How many cars you had in your life?

[ClassicHasClass]

'88 Chevy Spectrum Express (Isuzu i-Mark). Sold to a family friend, who ran it into the ground in about six months.
'95 Honda Civic LX. Totaled at about 130,000 miles. I walked away from the accident.
'02 Saturn SL2 Sedan. I liked this car a lot. It was inexpensive but decently roomy, the plastic, sorry, polymer doors were a big salespoint, and it didn't weigh a lot so the engine felt faster than it was specced. Ditched at around 172,000 miles after the shifter broke (!) and I was getting worried about the suspension.
'08 Honda Civic Si Sedan. The eighth-gen was the last good non-turbo Si. Ditched at 279,000 miles when the starter got iffy. That was the last straw; it was already having sway bar issues, it was due for new brakes and tires, and had taken a bit of damage when I accidentally caught it on a high curb.
'18 Honda Civic Si Sedan. Up to about 30,000 miles so far.

All manuals. Never owned an automatic.

[SP Cook]

Including the now ex-wife:

- 1979 VW Rabbit Diesel.  Solid engine, but the build quality (USA assembled) was not up to the German standard.

- 1985 Plymouth Reliant.  Base model.  Not a bad car really.

- 1986 Dodge Aries.  Totaled, bought from insurance company for $200 for parts for the above.

- 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity.  Piece of garbage.  Pieces fell off the car. 

- 1990 Ford Tempo.  Unremarkable.  Until it burnt to a crisp beside the interstate.

- 1992 Ford Tempo.  Unremarkable.  Striped "base model".

- 1993 Ford Taurus.  Good car.

- 1998 Ford Contour.  Poor build quality.

- 1995 Ford Escort.  Not a bad car, really. 

- 1996 Ford Explorer.  Bad build quaility.  In major wreck, insurance company refused to total it, never was right after that.

- 1999 GMC pickup.  Inherited from my father.  Sold as soon as I could.

- 2001 Audi A4 station wagon.  Awful build quality.  Dealer was a Ford and Toyota lot, sold like 4 Audis a month, and thus had no service men who had any skills on the thing.  14 warranty claims.

- 2005 Lexus RX 300.  Solid as any Toyota.  Still running.

- 2006 Jeep Comander.  Not bad.  Too big.

- 2007 Jeep Wrangler.  Thing might as well have been a 1957.  Mechanicals were out of date, drank the gas, and leaked like a sieve.  Paint peeled off.  Garbage.

- 2007 Toyota Camry.  Rear ended by a shirtless drunk on Christmas eve.  In front of a cop, who beat the s*** out of him. 

- 2007 Toyota Prius.  Really not underpowered and really did get a zillion miles to the gallon.  Until the battery wore out and a new one was $4500.  Donated it for the tax write off.  Until they fix battery life, not a car for serious people to buy.

- 1982 M-B C107.  Ex wife bought off internet, spent $1000s on making semi road worthy and drove about 8 times.

- 2009 Toyota Venza.  Esentually a Camry station wagon. Not bad. 

- 2015 Lincoln MKC.  Hit a deer.

- 2015 VW Jetta Diesel.  Solid.  VW bought it back for $2700 more than I paid for it due to the Diesel thing after 50K miles. 

- 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia.  Current car.  Nice, but the infotainment system was out of date compared to other brands.  Has had more warranty issues than I care for so far. 

[kphoger]

Forgot one.  I also briefly owned an old (1990s?) Honda Civic with more than 300,000 miles on it.  But I never got it insured or tagged before getting rid of it.  Honestly, I only ever really drove it once because the clutch was nearly shot.

[formulanone]

- 2015 VW Jetta Diesel.  Solid.  VW bought it back for $2700 more than I paid for it due to the Diesel thing after 50K miles. 

I buddy of mine had his 9 years (but low mileage) and received about 75% of what he paid for it, thanks to their buy-back program. "Worst emissions scandal" led to the "best owner's resale value" I've ever heard of for daily drivers.

- 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia.  Current car.  Nice, but the infotainment system was out of date compared to other brands.  Has had more warranty issues than I care for so far. 

Interesting choice. Fun to drive?

[1995hoo]

How's the Alfa's reliability? Car and Driver did a 40,000-mile test and said it was nonstop problems.

