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  #1  
Old 03-17-2005, 03:42 PM
lietuviai's Avatar
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Location: SW WA
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Question What's the most reliable car or the longest you have owned a car?

I have a car for each category.
The most reliable car that I've ever owned and still own is actually a truck. It's a '93 Chevy Silverado Ext-Cab with a 350 that I've owned since new and it's never let me down once. It just turned 120K today and still runs and drives like the day I bought it.
Now for the car I've owned the longest is a '51 Cadillac HT coupe. I've had it for almost 19 years. I can't say it's the most reliable since I never really drove it as a daily driver. It has started every time I got into it and I've never had to replace anything except the battery.

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84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012
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  #2  
Old 03-17-2005, 03:53 PM
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My 420SEL never left me stranded, never needed a tow, and seemed to give me a clear signal about a week before any major work needed to be done. Towards the end it was apparent it would need some expensive TLC to have kept it going the way I wanted it to, but right up to the last day I owned it, it never failed to start or get me where I wanted to go, and looked good doing it.
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1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired
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  #3  
Old 03-17-2005, 04:09 PM
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1982 Mercedes 300TD. Purchased in 1990 and its our daily driver now.

Dave
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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car
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  #4  
Old 03-17-2005, 05:04 PM
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JCE JCE is offline
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Join Date: May 1999
Location: So Kalifornia
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The 1984 Celica GTS we bought new. Driven HARD by my wife and I, then our 2 kids learned to drive on this car, then my son appropriated it for college, then as his daily commuter. It was a perfect car for teens (great handling and brakes, just enough engine to keep up with traffic, birth control front and rear seats ).

The Fujitsu Ten premium stereo was the first thing to go, followed by varied switches. Plastic trim was the worst feature for reliability, then the uphholstery. Rotors tended to warp fairly easily. Otherwise a sturdy car, with COLD AC the entire life of the car without service!

The Toy died of blown head gasket last weekend after reaching 333000 miles. Instrumentation was starting to act up (Temp guage indicated overheating, the Toy techs said to ignore it as it really wasn't overheating, the guage was faulty, and they no longer made a replacement guage: 35 miles later, the engine is toast. ).

Most of the repairs were typical replacables - struts, water pumps, batteries, distributer gear, etc. - basically a slightly tuned pu truck engine. It didn't like to keep exhaust gaskets, but the rest of the running gear lasted the course for us.

Replaced by Suginami's FINE 93 E320, so despite his nostalgia for loss of his first car, my son is a very happy camper!
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2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

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  #5  
Old 03-17-2005, 05:28 PM
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Location: Brandon, Mississippi
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My 1986 Isuzu Trooper T/Deisel. Only owner, havent had any repairs over $300. The vehicle has never left me on the side of the road. It's been with me in Alaska, Oregon, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas and now in the south. Everything works like it did in 1986.
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15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
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97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
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  #6  
Old 03-17-2005, 05:31 PM
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I had a 1990 Dodge 3/4 ton van with a 3.9L V6. I sold it at 277,000 miles. In this time it needed a starter at 210,000, a rear end at 245,000 and thats it.
The best van I ever had. I sold it for $1500 and I wouldn't be surprised if it's still on the road.

Next would be my 89 Taurus Wagon. I drove it three years and the only thing was a throttle position sensor.

For longest ownership I have had my 84 cutlass since 1989, 16 years. It was a daily driver for 7 years. I ran the V6 out of oil in 92 and put an olds 350 from a 76 delta 88 in it. That engine was made for the car. I put a turbo 400 trans in it to deal with the torque.
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1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
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Last edited by Wodnek; 03-17-2005 at 10:26 PM.
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  #7  
Old 03-17-2005, 05:48 PM
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Location: Huntington Beach
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1993 Mazda B2600i 4x4, std. cab and bed. This was before Mazda started selling Ford Rangers again. Never left me stranded, and even when the clutch slave cylinder gave out, it drove around easily. My brother drives it now, but it's still in my name. I got it new.

My '90 190e 2.6 has been pretty reliable overall; most of it's downtime has been due to my own, deviating-from-stock, projects.
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1990 190e 2.6 - The only one I can really call "My Car".

1987 190e 2.3 - The donor car's up and running, only mods are Euros and a Sony headunit. My Dad's runabout now.

