porschemikeandnancy

Many of us have owned truly "bad" cars. My question is what was it, and how long did you drive it before pulling the "exit" handle and what did you replace it with?

Here are a couple of examples:

1. Plymouth Duster to Porsche 911:

For some ungodly reason, I wanted to buy a new American car. I think it was because I wanted a car to transport the entire family (5 of us). So I bought a brand new 1973 Plymouth Duster (my wife called it the dustpan). It had a three speed stick shift (on the column). To say this car had a soft suspension and that it leaned in the corners like it was drunk was being kind. Plus the gearing of the 3 speeds were all wrong. First okay for starting off, but a huge gap to second. Second was good for about 60 mph. Third was okay for crusing.

I sold the car after three months of ownership. Bought a used '92 911 Coupe to replace it. (My first used 911). I'd still have that car today but it was a pre-'76 galvenized steel body and it started to rust after four New England winters - so I sold it.

2. A 1988 Mercedes 560 SL Convertible to a 1988 Camaro.

This car had the optional hard top. It had been very well cared for by its original owner. Bought it in about 1996 with about 90k miles on it. This car was nicknamed (by German auto magazines) Der Panzerwagen. Weighted maybe 3800 lbs. My average sized frame would barely fit behind the wheel - even with the seat all the way back. I hated this car so. I sold it after about 6 months. I still remember the couple who came and bought it. A married couple (maybe 45 yrs old) who had lusted after this specific model for their entire married life. It was going to be the woman's car. She was about 6 feet tall and near 200 lbs. I still laugh at the sight of her trying to shoehorn her "more than ample" frame into the car. But they were so enamored of the car that didn't matter. They bought it after a 5 minute test drive. I was never so happy to see a car disappear from my driveway. Relpaced it with a brand new '88 Camaro. It was the 6 cyl with a 4 speed manual tranny. For a relatively cheap American car, it went well, and actually handled well. Had fairly large mag style wheels with (I think) about 195/R14 radials. And that car would go through anything in winter. Did not matter how much snow. I put 200 lbs of sand in the trunk and it never got stuck.

Warpig

Hmm..

1st car. Used Dodge 600 2.2L
2nd car. Used 1984 Mercury Capri 4cyl (250,000 miles on it at purchase) drove it to 300,000 and gave it to a friend that was in need of a car. meanwhile I upgraded to my first new car.
3rd car. 1992 Ford Mustang LX 5.0L. Drove it from 92' til November of 99' when I bought my second new car...
4th car. 2000 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am 5.7L LS1. Drove it for 125K miles. Needed a winter driver so I bought my 5th car...
5th car. 2000 Jeep Cherokee 4WD. This is my current winter beater (cant beat the 4wd in the winter storms)
...in the mean time I bought the 993 in 7/2009
6th car 1995 Porsche 911 (993). I have since sold the Trans-Am for lack or space to keep it.

Nick

payam972

i love this forum. there are always such thoughtful and interesting threads. coming from bimmerforums, this is a huge upgrade. i need to get my membership asap.

cdmdriver

My first car was a 1972 Pinto hatchback. Olive green with a Starsky and Hutch white stripe! Oh yeah stylin!!!

To my second car, a Sun Yellow 1975 Porsche 914 2.0 ( I Loved that car). Those were the college days when the top was always off and so was my shirt. Not anymore!

Kein_Ersatz

My biggest transition was from '82 Z28 Camaro to an '84 Scirocco. US V8 horsepower / handling / auto / RWD to German 4cyl 1.8L manual FWD (not my first manual though). A Camaro was sadly the last US car I have bought, though I have rented / driven many since then.

I sometimes wonder if the US rental fleet does a disservice to the US manufactures. I remain unimpressed by the rental fleets (I rent 15+ times every year) of US models and I must admit it has given me a less then favorable ongoing view of US models. I sometimes wonder if rental / lease fleets have contributed to the downfall of US brands, as that gave them a short-term outlet for mediocre product. Bad designs could be foisted off on the "fleets" and thus made it look like those models / brands were still viable when in fact they relied on a captive market and were not in fact making as many sales as it would first appear. And adding to that was the flood of those fleets into the used car market with minimal options, thus being a double whammy to perceive model / brand quality and value to used car buyers too.

It would be interesting data to seen the relationship of frequent business renters and their associate car purchases. With only a few exceptions over the past 20+ years, my rental experience has not resulted in a favorable view of those associated models. The two exceptions (out of 100s of rentals) I can think of where a Mustang in Maui and a Cicic Type R in Germany, but I have never bought either, so while a positive "test drive", it still didn't result in a future purchase.

ballpeen

Before I picked up my 993 this past fall I'd been driving a 1995 Ford Econoline E150 van for the last fourteen years. What a difference!