[kphoger]

Shocker!  Italian cars have poor reliability!

[1995hoo]

Shocker!  Italian cars have poor reliability!

Heh. The Car and Driver review went way beyond mere "poor reliability" !!!!!

[oscar]

Shocker!  Italian cars have poor reliability!

When I grew up, Fiat stood for "Fix It Again, Tony".

[kphoger]

(I'm not a racist.  Some of my best friends have been Italian cars.  I believe that the world should be inclusive of all cars, no matter their national identity or maintenance schedule.)

[SP Cook]

Alfa Romeo.  Fun to drive, heck yes.  0-whatever you want in 2 seconds.    Also got a great deal.

Issues at 25K

- Four recalls.  All for piddly stuff, but still.
- Auto stop start means there are two starter circuits.  One failed, which meant the car would not restart when that was the one that was selected, which I suppose is just random.  Left me in the middle of the highway.    Had to clear the check engine to get it to reset, choose the other circuit and start.
- Oil pressure sensor failed.  Engine has no dipstick, so it is 100% dependent on the sensor.  No real way to tell if it is low on oil or failed sensor.
- Infotainment system gets a sat radio delivered update, mostly to the maps, every couple months.  Which is fine, but it resets everything to back home, meaning metric and time measured in 24 hours w/o AM-PM.

That is more than I am used to with Toyota, but I'm old and it is fun to drive.  Really the big issue is the infotainment system, which was way out of date.  The 19s have the corporate Mopar system, which why they did not use that in the first place.

As with every other car I have owned with an Alexa/Siri like voice recognition system, it never understands a darn thing I say.  Same with the VW and two Toyotas. 

[jasonh300]

Starting in 1991 ...

1985 Chrysler LeBaron GTS
1991 GMC S15 Sierra
1994 Saturn SL1 (new)
1965 Ford Mustang (project car)
1997 Dodge Avenger (new lemon)
1989 Chevy Caprice (work car)
1998 Ford Mustang (new)
1982 Chrysler Cordoba (rescue)
2001 Ford Mustang (new)
1975 Chrysler Cordoba (eBay car)
1987 Chevy Sprint ER (work car)
2005 PT Cruiser Convertible (new lease)
2006 Ford Freestar (bought off-lease at 36k miles)
2009 Chevy Colorado (used)
1998 Ford Mustang (another one - used)
2015 Honda Civic (new-present)
2001 Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible (for the gf...Swedish Automobile, Always Broken)
2009 Honda Fit (inherited last year...waiting for title)

Also in there that never got titled or registered
1961 Cadillac limo
1964 Cadillac limo
1983 Dodge 600 Convertible

And somewhere in the early 2000s
1986 Chevy Step Van (for work)

I think that's all but it seems like I'm forgetting something.

[kphoger]

... Saab ... Always Broken

That's the Saab life.

You don't buy a used Swedish car unless you plan to make repairs every other weekend.

[DaBigE]

There have been several more vehicles in the family, but these are the one's that played some role in my life somehow:

197? Oldsmobile Cutlass (1970s - 1990/1): mom's car, first car I have vivid memories of (especially the huge, heavy doors)
198? Ford Tempo (1980s - 1992): dad's car
1990/1 Chevy Lumina* (1990/1 - 1998): first new car my parent's ever bought; turned into a huge lemon after the warranty expired (A/C out every summer, parking brake cable every couple of years - soured my parents' view of GM); given to my brother
1987 Mercury Sable (1992 - 2000): dad's car after totaling the Tempo
1997 Ford Mustang (1998 - 2008): brother's car, bought used shortly after acquiring the Lumina (couldn't stand the Chevy Lumina)
1998 Mercury Villager* (1998 - 2005): mom's car after disposing of the Lumina
2000 Ford Focus* (2000 - 2003): shared this car with my dad, learned how to drive with this car; only sold because my dad couldn't pass-up an offer
2003 Ford Focus* (2003 - 2010): shared this car with my dad, became mine outright in 2007 (most reliable car I've had to-date)
2005 Ford Freestyle* (2005 - 2016): dad's car, most reliable vehicle they've ever owned (only sold because my uncle convinced my dad it was time for something new)
2010 Ford Fusion* (2010 - 2018): my first new car, was reliable, but wanted something with a bit more room for hauling
2013 Ford Fiesta (2015 - present): wife's replacement car after she totaled her previous car
2018 Ford Escape* (2018 - present): first new car of my married life

