What would you buy tomorrow if you crashed your car today?

[electronjohn]

A clone of what got wreaked

Exactly. Another 2013 Jetta w/5cyl 2.5. Probably not another black one...bright red would suit my wife just fine. Totally fun car...we've had her for just over a year and it's been flawless. We've managed to rack up about 13,000 miles and fuel economy overall is 30.5....and she gets DRIVEN.

Curiously, I've only owned 3 imports since 1968....and all 3 were German...a 1972 Opel Manta Rallye (Gawd I miss that car!), a 1980 Ford Fiesta (just a barrel of fun) and now the Jetta.

 

[cratz2]

My buddy had about an 1986 or 1988 Fiesta and for about a year, I had a 1993 Geo Metro. Both manuals and I had really sticky tires on the Metro.

I grew up around race cars. I grew up around fast cars. I drove turbocharged 5.0 and 351 Mustangs with 4.11 and 4.56 gears.

Let me tell you, that Metro and his Fiesta were absolute blasts in some situations. Obviously they weren't going to win any straight line races EVER, but around the turns, esp with my sticky tires...

Basically a front wheel drive Miata experience but we cared 0.0% if they went off the road... or if the car itself rolled.

Fiesta... RIP.

 

[Farmhand]

Something very cheap. Unfortunately, however, I have decided that my next car will be European which complicates things. I will be buying a car out of someone’s driveway, rest assured.
Saab or Volvo? That’s the main category. One owner, religiously maintained, wagon. No AWD. Mileage kind of irrelevant.
I also love Volkswagens and BMWs but those seem kind of foolhardy.

 

[cratz2]

I looked at a 2006 V70, turbo 5 cylinder, auto trans, AWD. Single owner, affluent family, dealer maintained.

He was asking $6,000 and wouldnt budge a penny. He had started at $8,000 then $7,000.

That was a hair more than I wanted to pay cash for at the time and it had a tan interior which was not my preference.

Grey interior and $5,000 cash? I'd be driving it right now instead of my Subaru.

 

[mkane]

 

[Pio1980]

I'd consider the best deal I could find on a lo miles salvage rebuild Subaru to replace my 2004 Impala.

 

[savatage1973]

modern diesels really seem to demand warranty service. You hear horror stories of 5-10 year old trucks with all sorts of expensive problems.

I don't know if I can necessarily agree with that. I drive late-model diesels, and I have never had any significant issues with them. I think most of the "problems" are "self-inflicted" by the owners. New "clean diesels" aren't like the old ones where Jim-Bob and Billy-Ray could take them out back and "tune" the hell out of them into loud, obnoxious, "coal-rolling" monsters.

Why doesn't it run right?--perhaps that "tuner chip" that overrides half the engine sensors and increases the fuel injection rates by 5X? Why does it need ball joints, idler arm, tie-rods, and universal joints (maybe even a tranny or transfer case) with only 20-30K on the clock?--could it be the 4" lift kit and 42" X 18" "tractor tires" that you put on it?

Of the last 3 (purchased new) diesels that I have owned in the last 10 years, the only warranty work that was done on them was to address "stupid sh*t" (minor electrical problems--an intermittent wiper control issue, power window controller, and tire pressure sending units). The only thing of significance was an ABS control module--that was a factory defect--the boards are "potted" because they are outside under the hood, and it had a crack in the potting resin which allowed it to corrode internally. Even that was not a "huge" issue. The brakes still worked just fine, but would lose ABS capabilities when the indicator came on the dash--it was not a "total failure" issue, but would have been over $1K to replace if not under warranty.

Absolute numbers of "failure rates" can be deceiving, since the more that are on the road, the greater number that are bound to fail (simply a matter of %'s), and for some unknown reason, big diesels are being purchased by the thousands, by people that don't need them, and shouldn't be driving them. Just go to your doctor, get your 'script for Viagra and then stop at the Toyota dealer for a new Prius on the way home from the pharmacy. See--all fixed!!!

 

[BadassBob]

Got the std trans. I bet Bob?

Yep, the ST only comes in a row your own

 

[Ohighway]

I'd get this.......

Ok, no I wouldn't.

 

[Shadowdog]

Bob I figured that they didn't have a good AT for it.

 

[jcamero]

Toyota Highlander

 

[Eric n Kc]

Hey
I hope I don't wreck either my 03 VW gti or my2011 ford ranger.
That being said, lm going to trade in the VW in the next few weeks. I'm thinking (new)Subaru outback or the cross trek. Eric

 

[gadget73]

big diesels are being purchased by the thousands, by people that don't need them, and shouldn't be driving them.

quite probably a significant part of the issue. it has definitely become a 'status symbol' of sorts, and the first thing people seem to do is put big tires, big exhaust, and a chip in them.

my own dinosaur diesel was previously hot-rodded, at least as much as you can realistically hot rod a 2.4L diesel from the 80s. The fuel was cranked way up, it smoked like crazy, and the turbo wastegate had been mucked with. I suspect the heavy over-fueling is why it has some blowby now. Its all set back to stock now, and it doesn't smoke at all. Its also not much slower than it was.

 

[BadassBob]

Bob I figured that they didn't have a good AT for it.

I know the DCT used in the Focus and Fiesta was problematic for many people, probably wouldn't hold the 220ft lb put out by the Fiesta though.

