I bought my first new car in 1971..so I guess I am close to having owed cars for 40 years. I have a hard time remembering what they all cost, but here is a shot at my list
1972 Ford Pinto - $2100 (?) - first new car. It was a terrific car. I drove it to college for four rears and regularly autocrossed it. It did well. After I graduated from college, I sold it to my Sister who drove it for another 3 years. Then I got it back as a computer car and drove it for one more year before selling it for somewhere around $600. In the 7 or 8 years we owned it, it only needed three repairs - a starter (which burned up becasue I had water in the gas but it was was under wrranty), a throttle cable (it broke becasue I modified it to raise the accelerator pedal for autocrossing) and a timing belt that broke when my sister owned the car. I doubt we spent $100 on actual repairs in the time we owned the car.
1975 Datsun 280Z - $6500 - This was a new car that I bought this when I got my first job out of college (1975). I only kept it for 3 years and around
50k miles. I loved the car but it did have some issues. The clutch was a pain in the ass for as long as I owned the car. Virtually every componet related to the clutch was replaced. I never got it working right, although eventually the friend I sold it to claims he did (after replacing everything again). The interior bits were fragile. I sold the car becasue after one winter in Michigan it had already started to rust. I also had problems with the fuel injection - the car would stall for no reason. Eventually we traced that to a loose connection (after the dealer tried unsuccessfully to stick me with the cost of a new fuel pump). The car constantly spit wheel covers (I usually could find them, but had to buy several repalcemets). Shortly after my friend bought the car, the exhaust system collasped internally (leading to a "no power condition). It took us a day to figure that out.
1963 Austin-Healey Sprite Mark 3 - I bought this car in pieces for $300 in
1977 and assembled it in the parking lot of an apartment while I was in graduate school. It was a typical British car - I spent as much time fixing it as I did driving it. The unique feature was the hand made (by me) wooden dash (necessary beacause the car didn't come with one).
1968 Austin-Healey Sprite - I bought this car from under a pine tree in
1977. It had significant rust but ran. I intended to restore it, but sold it when I got an out of state job. I never actually drove it except to take it home.
1978 Ford Fairmont Futura - Purchased new in 1978 for around $5300. This was the first time I purrchased a car and regretted it before the car was a month old. Mechanically the car was great. Cosmetically it was a disaster area. It had runs in the paint, a body seam wasn't properly sealed (allowing water into the passenger compartment), and it had a god awful vinyl roof. But boy would it go. It had a 302 V8 and was much faster than the Datsun
280Z it replaced. It was also quiet. It handled reasonably well for such a nose heavy car. I only kept it for about a year and 30k miles. I hated it.
1974 Jensen-Healey - I bought this off the side of the road (broken down) in 1978. I fixed the problems (water pump, radiator, fuel pump) and drove it for a couple of years. It was invoved in a chain collision and I did the repairs myself. Eventually I got tired of the lack of A/C, the constant drone of the engine, and the constant maintenance needed to keep it going (clutch, transmission, valve adjustment, wheel alignment, etc., etc., etc.). I loved the way it drove on a nice sunny day with the top down. In the winter with a cheap hard top installed - not so much. I eventually sold the car to a local guy who drove it for a few months and then burned up the engine (engine fire when gasahol destroyed the fuel line tee between the carburetors). I actually bough the wreck back, with intentions of repairing it, but after I got married I never got the chance. I eventually sold the car (and the parts car mentioned below) as a pacakage deal.
1974 Hensen-Healey - this was a wreck I bought for parts. It actually sort of ran but it had been in a wreck and the front end was a mess.
1973 Ford Pinto - I bought this in 1979 from my older Sister to use while I repaired the 1974 Jensen-Healey mentioned above. My parents had purchased this Pinto new in 1972 for my Sisters to drive. My older sister finally got a new car in 1979 and I bought this because I need a car to use temporarily while I fixed the Jensen-Healey. I only drove it for about 6 months and then sold it to a co-worker for his kids to drive. They drove if for at least another 4 years before it weas sold again. Another terrific car. I never did anything to it. The co-worker replaced a rocker arm to elimiate a valve tick (my Sister was notorious for not having her oil changed).