* Bought new

[cjk374]

1980 Chevy Citation

1983 Pontiac Grand Prix LJ

1998 Ford F-150

1998 Ford Ranger

2011 Dodge Challenger

2018 Dodge Challenger...so a total of 6.

[ET21]

1997 Pontiac Grand AM
2013 Dodge Dart RallyE

[sparker]

1968-1970:  1961 Chevy Bel Air; dad's company's old fleet car, got it for $240.  Eventually replaced engine & transmission (upgraded from 283 to 327).  Resold it to cousin who wanted to fix it up; got in its place:
1970-1973:  "Frankenlotuscortina":  Bought a wrecked 1966 Lotus Cortina; pulled engine; it was to have been transplanted into a 1965 Cortina body, which I and a few buddies subsequently did.  Never got around to repainting it into the L.C. "white/green" standard.  Maintenance hog; in late 1970 met my 1st wife, so ended up mostly driving her 1970 orange Datsun 510 station wagon.  Still had the L.C. when we split up in '73, but it gave up the ghost soon afterward.
1973-75: Snagged my folks' old '64 Chevy Impala when they bought a Camaro in '73, drove it until early '75, when I bought...........
1975-77:  an on-sale-at-end-of-model-year Fiat 128 sedan.  That was with me for my initial move to the Bay Area from SoCal, it got wrecked during a rainstorm in mid-'77; sold it for scrap. 
1977-81:Leased a Datsun 210 for a couple of years, but gave it up after a job change at the end of '81; did without a car, using transit to get around for about a year and a half.
1983-92:  In '83, bought a Mazda 2000 truck; added a camper shell.  That lasted me for 9 years, until the fall of '92 (I put on 270K miles), when I got:
1992-2011:  a Dodge Ram 50, also w/shell added.  My mom & dad passed away from 1997-99; I inherited their old '73 Camaro (my mom would never give that car up!) and their '91 New Yorker.  The latter had more problems than driveability (damn pneumatic suspension; the strut bags kept rupturing.  So I ended up donating it to Kars 4 Kids for a writeoff.  Met my current GF during that time; so we shared the Camaro, Ram 50, and her '97 Mercury Cougar.  I sold the Camaro to a friend of a friend who wanted to fully restore it; bought:
2001-2017:  Kia Sportage.  Kept the Ram 50 at my office, which had a roll-up door for the warehouse; used it for business.  GF had to go back to Atlanta to take care of her sick dad, so the Cougar went with her at the end of 2001.  Did the long-distance thing until 2007, when we (temporarily) called it quits due to simple logistics (she got a surgical-nurse job in Atlanta after her dad was well enough to be on his own).  Alternated the Kia (which underwent a couple of recalls from 2004 to 2007) and Ram 50 until the latter developed serious electrical issues around 2009-10.  So I sold it off (got more money for the shell than the truck itself!) and kept the Kia, which was around for my move back to the Bay Area in 2012.  Reunited with my GF the following year when she decided to return to CA (nurses make a hell of a lot more money out here!); by that time she had run the pants off the Cougar and had bought an '01 Nissan Sentra, which I drove back from Atlanta (gingerly; it had fuel-injector issues).  Both the Kia and Nissan developed fatal problems in 2016-17; and a friend had two Toyota vehicles for sale courtesy of a divorce:
2017-present:  (1) 1997 Camry and (2) 1998 4-Runner.  I normally drive the former; she the latter (better for her carpool to work in Fremont), although we switch off if I have some heavy items to move for my business.   I can attest to the Toyota adage that they'll run forever if you treat them well (synthetic oil w/regular changes, use coolant mix).  Right now I need new shocks for the Camry; it'll be going in in a week or so for that.  So far, all is well in Toyotaland!

If you're counting, that makes 11 vehicles I've owned and/or inherited. 

[jasonh300]

... Saab ... Always Broken

That's the Saab life.

You don't buy a used Swedish car unless you plan to make repairs every other weekend.

