What makes this your car?
A 2005 Seat Leon TDI. It was cheap, uses little fuel and is reliable. In the summer I drive our 1988 Trabant 601. It’s fun and tiny, but definitely not reliable.
Though after moving to a bigger city from the countryside, my main modes of transportation have become my bike and a tram, the car is only for when I visit my parents where no public transport goes
Ford ranger - it was $500
Fuckin ford ranger
Proton Saga 1.3
Unless you buy a domestic car, there’s an import duty of 70-100% in Malaysia, so if you want to avoid that you can basically decide between Proton and Perodua.
I don’t care about cars whatsoever, so was checking for used models of either brand (less than 4 years old, max 30k km down) and found a good deal on this one.
Sagas are unkillable, garbage time on YouTube put pepsi in the coolant and replaced the oil with Nutella in a 2009 saga, then when the Nutella killed the engine he fixed it with bolts from a hardware store and it still did almost the exact same times in a drag race before and after. He also cleaned out the Nutella oil using a pressure washer and it still survived.
LOL, I’ll have to watch that video. Sounds like a fun time!
I’ve got the 2019 model I believe (manufactured in August 2020, first registered end of 2021), so it still came with half a year of manufacturer’s warranty.
So far I’m really happy with it. Definitely not a race car with a 4 gear automatic transmission, but since we have a 110kph limit on highways and plenty of traffic, it gets the job more than just done.
Come Monday I’ll do the first longer trip (400km, about 5h) up into the mountains, curious how it’s gonna go.
Bro, link that video.
Daily: 2018 2.5 Outback. It’s nice, comfy, reliable, and overall an amazing daily driver.
Fun car: 1994 Mazda Miata. It’s a Miata.
1994 Miata
I wrecked my car recently and this might be the new one if I can’t fix it. Did you get a 94 for the reasons I think you got a 94?
94-97 have the bigger 1.8 motor which I wanted. Coincidentally the 94 was the first year to switch to the new freon for the AC system so if I need to get it recharged (which I do) I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for ancient AC that won’t even work well.
The guy I bought it from had 4 Miatas and actually prefers the 1.6 since you have to work harder for the speed, but the car is slow enough as is. It doesn’t need to be any slower.
If I’m not mistaken, the 94 is also the only year to have the 1.8 but still using OBD rather than OBDII, which supposedly makes it easier to slap a turbo in.
Preferring the slower version is wild, haha. I’ll be moving from a VQ platform so losing ~200HP is going to be an adjustment.
Just wanted to pop in and say I have a 95 with the 1.8; It’s OBD1.
Interesting! Any idea if it’s uncommon or anything? From what I’d read (which is admittedly not a lot), 95 is when they’d switched to OBDII, but maybe they made the change in the middle of the production cycle?
I think 96 was the first model year that had it. But the OBD2 mandate took effect in 1995 (for the 96 model year).
That said I’m not turboing the car and it currently has a check engine light so obd2 would be really nice right now.
It’s a Miata.
Let’s go!
It’s a Miata
'Nuff said (I’m only slightly jealous). A car that’s undetappreciated by too many gear heads. It’s a modern version of a 1960’s Lotus. Love it
I drive a 2018 Subaru Forester. I got it because I wanted a SUV with AWD and a turbo charger. My previous vehicle was a Camaro, and while I loved driving it, having a RWD car in the winter sucks, and I had recently bought a house, so having a vehicle that can carry more than just groceries made sense.
I was driving the Camaro around Xmas time and there was a light dusting of snow on the highway. I hit a patch of it and started to fish tail, and that scared the hell out of me, so I traded it for the Forester the following fall. The Forester has handled any conditions I’ve come across so far like a champ, including heavy rain, snow, ice, and muddy hillsides.
Trading the Camaro in and getting the Forester marked the transition (in my mind) from being a young adult, to becoming an older, more sensible one. I was driving home from work one day, and a Camaro passed me on the highway. I couldn’t help but sigh and ask myself why I had to get old. The Forester is a good vehicle and very nice (got the XT Touring package), but the Camaro was way more fun to drive, and I still miss it. I’d like to get another sports car in the future, but we’ll see if that happens.
Tires make all the difference. Both the size/proportion and materials.
I’ve had RWD cars that were beasts in the snow (East Coast ice no less) because they were near perfect weight distribution and had the best winter tires on the market (Nokian).
I’ve had AWD cars that sucked, because the car was poorly balanced, the tire sidewall was too small (so the tire can’t flex much), entry level winter tires (rubber was harder), and stupid electronic traction control that tried to out think the driver but just got in the way.