1990 300e 2.6 - The parents' ride.
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  #8  
Old 03-17-2005, 05:57 PM
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I had a Dodge Diplomat I bought from the Sherriffs auction when I was in school. Drove it around for about three years and never spent a dime on it. The only thing that broke was the thermostat. I took off the top radiator hose, popped out the thermostat, put the hose back on and it ran like a champ.
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  #9  
Old 03-17-2005, 07:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JCE
Replaced by Suginami's FINE 93 E320, so despite his nostalgia for loss of his first car, my son is a very happy camper!
Holy cow! Congrats! When did this happen....what did Paul get instead?
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  #10  
Old 03-17-2005, 07:59 PM
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'67 VW Bus -- seven years of reliable unwavering utility. Second place goes to the '84 BMW 318i I picked up in Houston for cheap. Drove it back and forth between TX and WA, something like six times in one year. Didn't spend a dime on repairs or improvements.
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  #11  
Old 03-17-2005, 09:17 PM
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"Holy cow! Congrats! When did this happen....what did Paul get instead?"

This last weekend - Even came with a full tank of gas (which in SoCal is like getting a 10% discount on the purchase price of the car! ). I tried telling my son that since his condo doesn't have a garage, that I should 'store' his zebrano wheel and shifter, wheels, and Nakamichi in my 87, which I keep in a garage: But he wasn't having any of that line.

Paul got a W210 E430, I believe, I can't remember if it is a 99 or 2000. He is a class guy to buy a car from.
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2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E
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  #12  
Old 03-17-2005, 09:50 PM
Diesel Power
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Best car? 1988.5 Suzuki Samurai. My folks bought it used from the original owners. After being a "family member" since 1990, they sold it to me in 1998. My Dad had that stupid consumer reports article about being able to go 5000 miles on oil changes stuck in his head, and this was my Mothers city car no loess, so it was pretty sludged up when I got it. I flushed the system, and kept it untill summer 2003, when I made the assinine mistake of selling it for the purchase of the lemon Saturn Vue.

All I did to it was reglue the door panels, and put a timing belt on it as maintenance. Nothing ever broke on that underpowered tinny box, and it was driven in the only manner possible to make the thing at least move - foot firmly mashed to the floor.

My 1999 Dodge Ram truck is a close second. 106K on the clock, all mine, and only an A/C compressor has been replaced so far. I'm still on the original tires, brakes, batteries, and clutch.

The Prius so far is holding it's own. One recall which I was able to schedule with one of their "on the house" services. The car has never hiccupped with just a smidge under 45K miles (time for another service). I can say it's performing as I expect a car should.
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  #13  
Old 03-17-2005, 11:04 PM
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Longest ownership? My 73 VW Super Beetle...

...acquired in 1976...still own it today.

Most reliable? 1990 Mazda MX6. Aside from the routine oil changes, brake pads, tires, the only non wear-related item repair? Plastic intake bellows ($50).

I would have actually chosen my wife's 91 Honda Prelude, (which only required a new battery after five years) as the most reliable, but it had seen the body shop too many times, from one severe hailstorm and two bad accidents...
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  #14  
Old 03-17-2005, 11:06 PM
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In a cents per mile cost my Toyota probably cost me only a few cents a mile. I bought it for $3,500 put maybe about $700 into it. So a total ou tlay of $4,200. I then drove it for 15k miles and sold it for $3,200 to my Aunt. But I got in a minor accident during my ownership and collected about $1,200. $200 to fix the bumper $1k in my pocket. So my total out lay was only $3,200. I basicly got 15k miles for the cost of fuel and insurance.

Now my SDL is averaging about $1 a mile, but I think I may be down delow that.

My moms 1996 Olds Ciera has only had maybe two minor problems in the 60k she put on it. So far maybe only $300 in repairs in 60k miles, thats not bad at all.
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  #15  
Old 03-17-2005, 11:12 PM
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1998 4cyl Camry.

Just spent 500.00 to replace the oil pump(leaking, exterior) new rotors and pads.

Last year, appox 400. to replace timing blet water pump,

Other that that, incidentals at 150K.

I wish my sister would give it back to me and buy herself a new car so I don't have to worry about breaking down.

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