1981 Plymouth Reliant K- Purchased new in 1980. I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought this car. It drove great (2.2L, 4 speed manual). It got decent gas mileage. It was quiet and very comfortable. However, in the
11 months I owned it, it was in the shop at least a dozen times (clutch cable, transmissiom, dash rattles, accessory drive, etc., etc., etc.). I traded it in after 11 months,. However, becasue this was the age of inflation, I got almost as much for it in trade as I paid for it new (the MSRP of cars increased weekly back then).
1981 Audi Coupe - I purchased this to replace the Plymouth. Decent car but sort of dull. It had nice front seats. The rear seats were big but hard to get into. The fuel economy was decent. I liked the car OK, but never really "loved it." It took a year to get the A/C working properly and "properly" was an exaggeration. I only kept if for 2.5 years and 50k miles (just got bored with it).
1979 For Courier - My Father gave me this truck in 1982 when he got a new Ranger. I drove it for less than a year. Only problem was a failed vaccum modulator. BUT the thing had a horrible ride, no A/C, no room, and no radio. I sold it and did not miss it.
1983 Mazada 626 Five Door - I purchased this new in 1983. I have no idea why. Within weeks of buying it, I hated it. It didn't have enough head room. The A/C never worked right. The rear package shelf and exterior trim faded in less than 2 years. Yet, my Sister wanted the car, so I sold it to her after 2 years. She drove it for a number of years but eventually it developed over heating issues (blown head gasket) and she dumped it to.
1978 Ford Fiesta - I got this in 1985 when I sold my Sister the Mazda. I loved this car! It was fun to drive. I kept it for only 3 years (135k total miles). I did manage to burn a piston (driving flat out with the EGR not working was probably a bad idea) but it only took a couple of hours to replace the piston. If the car had A/C I would have kept it much longer.
1986 Mercury Sable - I ordered this car and picked it up early in 1986. I loved the car. It was the best car I ever owned. Comfortable, good gas mileage, roomy, reliable, etc. I drove it for 10 years and 135k miles. A friend bought it and drvoe it past 200k before stuffing it into a tree. Did I mention, I loved this car?
1983 Toyota Cressida - this car came with my wife. It was a horrid piece of crap. It was slow, cramped, unreliable. The paint, trim, and interior bits faded despite the fact the car was parked in a garage much of the time. The alternator failed every August. The starter failed. The tranmsission started acting up. The A/C failed. I hated this car. We dumped it with less than 50k miles when it was 6 years old.
1986 Ford Ranger Pick-up. My father gave me this truck after it was damaged in an accident. I repaired the damage and drove it for a year or so before it was fatally damaged by a falling tree. The only part that ever failed was the ignition module. Decent enough truck, and I would have kept it except for the tree damage.
1989 Ford Taurus Wagon - bought this for the wife to replace the Cressida. It had the 3.8L V6 which in my opinion was not as good as the 3.0L V6 in the Sable. It went with the wife when we got divorced. It was reliable while we were married, but the ex griped about it later. Not sure what the problem was. Didn't really care.
1992 F150 - I bought htis to repalce the wrecked 1986 Ranger. Terrific truck. I drove it for 14 years. Until it was 12 years old it never ahd any problems. The last couple of years requied the A/C to be recharged and the fuel pump replaced. I gave it to my son, who managed to damage thetransmission. Rather than pay to fix a 14 year old truck, I sold it. It turns out the transmission fix was only $600. It was an excellent truck that got a lot of abuse on my farm.
1996 Ford Explorer - I bought this new in 1995. It was a nice vehicle. It had the best front seats of any vehicle I ever owned (optional sports seats). I only kept it a year and 32k miles becasue I decided I wanted an Expedition. However, I was able to sell it for with in a few thousand of the original price, so it worked out great.
