What kind of car do you drive?

[Sanctimoniously]

I don't drive anything right now, actually, since I'm in Afghanistan and my 2007 Jeep Liberty Sport got totalled while I was here. I'm looking at replacing it with a Ford Flex.

[corco]

My '02 Liberty Limited was stolen last year and as I raise the funds to get it fully repaired, I'm driving a 1997 Ford Escort, which has been a surprisingly awesome car. I should be finished fixing the Jeep in a couple months though

[jwolfer]

1990 Honda Civic... it has 204k miles on it but it still runs and all i do is drive from home to work everyday.  I will be getting a newer car soon, I want a VW TDI... i drive about 30 miles each way to work.  I would love a truck or SUV but not sensible. I have wanted a diesel for a long time and all we have here are VWs , BMW and Mercedes and I can not afford the later 2.  

We should have a lot more choices for diesel vehicles in the US... Like they do in Europe.  Thanks to the 1980s crappy GM Diesels Americans dont like diesel cars.  My roommate in college had a Chevette Diesel... a high quality vehicle

[Takumi]

I have 2 Honda Prelude Si's...a silver 1995 and a black 1991. The '91 was my daily driver until I got the '95 in November. Now whenever I drive it I feel like I'm in a go-kart. The '95 has 185k miles on the body but about 95k miles on the engine, while the '91 has 179k on both. In the future I want to get either an Accord or Acura TSX.

[Sanctimoniously]

We should have a lot more choices for diesel vehicles in the US... Like they do in Europe.  Thanks to the 1980s crappy GM Diesels Americans dont like diesel cars.  My roommate in college had a Chevette Diesel... a high quality vehicle

Definitely agree with you on the diesel cars. If Jeep still had a diesel Liberty or Grand Cherokee available, I'd be all over that. (Of course, I could always buy one used. 2007-8 Grand Cherokee Limited CRDs are approaching $20K again.) Larger car + smaller, more frugal diesel = win in my book.

[SSOWorld]

Ford Flex?

I've driven a Hyundai Sonata for 3 year now (2009 model).  

[jwolfer]

Ford Flex?

I've driven a Hyundai Sonata for 3 year now (2009 model). 

we had an 07 Sonata... Great car... my wife is a homecare nurse and she put 70K miles on it in 3 years... we traded in on a Toyota Sienna after we had our 3rd child... We resisted Minivans becuase they are not cool, but it is perfect for kids, pets, trips to the beach and bringing kids friends and stuff... 3rd row SUVs just dont have the same room unless you get a suburban

[agentsteel53]

I've got a 2001 Ford Taurus.  Got it on Sept 22 with 117420 miles on it, just rolled it to 131000 on the commute this morning. 

[J N Winkler]

These days I drive a borrowed 1994 Saturn SL2--fairly high-end for the time with aluminum alloy wheels, rear discs, variable-assist steering, traction control, ABS, and twin-cam engine.  I love how it handles but it does show its age:  discs are at their minimum refinish dimension (which means a future replacement not just of the rotors but also the wheel bearings), cooling system has a pinhole leak (probably in the radiator) and so requires periodic topping-off, and power steering system probably has a leak somewhere since I found just a thin slick of oil in the reservoir the last time I checked it (I subsequently topped it off).  I would feel better about pushing ahead with repairs whose total cost would exceed the blue book value of the car if the transmission had more than four gears and allowed it to post 30 MPG or better on the highway.  As matters now stand, I am content to spend a few dollars per week on replenishing leaking fluids.

[kphoger]

We drive a 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan minivan with the 3.8L V6.
We bought it 4½ years ago, and have averaged more than 18 000 miles per year.
It now has more than 142 000 miles on the odometer.
It is now misfiring on one cylinder (for a week now); hopefully replacing the ignition coil this Sunday will fix that.
The radiator has a slow antifreeze leak, the engine intakes and gaskets leak motor oil rather badly.
In 2009, a friend of a friend replaced the catalytic converter, and installed it backwards, so the O2 sensor is broken.
It will need a front brake job soon, possibly rotors, who knows?
The rear ones were replaced about 7000 miles ago, and then the entire rear system AGAIN 5070 miles later 
The tie rod ends are brand new also, done at the same time as the rear brake system.
We've also had the serpentine belt, transmission shift pack, and water pump replaced over the years.

The thing needs so much work, we were going to trade it in.  But we still owe too much money, and they would only give us $1000 for it.  So we just have to suck it up and hope it doesn't die in the next year and a half or so until we have more of the loan paid off.  Our next vehicle will be another minivan.  We are a family of four who still plans to have one or two more children, so a sédan just doesn't cut it, not to mention that we regularly haul stuff (we just came back from Minnesota with a deep freeze and TV stand along with our luggage).