RWD will still usually be more challenging to drive than AWD (I think even more so with RWD cars post 2000), though some AWD systems can be unpredictable. Part of the issue with newer RWD cars is the tire sizes - it can be hard to get proper winter tires (plus they cost a lot). I’ve seen some cars for which winter tires didn’t exist, or were exorbitantly expensive to get (it’s assumed by both car and tire manufacturers that these cars won’t be driven in snow).
Fortunately Subaru uses a dead simple AWD system (basically open diffs at each end) - the most complex thing they do is use the brakes for traction control/torque distribution, which is less likely (In my experience) to get in the way than things like electronic diffs (can you tell I’m a fan of Subaru AWD?).
I’ve driven RWD sports cars in the snow with ease. Tires are aboslutely everything. People tend to ignore their tires for WAY too long before getting them replaced, and/or get shitty all seasons that suck in every condition possible.
The trend of “I need AWD SUV because snow” terrifies me because people are buying bigger, heavier, and worse handling cars when they really just need better tires. A FWD sedan with good tires will do WAY better than an AWD SUV with crappy tires. The only upside is people will tend to put better tires on their SUV because it’s more expensive than their shitty sports car/sedan.
No car - don’t need nor want one.
Toyota Hilux. A nice blend of not too uncomfortable but will carry me anywhere I choose to go. Seen a lot of places that thing.
I was so dissapointed when my dad bought a frontier instead of a Hilux. The Toyota dealer didn’t want to negotiate with him, but the nissan dealer did.
At least it’s the non US model diesel Frontier. It’s a pretty nice car. But it’s still not a Hilux.
Wish they were still sold in the US. I spent so much time trying to figure out how to import one from Mexico and get it on the road. Quite possibly the toughest consumer vehicle of all time
Got a few but winter time is my P2 Volvo XC90. Why? V8 go brrr
2017 Subaru Outback 3.6r
It’s reliable and convenient and has every feature I need or want.
It’s got pretty good adaptive cruise control, good cargo capacity, including seats folding flat so that my large dogs can fit comfortably. It’s got AWD and additional traction and hill features. It can tow my boat. It’s got a pretty good sound system. Heated seats and steering wheel (a necessity for those of us with Raynaud’s ). Two buttons for memorizing seat settings. Backup camera. High clearance. All kinds of pros and the only con is mediocre gas mileage.
I expect it to last for a very long time. It’s just practical all around. And I don’t need to drive it terribly much, so the gas mileage isn’t a big deal for me.
How do you like the 3.6r overall? I have a 2018 with the 2.5 and I love it, but I sure do wish I had more power sometimes. I get great gas mileage though (if I drive right)
I love it. I’m glad I got the 3.6r. It’s got plenty of power for accelerating at a reasonable rate (though I wouldn’t call it speedy like my old Mini was) and I don’t have to worry about hauling cargo or my boat.
Interestingly, when I last took it on a road trip out to Glacier National Park, some guy saw me getting into it and was so excited because he used to have one that was a couple of years younger and he missed it that he felt compelled to talk cars (I’m a woman–this is not a thing that happens to us). He went on and on about how much he loved and misses the 3.6r engine and how they’re just not the same anymore.
But I do use it for things like hauling boats and the occasional UHaul trailer or similar. If you’re just using it as a commuter car, the better gas mileage would make more sense.
I did test drive a 2018 before buying the 2017 and the 2018 had a nicer sound system.
Yeah the 2018 got the face lift with a bunch of new features, most important to me was carplay.
The 2020 Outback with the same engine and a slightly revised transmission design is rated for the same 3500 pound tow rating as the 3.6, and in Europe it’s rated for 3500 pounds. So if I ever get adventurous I might try finding a super light weight trailer and tow my Miata around. The car itself is right at the 2700 pound limit so I need to find a SUPER light trailer and probably go really slow. I have hauled around a few trailers and it did alright.
But the 4 cylinder just can’t compete with the flat 6 being perfectly balanced. I’ve joked before that if you put in Outback in reverse it’s now a Porsche.
A bike is my preferred method of transport. Just a simple 3x7 steel hardtail mountain bike. It keeps me in shape and can go just about anywhere.
When I have to drive, a manual Subaru tends to be my ride: Capable, reliable, and fun I guess. I also use an ebike if I have to haul a lot but don’t want to drive.
If it’s going to be in city only, the old Honda Fit is hard to beat functionally: Easy to park, very maneuverable, and lots of storage.
I was looking at mountain bikes recently and found out the new norm is 1x. Been ages since I rode a 3x, but going to 1x seems attractive if only to remove the shifter.
I too bike around town, on 25mm tires, and usually with a trailer though. Such a joy to get everything done under your own power. Obviously this isn’t the post to tout such ideas, but more people should be riding around the city.