1997 For Expedition - I ordered this truck and picked it up in May of 1997. I loved it. I drove it for 5 years and 149k miles. Only significant problems were a bad alternator and 1 bad coil pack. I traded it on a new 2003 Expedition in 2002.
2001 Ford Mustang GT Convertible- I bought this as a second car and loved it. Only problem was a minor oil leak fixed under warranty. When my younger son was about to 16 I decided to get rid of it. I miss it.
2003 Ford Expedition - I bought this to replace the 1997 Expedition. In some ways it was better, but I never liked it as much. Only problem was a bad power window (fixed under warranty). I decided I didn't need an SUV and sold it with about 100k miles on the odometer.
2003 Saturn Vue - I bought this to replace the Mustang. It had a 4 cylinder engine and the CVT transmission. As long as I drove it, it was fine. When my son turned 16, I gave it to him to drive. It lasted less than 6 months before the transmission failed (fixed under an extended warranty), then the horn failed (required a new air bag ro fix), the coil assembly failed (might have been related to the mud all over the engine), etc. I got rid of the car at this point. I gave my son the F150 and bought myself a new truck.
2004 Ford Thunderbird - I bought this used (but with less than 3000 miles) off of Ebay. I loved the car. Only real negative was the limited headroom with the hardtop installed. I only kept the car for a couple of years and
30k miles. I never had any problems and sold it for almost as much as I paid for it. I miss it.
2006 Nissan Frontier. I bought this to replace the F150 I gave to my son. The truck had some nice features - good A/C, good 4WD system with"electronic" traction control, great power, good tranmssions,etc. It also had some significant negatives - poor load carrying capacity, a cramped cabin (despite being an Kig Cab), lousy gas mileage. I drove it for about
65k miles. In the end, it jsut was not a good farm truck, or a good vehcile for driving long distances. It is probably a great vehcile for an averaged size person who doesn't really need a truck but wants one.
1992 (?) Firebird - I bought this POS for my Son. It was a horror show. Eventually the engine started knocking (after I repalced the clutch and shocks) and we ditched it.
2006 Ford Mustang V6 Coupe - not really my car, I bough it for my younger son. After he trashed the Saturn Vue and the F150, I decided to try a new car. This has worked out better. While the car was under warranty he had a rear end problem, but since then, everything has been OK. It must be the toughest car on the planet.
2000 Mercury Grand Marquis - When I sold the 203 Expedition, I purchased this car from my Mother. I thought I would keep it as a people mover and the
2004 Thunderbird as my everyday car. This didn't work out. I hated the Grand Marquis. It was dead solid reliable and got great gas mileage, but it was too large and handled like crap (too spongy for me). I decided I had too many cars in the lot, so eventually I traded it.
2007 Ford Fusion - I bought this to replace the Grand Marquis and the Thunderbird. It is a great car. My only complaint is the relatively poor gas mileage. I got a V6 AWD model. I like the AWD, but if I was buying again, I would go for the FWD version. I've had the car for almost three years and
70k miles and have had zero problems. It is better than the 1986 Mercury Sable in some ways, but overall I think the 1986 Sable was a better car (the Sable was somewhat larger and got better gas mileage).
2008 Mazda3 - I bought this for my older son. I rarely drive it. It has about 20k miles and zero problems. Only complaint is a weak A/C system.
2009 F150 4x4 SuperCab - I bought this last year to replace the Frontier. It now has around 40k miles and has been perfect except for a bad tire pressure sensor. It is a very roomy truck, get almost the same gas mileage as the Frontier (but is not as fast), hauls tremendous loads, etc., etc. No complaints, but I don't really think it is anything special. The ergonomics are poor (at least compared to the old F150 or my Fusion or even the Frontier). I think Ford is trying too hard to imitate the crappy look of Toyota dashes - lots of big poorly located knobs. Ford could probably learn a few good things from Toyota, but ergonomics is not one of them.
Ed