95 NC 993

Certainly not Porsche related but the worst car i ever bought 'new' was a '94 Ford Escort GT which had a Mazda engine. One of those joint US/Japan efforts. The engine started knocking with a few thousand miles on it and they tore it apart at the Ford dealer under warranty. It was returned to me and it started up again within weeks. I took it to a different dealer who tore it apart again. Still knocked, and I mean bad!! I took a peek at the TSB's hanging on a wall at the dealership and saw that this Mazda engine has had this problem for years! It was never fixed by Ford or Mazda and they just kept selling them knowing of the defect. It was a car that should never have ben sold and if I could have afforded it, just thrown it away. It definitely would have qualified under the 'Lemon law' but jumping through the hoops back in the early 90's was not worth it. I unfortunately screwed a Pontiac dealer by trading it in for a new '96 Formula (real American muscle) which was pure heaven compared to that Escort GT garbage. I always wished a salesman would crack it up so no one would ever own that car again. By the way, to show the bias that Consumer Reports had for American cars, they gave the Escort GT average marks and even a few good 'reds' because of the Japanese engine, yet my flawless Formula graded poor 'black' marks across the board, a car I never had an issue with for 9 years. It was so good I bought a new 2001 Trans Am convertible (basically the same car) which I still own today and hopefully will never sell.

RJT

2004 Cayenne S to 993 C2S . Really.






OMG! Someone her admits to having a Pinto as a first car............. MINE TOO, except mine was a '74 in red with Mag wheels and Tiger Paw tires. I was so scared of driving that car I only had it for 6 months and then traded it in on a brand new '78 Camero, which was the WORSE car I ever owned. They had to change my fuel pump 2 weeks after I got it and I had nothing but vapor lock problems. That darn car would stall in major intersections in the summer time. I'd just have to leave it there and let it cool off. Still somehow I managed to hold onto that car for 10 years.......

race911

'78 Scirocco, 70HP of front wheel drive fury when I was 16, to a '68 faux-911S with a (claimed) 160HP in the oh-so-delightful short wheelbase chassis two years later.

But the biggest transition of owned cars of any type would have to be the RSA racer to Radical.

SMehder

My biggest transition, that I can remember, was from a Mazda Tribute to a MINI Cooper. I thought the Mazda was great (not too big, and decent mileage). I even commented that I would always own an SUV, and always have 4 doors, as well as a V-6.

Go to the race track and while there spotted a classic Mini. I thought this would be fun to own. Then a friend stated that if I was going to get a MINI why not get a new one. Get rid of the SUV. Enter a new MINI. It has all the things the SUV did not (and all of what I thought I would always own). Two doors (not 4), certainly not an SUV (much smaller), and no V-6. Do I miss any of that? Definately not. The MINI is one of the most fun cars to own and drive. Once I decided that driving could be fun, I branched out. Next came a '67 912 (to remind me of the one I had years ago), and then when I found out how much fun that was, I wanted something with the same fun, but for longer drives...enter the '96 993. The problem now is deciding which one to have fun with each day.

9caregiver

1969 ElCamino with lots of go fast in a straight line money poured into it to a Datsun 240z. Have been a sports car guy since then (1982).

dcdude

Youth brings many changes:
1) High school in D.C.: '75 Granada, three on the tree like a Japanese taxicab
2) College freshman in San Diego: '86 Honda Spree scooter (NH50)
3) College sophmore in San Diego: '72 Super Beetle

Falcondrivr

I had a 1984 Maserati Biturbo. Worst car ever, with the exception of the beautiful interior (for the time.) Traded it when it quit running (6 months in) for a '79 F150 and $2500 in cash. I still consider it a shrewd deal on my part.

Norske

63 Ford (I think Fairlane (leaky, or 500) to a Volvo P1800.

95 C4 993

1975 F150 (which was my parents but I always drove it from 14 to 16 years old) to 1977 Vette (thats Chevette) back in 1985 . The F150 had a broken gas gauge and I havent run out of gas since the F150.

I used to dump all my money into gas with the F150---which was something like $1.20 a gallon in 1984/1985. I do remember a summer it got below a $1 in like 1987ish

I remember all my friends pitching in a $1 ($4 went a long ways in a Chevette) to cruise around when we were 16 years old.