First I’d heard of that in mountain biking, unless are you thinking of the r/Xbiking subreddit? They often repurpose MTBs, sometimes with 1x, but often with other drivetrains too.
I was surprised too. Went into a local shop and every single one of their mountain bikes, be it full suspension or otherwise, was 1x.
They said most of the time a chain gets spit off a ring, it’s the front, so people have been converting over to 1x to keep the chain on, and going to 10-12 on the back to make up for the lost range.
No idea if it’s bologna or marketing but it seems to be the new trend. I’m guessing it’s beneficial moreso in competitive circumstances, but the only time I spit my road bike chain out is when I shift under too much pressure. I don’t really do much trail riding on account of not having an appropriate ride, so I’m just going off what this one person said.
They look nice though without a front derailleur. Makes me want a fixie.
Oh, you mean like 1x10 or 1x12? Yeah, that’s definitely a thing. I thought you meant literally one gear on a MTB.
Our family car is a 2005 Acura MDX. Best snow car I’ve ever driven, seats 7. Got it in 2013 with 68k miles. Now has 152k, only work I’ve had to do to it is routine maintenance. That did include the timing belt replacement and I wish every motor was engineered like that one.
We got it because of the “seats 7”, known good safety and AWD performance, and low mileage. The price was right and it remains one of my favorite purchases yet. It’s not very efficient but it’s powerful as hell which is really nice in the Colorado mountains.
Seems like I remember fitting a queen size mattress flat across in the back of mine… May be misremembering, but it was a great vehicle overall. Until the transmission choked up on the freeway and I couldn’t trust it not suddenly breaking down on me.
Maybe a double, but I doubt a queen.
Ford focus RS.
My old car was sporty (RX8), and I wanted another sporty car, but I wanted AWD because I was done with RWD in the snow. I needed a 4 door, because I was planning to have a kid. That really limited my options.
I liked the AWD system in the focus over the WRX STI or Golf R.
I don’t really like it anymore, though. It’s a really rough ride, and the seats are uncomfortable for long trips. And it’s kind of a boring car when it’s not snowing.My wife has an Hyundai Elantra GT. It’s pretty much the only car we use now, it’s way more comfortable to drive.
We’re probably gonna sell both of them and get an Ioniq 5.
2021 Chevy Bolt. Traded in a 1999 beater for it during the gas pipeline crisis. It’s a wonderful, simple, cheap car. I haven’t had any issues with it - it just gets the job done. I charge it for free at work every week or two, so I don’t even have to pay for fuel. I figure I’m gonna drive it til the bottom rusts through or the batteries die.
Good luck on both. My 2017 bolt has 321,000kms on it, driven in very rough winters and charged every day in cold weather, every other day in summer. Still gets 450kms in the summer. Still doesn’t have rust anywhere on it. No repairs, just maintenance (minus one front spring). My daughter’s likely taking it once she gets her license in 2 years.
2008 BMW 328i. I bought it used back in 2011 and it still cost almost as much as I made in a year at that time, but I really wanted it and otherwise I lived very modestly.
It’s such a fun car. I have the manual transmission and the sport suspension, and I love driving it. With that said, it’s not a practical car. Only I can drive it because no one else in my family knows how to drive a manual, and the sport suspension makes the car quite uncomfortable when going over any bumps. (I tell passengers “I paid extra for that” while driving through rough areas.) Oh, and forget about driving it in snow. I tried that and spun off the road several times before learning my lesson.
This car is almost 17 and while it was quite reliable for most of that time, now it’s at the point where everything is breaking all at once. I refuse to replace it because I can’t justify buying another rear-wheel-drive manual-transmission sporty car (one of the very few models still built like that) either to other people or to myself, but I still want to own that sort of car. I guess I’ll keep spending more than it’s worth on it… I just spent $340 that way today.
I drove a 328i for a few years in N. Alberta many years ago, winters and all. You just start out in 2nd instead of first and don’t do anything sudden. You get used to how much pedal to get it drifting in the snow and you could make some neat moves, especially when parallel parking.
I concede that you’re a better driver than I am because I don’t think I could reliably control the car on snow even in ideal conditions, but how did you drive for years without needing to do anything sudden?
I have this strategy where I put myself in the drivers seat of every vehicle around me, and think to myself “what is the stupidest thing I could do right now” and then I know exactly what they’ll do and have an escape plan ready.
And I’m not even being terribly sarcastic about that, it works way too well.
But seriously, have an escape route ready all the time. Riding a motorbike helps you think about how everyone else is trying to kill you at all times.
Currently no car and relieved I don’t need one any more. Before that - Suzuki Vitara. As far as new cars went in 2019, it was the best choice for a small AWD SUV.
