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Why Did You Replace Your Last Car(s) - READ ONLY

61 messages,  Last post on Aug 07, 2012 at 7:32 AM

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Messages Page 3 of 7

#12 of 61 Re: Why Did You Replace Your Last Car(s) [hpmctorque] by andre1969

Aug 22, 2010 (3:05 pm)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 22, 2010 2:46 pm)
It was good preventive maintenance to have the supercharger oil changed. Some owners of supercharged cars never even think about that. I suggested that to an acquaintance with a 2000 supercharged Regal, and it didn't seem to resonate with him. If it's any comfort to you this guy's Regal has ~125,000 miles on it, and he's had no engine problems. Still, he's taking an unnecessary risk.

 
A few people on Edmunds said that it's a good idea to get the supercharger oil changed around 60,000 miles. Supposedly, the supercharged 3.8 is beefed up enough that it doesn't have the intake manifold problems that the regular 3.8 does, but then it trades that off for a supercharger that can go south aorund 100K miles...but that's usually because nobody bothers to change the oil!
 
I'm pretty confident that the drivetrain in my Park Ave should last a good, long time. I have a feeling though that it's going to be some of the minor details that fail over time. For example, the door handles feel flimsy enough that it wouldn't be too hard to break them. Some of my friends even mentioned that! In contrast, the Intrepid never had that problem...and it had plastic door handles, too.
 
Yeah, you feel violated by hit and run. The perpetrator has no consequence, while the victim pays. I understand how you feel about your Intrepid, since I'd feel the same way.
 
I think the thing that bugs me the most is that Intrepid was taken from me, before its time. It was kind of like putting an old, yet still fairly healthy dog to sleep. This might sound strange, but I think I might have actually felt a bit better if the car had been hit hard enough to truly destroy it, or if it had some catastrophic engine failure. At least that way, the car would have a legitimate reason to die. But as it is, it was still driveable, and everything still worked on it, although a few idiot lights were triggered because the wiring harness got torn.
 
I was tempted to just take the payout, minus the $300 or so salvage value they assigned to the car, and try to fix it up myself. I'm sure that I could have just spliced the wires in the harness back together to make the idiot lights go out. Bang out the fender, re-attach the fascia, and buy a new or junkyard headlight cluster. But unfortunately, the way the salvage laws are in Maryland, if I did that, they would give me 90 days to get it fixed, and then I'd have to get it inspected, and even then, I'd only get a salvage title for it. Which means, I'm sure, that if the car ever got in an accident that wasn't my fault again, that they'd say "well, it's a salvage title, so it's worthless, and you get nothing."

#13 of 61 Re: . [fintail] by andre1969

Aug 22, 2010 (3:14 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Aug 22, 2010 9:43 am)
I still have the first car I legally owned.
 
How long have you had that Fintail now? My '57 DeSoto is the 3rd car I've owned, following the '80 Malibu my mom gave me, and then the '69 Dart that replaced the Malibu.
 
The DeSoto's 20th anniversary with me is coming up soon. September 25, I believe. My '67 Catalina convertible comes in at the 7th car I've owned, after a '68 Dart, '69 Bonneville, and '82 Cutlass Supreme. Its 17 anniversary is around April 21st I thnk.
 
My '85 Silverado, while a relatively recent addition, pre-dates those others in some ways though. Granddad bought it brand new in the summer of '85, and a few years after he passed away, Grandmom gave it to my Mom and stepdad. They put some work into it during the time they had it, and then sold it to me back in late 2002, when they bought a leftover '02 F-150.

#14 of 61 Re: . [hpmctorque] by fintail

Aug 22, 2010 (4:34 pm)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 22, 2010 2:50 pm)
It's a sentimental thing, that's the only way I can justify it, as I pay to store it. Had it since I was a teenager...it's not exactly appreciating a lot, although it does seem to get more attention as the years go by.