Since buying the car, we have done the following trips (I'm sure I'm forgetting some):
Southern Illinois - Chicago - Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois - Wichita or Branson - Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois - south-central Minnesota - Southern Illinois
Moving from southern Illinois to Wichita
Wichita - south-central Minnesota - Wichita (countless times, maybe ten or so)
Wichita - Branson - Wichita (countless times, maybe eight or ten)
Wichita - the Michigan dunes - Wichita
Wichita - Des Moines - Wichita
Wichita - Kansas City - Wichita (a couple of times)
Wichita - Dallas - Wichita
Wichita - eastern Oklahoma - Wichita (a couple of times)
Wichita - northern México - Wichita (three times)

[formulanone]

I own an '09 Scion xD, and it's um...different. Good fuel economy, fits anywhere, light, corners nicely with the right tires installed. Barely fits all of us, but for very short trips. Seats fold flat, hatch fits quite a bit of stuff.

My wife has a '12 Mazda 5 GT minivan. It's a squeeze with us and the two kids, but we managed on a 2000-mile round trip during the holidays, no extra stowage required. Handles great for such a large vehicle.

I also get whatever rental car they classify as mid-size, when on the road.

In the future I want to get either an Accord or Acura TSX.

I was thinking about a CPO Acura TSX, as you can occassionally find them in 6-speeds, but gave up and bought the xD outright.

[vdeane]

1997 Honda Accord

[route56]

2001 Chrysler Town & County, flex-fuel engine (though I've been running it on straight unleaded recently)

Purchased 5 years ago (when I was making more money than I do now), finally paid off - and I plan on keeping it as long as I can.

158000 miles - and most of that with me behind the wheel.

The main issue right now is the fact that the A/C is busted. I had to endure August without it, as it needed new tires at the time.

It has gone on trips to Denver (my only solo vacation), Dallas (Thanksgiving 09 with the family), and Louisiana (loaned out to the family)

Needless to say, on KC-area roadgeek meets, I'm the designated driver (TM)

[1995hoo]

I have a 2004 Acura TL and a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible; my wife has a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. All three are manual-shift. I've never owned an automatic.

Regarding the comment about diesels, I concur, but I think a lot of the American population would have trouble wrapping their minds around the idea that diesel can cost you less even if the price per gallon is more. A lot of people are surprisingly ignorant and don't look any further than the number on the sign. Their loss, I guess. I drove a VW Passat turbodiesel in Scotland a few years ago and it was outstanding, even with a slightly odd shift pattern on the 5-speed.

[formulanone]

Regarding the comment about diesels, I concur, but I think a lot of the American population would have trouble wrapping their minds around the idea that diesel can cost you less even if the price per gallon is more.

While its definitely the case for cars, the maintenance costs for operating a diesel pickup offset the fuel mileage gains (although their torque, and thus, towing capacity use greater). Diesel oil changes are $100 unless you DIY.

[Takumi]

I have a 2004 Acura TL and a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible; my wife has a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. All three are manual-shift. I've never owned an automatic.

When I bought my second Prelude I originally went to look at an RSX-S but it was gone. So instead I got something with 50 more horsepower and lower miles for less money

[nexus73]

Cadillacs are my weapon of choice.  The 1991 Brougham got rear-ended while I was stopped at a traffic light so I replaced it with a 1995 Sedan DeVille due to the 1995's having the last of the 4.9's, which are not as problematic as the Northstars.  GM's aluminum block V-8 for Cadillac began in 1981 with the 4.1 and that didn't work out well to start but being typical GM, they did get the bugs out and wound up delivering a reliable engine out of this design, culminating in the 4.9.  

I would rather have not had my Brougham get rear-ended.  It had the LO5 350 V-8 and RWD so it was basically bulletproof and the car had well under 100K on the clock so it would have lasted me the rest of my life since I only average 3500 miles a year these days.  The Brougham was bigger and more comfortable than the 1995 Sedan DeVille and it burned regular instead of premium but there were no quality Broughams out there to be had in Oregon after it was piled up, so I made the best of the situation.

Rick

[Chris]

While its definitely the case for cars, the maintenance costs for operating a diesel pickup offset the fuel mileage gains (although their torque, and thus, towing capacity use greater). Diesel oil changes are $100 unless you DIY.

How often do you have to change oil in the U.S.? I change it once a year, so about every 14,000 miles. I drive on diesel fuel too. Great mileage and they're not as noisy and slow as they used to be. The engine is only a 1.5 L but it's enough to get around on freeways and specifically in the mountains. I never had to shift back on long steep grades (6 - 7%) on freeways as I had to do with my gasoline-powered cars, just blasting uphill at 80 miles per hour.

