I used to own that car!

[FDSpirit]

I wish other people had that line of thinking. She apparently thinks Toyotas are the ultimate vehicle in terms of reliability . Yeah. I don't need to bring up sludge, crankshaft, and transmissions issues, do I?

[Chris H.]

Seen my Mom's 1998 Mercury Mountaineer a few times around town, but lately I haven't seen it.

I've seen Dad's old 2002 ZX-2 on the road a billion times.


So far in my family:

'86 Jetta TDI - sold for $500
'91 Crown Vic - sold for $500 next to the Jetta

'93 Mercury Sable - water ended up in the block, Dad had no idea how.
'95 PowerStroke - fuel leakage, traded for a
'95 F-150 with I6 - transmission blew out, Honda dealer voided the warranty
'93 T100 - traded for 4Runner
'95 4Runner V6 - head gasket failure
'97 Explorer - transmission failure, traded for
'98 Mountaineer - traded for
'03 Explorer - traded for
'08 Explorer

'98 F-150 - traded for
'95 F-150 XL - traded because Mom got tired of having no A/C in that truck
'06 F-150

'98 Escort SE - traded for
'02 ZX-2 - traded for
'06 Mustang GT - traded for
'07 Ranger

Sometime after Dad traded his ZX-2, Mom bought herself a Mustang GT. I have a feeling she'll own that car until the day she dies.

[FDSpirit]

I see my Corolla almost every day . I wish it was still mine though. She's goin' through hell .

[Rope-Pusher]

To really keep the cost of car ownership down, you have to get past thinking if the repair costs more than the car is worth. Forget about what the resale value is/would be and think about what down payment and monthly payments (and higher insurance payments) for a replacement vehicle would cost you. This is where turning your own wrenches can really tip the equation in favor of keeping the older vehicle on the road until the wheels fall off.

[ElectroGhandi]

To really keep the cost of car ownership down, you have to get past thinking if the repair costs more than the car is worth. Forget about what the resale value is/would be and think about what down payment and monthly payments (and higher insurance payments) for a replacement vehicle would cost you. This is where turning your own wrenches can really tip the equation in favor of keeping the older vehicle on the road until the wheels fall off.

+1

[theholycow]

+2

Compare the repair (and its result) to what you're actually going to buy, not to what you could potentially sell.

[Shadow]

I wish other people had that line of thinking. She apparently thinks Toyotas are the ultimate vehicle in terms of reliability . Yeah. I don't need to bring up sludge, crankshaft, and transmissions issues, do I?

Lots of people think the same thing (including me) about Toyota being the best in reliability. But I'm also smart enough to know that nobody produces flawless cars. Historically though, I'd take my chances with a Toyota more than any other brand if I were only concerned with reliability.

Toyota did have a problem with sludge in some of their engines, that is true. But most of that can be attributed to poor the piss-poor maintenance habits of the owners.

Honda is reliable as well, but if you know anything about Honda's history, they had some serious transmission failures in many of their vehicles in the late 90's & early 2000's. Even so, I'd still put Honda right behind Toyota as the most reliable automaker. JMO...

[wannabe]

saw the white dodge spirit the other day...i noticed it cuz of the rust and the missing paint on the roof. it now has been in a car wreck wrecking the hood...its at all sharp angles and messed up