Best and Worst non-exotic cars you had?

Worst:

No question: 1974 MGB. 3 fuel pumps, 2 alternators, leaking carbs, those ridiculous twin 6 volt batteriers, paint that oxidized if you looked at it, and slow as mollassas.

Best: 1991 Alfa spider. 150K of near trouble free miles in 8 years (one clutch, u-joints, rear sway bar bushings, brakes. I had to redo the leather seats and replace one soft top).

 

Worst-e60 BMW M5; Best- e34 BMW M5

 

Just guessing, but I'll bet your problem was filling the rad.....

Merry Christmas !!!

 

Best: 1983 alfa romeo spider veloce. Was my car during college.

bought it with 50K miles... had a unexpected rendezvous with a firehydrant/tree at 120K miles...

all that was required in the interval was oil / tires / and 1 brake job.

2nd best: 1974 triumph spitfire. my car in highschool... I felt like $1M. The headlights were about as bright as nightlight, but who cared...

 

1967 Plymouth Fury 4 door sedan.

I paid $300 for it in 1976, put new ball joints and tires on it and used it to commute 200 miles (once or twice /week) from a job I had at a taconite plant in Virginia, MN. It was the "mom & pop" version of what the troopers drove. I frequently had it flat-out on the freeway, it loved to go! I had an early "FuzzBuster" and my CB radio squawking the whole way.

 

FYI, the Porsche 993 is air cooled...

 

Best: 2001 BMW 540i E39 and 2008 BMW 535i twin-turbo

Worst: 1995 Alfa Spider 3.0 V6 and 1998 Alfa GTV 3.0 V6 24V - both great fun to drive with excellent engines and good handling, fairly reliable but disastrously short-lived: by 45,000 miles just about everything had been replaced (leaky radiator, water pump, entire exhaust system, rusty underbody parts, bits of plastic trim, etc. etc. etc.). They cost me more in maintenance than any Ferrari ever has!!

 

Best:

1988 BMW M3
This car was bought new and driven 50,000 miles over five years. No other street car in my experience had the fidelity of steering feedback or adjustability of cornering attitude of the original M3. My M3 was a real eye catcher with its boxy fender flares, rear spoiler and Henna Red paint.

1993 Mazda RX-7 R1
I drove this car for 20,000 miles from new. The 3rd genereration RX-7 is the best looking Japanese car ever. From a driver's perspective it combined the agility of a Miata with levels of grip and grunt to match a contemporary Porsche 911. My car was the hardcore R1 model, with firmer suspension, lower levels of equipment (less weight) and sticky Bridgestone S07 tires. This was also my first car to undergo modification. Exhaust, intake and ECU mods raised peak power from 255hp to about 320hp.

Worst:

1995 BMW M3
I bought this car in 2001 with 90,000 miles already on the clock. During my three years of ownership various electrical problems overwhelmed any goodwill I felt for this car (mainly for its torquey straight-six motor).

 

Best 1978 308 GTS. First F-car. LOVED IT! Nothing like a carbed car screaming through the gears. Unfortunately, burned in Grapevine in 1999. Second best 2006 Bentley Continental GT.

Worst: Tie between the 2005 Range Ruster the dealer did not even want back and a 1986 grey market BMW 733i. Over heated in temps over 95 ( try that living in Dallas) and reverse slipped ( better not park on a hill).

 

Worst: 1999 VW Passat. 2000 Ford Mustang

Best: 1999 BMW M Roadster. 1996 BMW M3. 2001 Nissan Pathfinder

 

Best: 1973 Alfa Romeo Berlina 2000 I put 200,000 miles on it with minor maintence. It got rear ended in DC and that was the end of it.

1984 TVR 280 I Great blend of power and handling. tube frame wieghted next to nothing. This car was a total blast to drive. 1 minor problem in 3 years with rear wheel bearing.



Worst: 2002 VW Passat wagon. Turned into complete piece of junk in 2 years. Motor blew at 129,000. sold it for parts for $2,500 after 2 years of ownership. Most expensive car I have ever owned. I hate VW and will never get another german car ever.

 

Worst: 2006 Ford Mustang GT. runner up: 2002 VW Jetta 1.8T (actually a decent car let down by horrible quality issues)

Best: 1990 Jeep Cherokee. The definitive beater. runner up: 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder. great fun, totally impractical-my "starter Ferrari"

 

Damn, I was going to say... In Before DocJohngober and Land Rover. Sorry Doc, at least you are remembered to me.

I have no worst or best. My shoes fair well, and are cheap.

 

Great minds think alike, Cheers and Happy Holidays!

 

...still have my e34 M5...great car.

Best cars would be both of my 911SCs and Ferrari 355 (wish I never sold it).

Worst cars would be a '89 Chevy 2500 pickup. '96 Range Rover HSE...started up buy its self...and eventually caught fire while I was driving it.

 

Worst is easy: Opel Ascona 1,8-86.

We had as a family runaround when i was still living with my parents. It rusted everywhere, needed a brakejob at least once a year, always drank water (but never reveled were it went) exept when my sister took it for a 1200 mile trip to the northern parts of sweden and always, always always had some minor fault. It also had the least comunicative steering and chassi that i ever felt (including forklifts, a 300 ton boat and a couple of 18-wheelers) and in the last winter we had it, the only thing that happened when i tried to turn on the heater was that the windshieldwipers started... My dad refused to even ride in it and it was sold to a couple of hillbillys who thougt they just done the deal of their life. I haven`t missed it since...

 

Worst: 2000 Chevy Blazer, almost everything on it had to be replaced and it rattled like crazy

Best: 89 Alfa Milano 2.5 V6, more reliable than i expected, gave me less headaches than my friends volkswagens at the time.

 

Best: 1993 BMW 850ci. 170,000 miles and still going on the original clutch. Exhaust was replaced at about 150,000 miles.

Worst: 1998 Cadillac SLS.

 

1996 Camaro RS. Sure its got over 114k on it total and its givin me its fair share of problems and easly I could have givin it away but there's just something special about this car and when I underestimated what it could do this car has suprized me everytime I take it out on curises. Its like having a Buick Grand National and a Corvette put in a small package this is one car I love more than my previous Fiero's I have owned. There nothing better than being at a car meeting and guys with real exotics ask me "Is it the one with the LT1?" and I say no its got the V6 and knowing that its the only V6 out of the bunch is why I love this car. This is one car that I might be holding onto when I get my future exotics.