[Truvelo]

My current car is a 2011 Ford Mondeo. I bought it last May when it was 4 months old with just 1400 miles on the clock. Since then I've put 25,000 miles on it as I use it for work. As with most cars over here nowadays it is a diesel and I opted for the largest 2.2 liter engine with 200hp which is considered a good amount over here. I would really like a 6 or 8 cylinder petrol engine with automatic transmission but the cost of gas over here simply makes it uneconomic. You will see from the link I posted that the engine in mine is the largest that's available - there being no V6 option. The only time I get to enjoy silky smooth V8's is when I rent Grand Marquis' when visiting the States. Saying that, the V6 in the latest Taurus I rented a couple of months ago was very smooth too.

And of course Chris, your comments are very true. The big engined American cars I've driven always downshift at the slightest hint of an uphill grade whereas I just leave my diesel in top gear and let the torque do the work.

[1995hoo]

I have a 2004 Acura TL and a 1988 Mazda RX-7 convertible; my wife has a 2003 Acura RSX Type-S. All three are manual-shift. I've never owned an automatic.

When I bought my second Prelude I originally went to look at an RSX-S but it was gone. So instead I got something with 50 more horsepower and lower miles for less money

<shrugs> She didn't like the Prelude. She liked the RSX. We were originally planning to test-drive a Mazda RX-8, but when she got into the driver's seat she decided she didn't care for it. Actually she originally wanted a Mini Cooper, and we test-drove one and both enjoyed it, but I insisted we look at other cars before making a final decision and when we found the RSX it was an easy decision to go for that one. The thing I disliked about the Mini was that the moonroof shade was not opaque–it was a mesh screen that still let the sun through. It was entirely too warm in the car in mid-May, so I was quite concerned about how hot it would be in August. (Car and Driver had the same gripe about the Mini when they did a long-term test.) Sure was a fun little car, but the RSX is nicer and more practical. That DOHC engine can be a lot of fun when you open it up.

Regarding the comment about diesels, I concur, but I think a lot of the American population would have trouble wrapping their minds around the idea that diesel can cost you less even if the price per gallon is more.

While its definitely the case for cars, the maintenance costs for operating a diesel pickup offset the fuel mileage gains (although their torque, and thus, towing capacity use greater). Diesel oil changes are $100 unless you DIY.

No disagreement with anything you just said, but on the whole, how much of the American population is looking to buy pickups for heavy-duty usage such as towing and the like?

[6a]

2008 Jetta.  My wife hates it because she can't drive a standard...her loss.

[oscar]

I own both a 2008 Prius (almost 100,000 miles) and a 2006 Nissan Titan pickup (about 65,000 miles).  

The pickup is mainly for trips where I will need to camp and/or travel a lot on unpaved roads, or when I might need to deal with winter weather.  Not only is the Titan's gas mileage awful, but most of the parking spaces where I live are a bit too small for a full-size pickup, plus the Titan is too tall for many parking garages (and would be even without the camper shell I had installed over the truck bed).

[agentsteel53]

How often do you have to change oil in the U.S.? I change it once a year, so about every 14,000 miles.

every 6000 (okay, more like 6500-6700 by the time I get around to it) with synthetic.  I could probably get away with 10000, especially given that so much of my mileage is highway, but I may as well pay the extra 100 bucks a year or so for the marginal increase in engine reliability.

[realjd]

I currently drive a 2011 Infiniti G37. I bought it last fall after it came off of a 6-month lease. It had 17k miles (all highway), but was almost $10k cheaper than a new one and was in almost mint condition.

Before that I had a 2001 Honda Accord. I traded it in with 124k miles. It was in good shape and there was nothing wrong with it, but I wanted something more fun to drive.

I've driven a large number of cars as rentals due to frequent work travel. The most consistently awesome cars were Nissans, particularly the Altimas. That's what drew me to Infiniti. Hyundais are surprisingly nice, both inside and how they drive. As for American cars, Dodge makes a decent product IMO. I've driven a good number of Chargers over the past year and I like them. It's not the kind of car I wanted to own, but for a rental they were great.

I've yet to drive a rental Jeep that I liked, or any GM product. I had a Saab 9-3 Turbo rental a few months ago that was fun, but the interior was already falling apart at 5k miles. It was a nice car with a crappy GM interior. I've been stuck with Impalas more times than I want to count. They all suck big time. I don't know why people buy those things. They handle poorly, the suspension feels like it's floating down the road, and they have no power.

Mazdas are always really fun. They're not particularly fast, but they're a blast to drive.

[realjd]

How often do you have to change oil in the U.S.?

My current car has a 7,500 mile maintenance interval for oil changes. With synthetics, I could easily go way past that with no issues. Before this car, I did it every 6 months regardless of mileage and had no issues, including a 94 Camry that was at 250k miles when I got rid of it.

Many Americans will quote you 3,000 miles as a hard rule, but that's a myth created by the oil change places like Jiffy Lube who put a sticker on your windshield with a "change at" mileage written on it.