 

[Yamaki]

I'd hate to have to replace this one a 2006 Chrysler 300 SRT8 with a lotta mods and 56K miles:

I would want to replace it in kind with a 2012 300 SRT8 if I could find a good, clean, well maintained and low miles example.

 

[savatage1973]

I'd actually be thrilled to have a Magnum body with my HellCat RedEye suspension and drivetrain. I'm sure (for enough money) there is someone that could do it, since they are so similar to start with.

 

[savatage1973]

Its all set back to stock now, and it doesn't smoke at all. Its also not much slower than it was.

Yeah--a lot of people don't understand the difference between real performance and sheer stupidity. Back in the 70's and 80's my cousin and I both raced (for real, on the track--I ran drag cars and he did oval track), and he was a professional mechanic. We (of course) also had our "street" cars that were pretty heavily "tuned"--to put it mildly.

We used to love to race the kids that thought that putting air shocks, a no-muffler exhaust, and a carburetor the size of a toilet bowl on an otherwise stock engine made their car fast. Nail it off the line and all you heard was "the bog", then came "the fog" of black smoke and the smell of raw (unburned) fuel spewing out the back.

Our cars would barely idle (due to the cam profiles), and our biggest issue was "sticking" the launch--getting enough grip to not just sit at the light in a puddle of molten rubber that used to be the rear tires. I always had "pretty" cars--attention paid to the appearance, but my cousin liked his "sleepers"--looks like a wreck, idles like it's about to die, but could pull low 10's in the quarter. "Back in the day", I think he pretty much doubled his pay-check every week with a '72 Chevy Kingswood wagon--Seafoam green metallic, two different colors of primer, peeling faux woodgrain, and room for a spare engine and tranny in the back. I guess the 427 with the B&M supercharger under the hood "helped" a little

New/newer diesels don't smoke, don't smell (except right at cold start), and don't sound like a symphony of jack-hammers--IF you leave them alone (stock). The only "mods" I have ever done to my diesels has been to improve airflow, and very "mild" chips to alter shift points (not for racing, but for towing/hauling), and they actually increased fuel economy in the process.

 

[BadassBob]

Yeah--a lot of people don't understand the difference between real performance and sheer stupidity. Back in the 70's and 80's my cousin and I both raced (for real, on the track--I ran drag cars and he did oval track), and he was a professional mechanic. We (of course) also had our "street" cars that were pretty heavily "tuned"--to put it mildly.

We used to love to race the kids that thought that putting air shocks, a no-muffler exhaust, and a carburetor the size of a toilet bowl on an otherwise stock engine made their car fast. Nail it off the line and all you heard was "the bog", then came "the fog" of black smoke and the smell of raw (unburned) fuel spewing out the back.

Our cars would barely idle (due to the cam profiles), and our biggest issue was "sticking" the launch--getting enough grip to not just sit at the light in a puddle of molten rubber that used to be the rear tires. I always had "pretty" cars--attention paid to the appearance, but my cousin liked his "sleepers"--looks like a wreck, idles like it's about to die, but could pull low 10's in the quarter. "Back in the day", I think he pretty much doubled his pay-check every week with a '72 Chevy Kingswood wagon--Seafoam green metallic, two different colors of primer, peeling faux woodgrain, and room for a spare engine and tranny in the back. I guess the 427 with the B&M supercharger under the hood "helped" a little

I loooove sleepers. The uglier, the better. My brother, who is almost a decade my senior, had a pretty wicked '79 Fairmont 4-door back 30 years ago. He got the car cheap, the guy he bought it from lost the keys, so he scored it for $300. He was a repo man back then so he had no trouble getting the car moving. After he drove it for the winter, he grabbed a 400M/C6 combo from '71 Country Squire and the 8.8 rear from his wrecked '83 Mustang GT and swapped them in. A friend of his milled and ported the heads, then he swapped the 2bbl for a 4bbl, added long tubes, a rowdy cam, and finished it with a quiet exhaust. That car was a complete riot, nobody ever saw it coming, and quite a few folks from the stoplight nationals wanted him to pull over and see what was under the hood. If I were to guess, it was probably a low to mid 12 second car, which was flying for that time.

 

[savatage1973]

quite a few folks from the stoplight nationals wanted him to pull over and see what was under the hood. If I were to guess, it was probably a low to mid 12 second car, which was flying for that time.

There was a guy around here (years ago) with a primered-up Dodge Dart (early 70's)--if you could beat him, you could look under the hood--otherwise it stayed closed. I don't know anyone that ever actually saw that engine.

 

[BadassBob]

There was a guy around here (years ago) with a primered-up Dodge Dart (early 70's)--if you could beat him, you could look under the hood--otherwise it stayed closed. I don't know anyone that ever actually saw that engine.

Best sleeper around my neck of the woods back in the day was a woodie Plymouth K-car wagon. The guy had a heavily modified 2.2L turbo under the hood and he made a lot of money racing it in Detroit. He was one of the first FWD Mopars in the country to break into the 10s IIRC, and that was faster than most everybody but the trailer queens at that time. That car got famous around here pretty quick, and one of the Mopar rags did a feature article of it sometime in the mid/late 90s. When he first started racing it around here people talked about how it sounded like a lawnmower, so he had LWNMRMN put on the license plate lol.