#15 of 61 Re: . [andre1969] by fintail

Aug 22, 2010 (4:35 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Aug 22, 2010 3:14 pm)
Over 15 years, but not quite 16 years. It's getting up there...technically through three decades of my life. I do remember seeing the car off and on for a few years before I bought it...so I've probably known about the car for close to 20 years.

#16 of 61 Re: Why Did You Replace Your Last Car(s) [hpmctorque] by nj2pa2nc

Aug 23, 2010 (5:28 am)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 21, 2010 3:04 pm)
Nov. 06 traded 05 honda civic ex-se 5MT with almost 36,000 miles (one annoying problem after another) for a 06 acura tsx 6MT/wnav. It now has 110,000+problem free miles.
A month ago while having our 05 Hyundai Elantra GT 5MT with 100,000+miles serviced we looked over the 2011 sonata. Took a 6MT for a test drive and ended up trading our elantra for it.

#17 of 61 Re: Why Did You Replace Your Last Car(s) [nj2pa2nc] by hpmctorque

Aug 23, 2010 (6:11 am)

Replying to: nj2pa2nc (Aug 23, 2010 5:28 am)
Congratulations on your '06 TSX and '11 Sonata. You sure drive a lot.
 
How do the driving dynamics of the Sonata compare with the TSX?
 
Interesting comment about experiencing "one annoying problem after another" with your '05 Civic, given the Civic's reputation for reliability. What specific problems did yours exhibit?

#18 of 61 Why by euphonium

Aug 23, 2010 (10:27 am)

Replaced an 82 TC Signature with 124,000 miles for a brand new 94 TC Sig because the 94 has a better engine than the old 302, we retired and took a long vacation trip around the USA & Canada, & with only 150,000 miles, it runs great.
 
The oldest & longest term of ownership is the 66 Mustang GT Coupe of 43 years.

#19 of 61 Re: Why [euphonium] by fintail

Aug 23, 2010 (1:15 pm)

Replying to: euphonium (Aug 23, 2010 10:27 am)
You probably have the longest ownership tenure of anyone here, with that Mustang. Lemko is probably second with his owned-from-new 89 Brougham.

#20 of 61 Re: Why Did You Replace Your Last Car(s) [andre1969] by nippononly

Aug 23, 2010 (1:19 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Aug 22, 2010 3:05 pm)
I think the thing that bugs me the most is that Intrepid was taken from me, before its time. It was kind of like putting an old, yet still fairly healthy dog to sleep.
 
I feel your pain! This is the lament of everyone (including me) with an older, low-value car for their commuter. The first time a bird poops on it, the insurance company wants to total it. I had an old Celica that went this way - a well taken care of car that I had a bunch of time and some money into, which was hit in a parking lot when I was on my way to work, just hard enough to dent one side. Because the car was already about 12 years old at that point (with 180,000 miles) and the repair was like $2000, the insurance company totaled it rather than let me keep it. It ran beautifully, had never needed much in the way of repair, and was fun the way those old RWD Celicas were (and the newer FWD Celicas were NOT). Such a disappointment, I spoke to manager after manager trying to find someone who would say "Sure, we will let you keep your car", but never found one who would do it.
 
The last car I bought was my '09 Subaru Outback Sport, which replaced an '07 Matrix that I hated at the end. Terrible seating position, terrible controls, an e-throttle whose delayed action made shifting smoothly virtually impossible, and the list goes on and on....but then I am a CCBA'er and do occasionally manufacture "reasons" to trade cars!

#21 of 61 Re: Why Did You Replace Your Last Car(s) [hpmctorque] by bumpy

Aug 23, 2010 (6:03 pm)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Aug 22, 2010 9:29 am)
It drives like pretty much any other subcompact with the second row chopped out. I am running slightly larger tires, and put in an aftermarket torque mount. Next move is aftermarket springs, since the front end gets a Buicky float around 65 mph.

Messages Page 3 of 7

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