1976 Toyota Corolla SR5 Sport Wagon
5 Speed in Japanese racing Orange! Great 1st Car with the OHV 4 and a 5 speed (the 70’s 6 speed). Developed an intake leak and sounded like a C-130 on start up. Purchased for $250 and Junked after a year for $50 cash.
1969 Pontiac LeMans
Auto shop project in beer bottle brown metallic, rusted out from the C-pillars back (no trunk floor). 400 with 11:1 forged pistons, huge cam and 750 Holley backed by a TH400 with shift kit. Looked good on paper but a pain to drive in town and 4-8 MPG on the freeway totaled while parked.
1982 Honda Prelude (Quaalude)
Horrible car, I hate the 3 valve heads in these things. Sucked oil like crazy even though I replaced the seals many, many times. Engine seized when I lost all oil pressure and idiot light failed. Honda reliability?
1978 VW Scirocco “Sidewinder” edition
Best car of my teen years. Met my current wife while driving the Roc and whish I still had it. Most fun car I have owned and the only car I ever modded. Super easy to work on, parts were cheap and it was a blast to drive. It also had the best seats of the 70’s (VW Recaro clones). Bought for $125 (not running, no battery) and sold 4 years later for $1,000. Had about $1,000 in mods.
1987 VW Scirocco 16V
Disappointing after the Roc, much heavier feeling with power steering and A/C not nearly as fun to drive or cheap to fix. Totaled by a full size Bronco taking a left turn and not seeing me.
1991 Toyota MR2
Mini Ferrari owned 4 years and put 147,000 miles on it in that time. Only problem ever was a lower radiator hose blew at about 120,000 miles, and the T-tops leaked after 2 years. Traded in on…
1996 Mustang GT
Biggest POS ever, should have returned it under WA lemon law. Within 90 days the T-5 transmission packed in (dealership blamed me for power shifting, covered under warranty after some letters to Ford); head gaskets blew and consequentially destroyed the plastic intake and warped the heads. Dealership replaced the top end but the head gaskets were placed upside down so the head gaskets blew again driving home from the dealership requiring another week in the shop. After rotating the tires they secured one of the tires with a single lug nut, the other 4 were rattling around behind the cap. Replaced heater core and forgot to hook up the dash (no lights, no gauges, nada).
85 SAAB 900 SPG
Fun car for commuting and the realization that we needed a 2nd car as a backup to the Mustang because it was so unreliable. Ironic I bought a 12 year old SAAB because it was more reliable than a brand new Ford. Gave this one to my sister when she went off to College.
91 Taurus SHO
Bought to replace the SAAB as the Mustang backup, unfortunately it was as bad as the Mustang. Had 40K miles and needed new brakes (calipers & Master Cylinder, not pads), Heater core, clutch, axel shafts, and more. Sold on in less than a year after spending $3,000 to keep it in motion, Ford, Quality is Job One?
97’ Jeep Grand Cherokee Ltd
Moved to upstate NY and needed to get rid of the Mustang POS. First 4x4 I ever owned and it was great. 318 with the Quadra-track, it felt faster than the mustang and would go just about anywhere I wanted carrying just about everything I wanted. Owned it for 7 years (a personal record) and put about 140,000 miles on it. Had some issues (Fuel pump, viscous coupling, and rear differential) but was far better than the Mustang.
1995 Ford Escort GT
You would think I had learned my lesson by now? Bought as a winter beater for commuting in NY. Fun car but badly built. The welds in the trunk area were not complete so that when the seam sealer (that was troweled on) hid a ¼” gap in the stampings between the quarter and the floor. If I am in a cynical mood, I would say that someone in the Mexico plant new that the body had not been welded correctly and then slapped on the seam seal to cover the problem up…Anyway, 3 Buffalo winters and the trunk was in bad shape. I must admit no mechanical issues though.
2004 BMW 325i
Great car, best dealer experience ever, I went in and asked for a manual with plastic seats (ok, leatherette) for less than $30K and the dealer said no problem, let me find one. Great car to drive, reliable, roomy in front (I am 6’5”) quality South African construction (yes, the 325i models imported to the US are primarily assembled in Durban SA).
2007 BMW X3
Nice but way too small for kids, the first of which came along in 2008. Record for shortest ownership (4 months I think). Excellent trade in value (lost about $1,000 from new at trade).
2007 Honda Odyssey
I was convinced that having a kid required a minivan and the Honda was the best to drive. Fine minivan, some issues with the brakes and charging system. I would say good reliability for a US vehicle, boring to drive and uncomfortably small in the front for me. Honda wanted to list more 2nd and 3rd row space in the Odyssey so they limited front seat travel. As a result I always had my knees against the dashboard when riding as a passenger. As we realized that a minivan is not required for 1 or even 2 kids (the 3rd row just collected coats and junk) I started to long for the Jeep again.
All leading up to my 2011 4Runner SR5 4x4 in Salsa Red with black leather and the dealer installed RES. Can go anywhere I would ever want to while the kids, and 2 of their friends watch the Little Mermaid on the DVD player. Beautifully crafted ( just try looking for seam lines on injection molded plastics in the 4R), if that attention to detail is exemplary of the 4Runner’s mechanicals, I may be stuck with this rig for a long…long time.
