well with multiple cars especially from Ford, Honda and Toyota.

[EI2HCB]

Taylor you gotta check out Dave Ramsey's "Drive Free Cars" video on Youtube

I really respect people who buy used cars. Buying a new car is a waste of money because they depreciate so fast. With that said gimme a dunce hat because I don't follow my own advice, I drive a 2012 Infiniti G25.