Ask Lemmy

I've had about 20 cars in the last 16 years, from an '88 Plymouth Reliant to an '82 Datsun King Cab pickup to an '08 Subaru Outback. But my favorite is my '20 4runner because I don't have to think about bringing my tools and extra fluids/belts along on a road trip.

That said, man I had some great memories driving around in my '91 Honda Prelude with a 5 speed and a loud stereo. Always felt cool driving that car, even though the speedometer didn't work, the transmission grinded on every shift due to worn out synchros (if you didn't double-clutch), and the engine burned a quart of oil every 400 miles!

I have only owned one car, my current 2021 Seat Leon hatchback PHEV.

Out of all the cars I have driven (four, a 2014 VW Golf, a 2020 VW Golf, a 2016 Volvo V90 PHEV and my Seat) the Seat is my favourite.

The Golf's I've driven were either loaned from my driving school or used at my first driving test and my dad has the Volvo, but I have the Seat.

I really like the styling of my Seat, it looks cool, and a bit agressive without being overbaering.

The performance is good enough for me, if a bit lacking in power above 100kmh, it is very quick between 10 and 50, launches are fun with the electrical system engaged.

As a first car, it is fantastic, though I am 35 and bought it this year.

Mitsubishi Lancer around early 2000s

My first car was a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix, and the thing was a tank. It was my favorite car I've ever had up until I got a 2018 Mercedes GLA a couple years ago, which is also a tank and objectively the best car I've ever had.

I've had my 2004 Honda Element for 20 years now. Favorite car ever! I'll drive it until it disintegrates.

I have a 91 Chevy S10 that I will likely be buried in. I've had it for nearly 15 years and it's my favorite. I learned to drive in an S10 and sadly we had to sell that one. I bought the current one as a "replacement" and I love it even more. It is objectively not that great, but it's clean and runs well and when it dies, it's getting a V8.

My Saab 05 92x it is a rust bucket. But she is my rust bucket and I'm going to keep her going as long as I can

I had a 1993 Toyota Corolla 1.3 Hatchback 12 years ago. Very light and surprisingly fast. Also fuel consumption was pretty good. Everybody called it an ugly shitbox, but I liked and still like the design. Sadly it was so rusty I had to give it up eventually. Would have it completely restored and tuned if I had the money back then.

1996 Chevrolet Impala SS.

Due to some poor decisions, I had my license suspended for 6 months and a friend of mine ended up driving my 2000 Expedition since I couldn't, and she started treating it like it was hers. I couldn't stand this, so when I was able to drive again and she still hadn't gotten her own vehicle, I wanted to get something she wouldn't want to drive since she liked my Expy so much. This led me to trading the Expy straight up for a 96 Impala with a broken odometer. She HATED that car but I fuckin loved it. And it was MINE. I installed the 9C1 (Cop car) suspension including front and rear springs, added Edelbrock headers and installed an Infinity sound system complete with dual subs in the trunk. Even added rear door speakers since there were none and it was the cleanest install I'd ever done. I loved that car, but we were moving to Colorado, we needed a truck, and the transmission valve body needed rebuilt which I didn't have time to do so I traded it. I'm still very sad about it but it will always be my favorite vehicle that I'd owned.

2006 Acura RSX type S, amazing car.

My BMW E36 convertible 1995. I really love driving it. I can't believe it is almost 30yrs old.

2004 Ford Focus station wagon.
It was the most sold car model of that year, worldwide.
Small and economical enough for every day use, large enough to put a mattress in the back and sleep in it, or transport lots of stuff.
Cheap to buy, run, maintain and fix.
Decently reliable.
Not yet filled to the brim with electronic gizmos and computer chips.
Otherwise not remarkable in any way.
In my opinion, it was the Model T of that era.

Favorite so far was probably a 2003 Mazdaspeed Protégé. They were kinda anemic for a 2.0t car out of the box, but I had built the engine a bit and goosed it to around 225whp. It wasn't the fastest thing around, but it had a raw mechanical feel that was a hoot to drive and toss around corners, especially after adding some stickier rubber.

I've got a NB Miata in the garage right now, but man it's just missing about 75whp to match the smiles per hour factor.

My first car, a 1973 Dodge Charger. This is a representative picture, not my actual car.

I bought it for $750 with no engine or transmission (but it came with a bunch of tools). It was a stock automatic but I converted it to a 4-speed manual in the process of building it back up.

I probably spent twice as much time working on it than I did driving it before I totalled it. That was very sad.

My 2002 Subaru Outback.

Thing's a beast of the bog.

The first car I owned is by far my favorite. It was a ‘91 Miata (NA). It was very easy to learn how to work on it and fix things. It really made me love driving. I want to buy another Miata at some point.

Nissan NX 2000, those were the days. I loved (and still love) the headlights

A 2000 Pontiac Sunfire. It was faster than my cousin's 2005 Ford mustang. That is why it holds a special place in my heart. It was damn shame though, because some stupid bitch rear ended my Pontiac Sunfire while she was on her phone driving her ugly as fuck dodge caravan. I felt like I lost my true sports car. To make it worse, due to the shit economy I had to default to a 1994 Toyota Corolla wagon

1990 Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe.

2002 SIAPA Saba GTX

An actual death wagon shitbox that I absolutely adored and will always hate selling it off

This one. 2014 Honda Accord with manual transmission. I love this car, and want it to last forever.

Second favorite was a Chevy Geo Prism, also manual (I kinda hate automatic transmission) that got the best gas mileage of any car I have owned before or since. Overhead cam, perfect engine design. Body fell apart, but that engine would not stop and was so efficient.

1998 mitsubishi magna. We went on some adventures together. Then a girlfriend who couldnt drive manual properly killed the clutch.

1974 Volkswagon Super Beetle.

07 Toyota Tacoma. Sold it with 190k miles on it. It was an amazing truck, but we needed something bigger.

Mercedes clc 200 kompressor from 2009 exactly the right amount of technology and the feeling when driving is just amazing

Non-practical, 2010 Ford Focus RS Mk2, had to sell it when I got a bonus family and started to commute 300 km almost every day.

Practical, 2018 Volvo V90 CC, perfect in every way, except that the rear lights had to be replaced once a year, and one of the buttons on the steering wheel every second year.

2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse! Pearlescent Sunset, SE spoiler, pedals, and SE stripe. Decent sound system, handled great in the snow, and was fast enough to get me in trouble! I had it for 11 years, solid car.