Currently waiting on the foreign car guy to have room in his shop so I can have AAA tow it over there.  This is probably going to cost more than I paid for the car.

[Max Rockatansky]

... Saab ... Always Broken

That's the Saab life.

You don't buy a used Swedish car unless you plan to make repairs every other weekend.

Currently waiting on the foreign car guy to have room in his shop so I can have AAA tow it over there.  This is probably going to cost more than I paid for the car.

There was this one guy who used to around here that might have been some help but he wanted to bulldoze half of Chicago. 

[Brandon]

... Saab ... Always Broken

That's the Saab life.

You don't buy a used Swedish car unless you plan to make repairs every other weekend.

Currently waiting on the foreign car guy to have room in his shop so I can have AAA tow it over there.  This is probably going to cost more than I paid for the car.

There was this one guy who used to around here that might have been some help but he wanted to bulldoze half of Chicago. 

Yeah, his Hypotenuse Expressway.

[DandyDan]

Had 5 so far, with a 6th on the way soon:
1. 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier- It was a nice car til I rolled it over.
2.1991 Mercury Topaz- It was terrible. Had to get a new starter put in 4 times. It also leaked various liquids. I eventually fixed those problems, but by then, it was paid off, and since I never really wanted to buy it in the first place, I traded it in as fast as possible.
3. 1999 Saturn SL2- Ran well, and never had a major problem til the end.
4. 2007 Saturn Ion- My first new car, and in retrospect, not hard to see why. I got it after the 2008 Saturns had come out, and I bet they were glad to see me liberate the piece of junk I bought from them. I had an incident with a deer and while it didn't kill it, neither they nor my designated Chevy dealer could figure out my engine problems. Went to my local mechanic who said it would be a $3000 repair and I traded it in.
5. 2013 Hyundai Elantra- I loved it at first and it mostly wasn't a problem, but I have the engine ticking problem that Hyundais are supposed to be known to have and I would love to trade it in, but have not yet done so.
6. ? Hope to have a new set of wheels soon.

[jeffandnicole]

... Saab ... Always Broken

That's the Saab life.

You don't buy a used Swedish car unless you plan to make repairs every other weekend.

Currently waiting on the foreign car guy to have room in his shop so I can have AAA tow it over there.  This is probably going to cost more than I paid for the car.

There's still domestic and foreign repairmen for vehicles?  I thought that was a 1980's thing.

[Max Rockatansky]

... Saab ... Always Broken

That's the Saab life.

You don't buy a used Swedish car unless you plan to make repairs every other weekend.

Currently waiting on the foreign car guy to have room in his shop so I can have AAA tow it over there.  This is probably going to cost more than I paid for the car.

There's still domestic and foreign repairmen for vehicles?  I thought that was a 1980's thing.

Still depends on the model year.  Pre-GM the parts for Saab would be considerably harder to come by and some shops might just say they can't help you. 

[J N Winkler]

There are some independent shops that specialize in just one make or group thereof and market themselves regionally rather than locally.  The sell is that you pay a little more for greater assurance of quality work.

I have, for example, considered driving the Camry to Minneapolis when its timing belt replacement falls due, since there is a Toyota specialist in the Twin Cities.  The Toyota dealer in town has a bad reputation, and while there are independent shops that can handle the work, I would have no guarantee that quality (preferably OEM) parts were used unless I bought a timing belt kit myself.  Timing belt jobs on Toyotas can be tricky because it is easy to get the new belt one tooth off if there is no accounting for parallax error.  The reputation of the shop matters also, since if you opt for a "full" replacement--which in the FSM is actually described as a "partial overhaul"--the camshaft and crankshaft oil seals have to be replaced and once the timing belt cover is back in place, there is no easy way to tell whether the shop is billing for parts and labor for new seals while the existing ones are still in place.

Given that the nearest other Toyota dealer is in Hutchinson, 40 miles away, and the nearest large metro with multiple Toyota franchises is Kansas City, 190 miles away, it starts to look appealing to schedule a mini-vacation in a large city with good public transit while the work is done.

[tradephoric]

The 3 cars i have owned:

1996 Impala SS (1999-present)
1996 Cadillac Deville (2004-2009)
2005 Cadillac STS (2009-present)