Best car at "just being a car" you've ever owned

[Lukas]

The best car I ever had that was just a car and did this perfect was this:

 

1999 Subaru Legacy 2.0i GL Sedan

 

 

Bought it with ~ 200.000km on the clock for way too much money because I needed a car desperately. Drove it until 270.000km in 3 years without any trouble, It never let me down, drove nice and was interesting too because -> boxer-noise and AWD. Was a great car. 

 

Second best for now: My current daily driver, the 2007 Mazda 6. Will I keep it long enough so it can become number one? I don´t know. 

[Richard]

Mk3 Fiesta for me. Rattles and rust but it just did what it was told and went twice as far on a gallon as the Saab 900 it replaced.

[anonymous user]

Volvo 240 estates for me all, apart from one GLT, were/are cars that I would just get in and drive anywhere I need to go, in comfort, carrying anything from the dogs to a sofa, or towing their own weight in broken down car. They will go reasonably well off road when required, but still usually accepted (even when a bit battered) to park in posh places without complaint. The only downside for me is the fuel consumption and that they are getting more dificult to get hold of.

[oman5]

Peugeot 306 Dturbo is pretty much a perfect all rounder. Quick enough, reliable, economical and spacious for its size with fantastic handling.

 

I'd have said volvo 240 estate as well, but they are a bit too thirsty if you do lots of miles. Aside from that they are all the car you ever need.

[Lord Sterling]

Now whilst not strictly mine, I feel I must at least nominate the Sterling family Micra:

 

 

This now has around 150k+ on the clock. Ma has had this car since around 99/00 when I was just a mere 16/17 years of age. I am now 31 and Ma still has this car and it is still going strong. It has been almost continuously been on the road apart from 1 year where it was stored and covered in a garage.

 

It has survived a small crash (caused by me) being ragged mercilessly, filled with mates and driven to far out, unknown destinations. It has transported us to Central London and undertook a 100 mile-a-day commute for some months when Ma worked in Shrewsbury. It has wanted for nothing, it has been serviced at the garage when needed, cleaned, added to and looked after by yours truly.

 

It is now due for retirement according to Ma, this means hopefully some undercover storage and regular running whilst I tinker with bits here and there and generally cossett it as much as I can. Well, that's the idea at least.

[martybabes]

My S reg 24v Mark II Mondeo was an absolute gem.  I bought it nearly new (< 10 months) unseen from Ford Direct, and kept it for about 10 years.  She and I covered 155,000 miles and, during various summer holidays, we did a lap of the Nurburgring, visited Vienna, Pisa and Barcelona.  I lost part of the exhaust pipe near Orange (S France), and I think an interior switch burned out once.  Other than that, perfect in every way and NEVER let me down.

[Noel Tidybeard]

F834 UNP 1.6 base spec montego in henly blue

used to go from a--->b perfectly well and to c & d occasionally when needed

cambelt snapped twice

7 bolts to fit towbar into pre threded holes

keep fit windows

runaround central door locking

see-thru windows

factory fitted non tilt/slide solid roof

best gear change i have ever driven

[warren t claim]

 

My old 318is. Did everything I needed a car to do and I regret selling it.

[PhilA]

Nissan Bluebird 1.6 LX.

 

 

Set the tappets, did plugs and leads, fuel filter and oil. Put on a 65 quid Bosal exhaust.

 

Unlock door. Get in. Twist key. Drive away.

 

Every button did what it was meant to, from purchase to sale. Fitted a tow hitch and towed stuff with it. It didn't bat an eyelash. It just got on with it.

 

Petrol and oil changes were all it needed.

 

Great cars, bought another to replace it. That one wasn't quite as reliable but considering the abuse it received.. I think it did much better than an equivalent marque.

 

Phil

[garethj]

My car ownership swings wildly from interesting and unreliable to dull and monotonous.  My first experience of tedious motoring was with a 1.8 Passat like this.  It was so boring I never took a photo of my own so Google images will have to do

I had just sold an Alfasud Sprint and funnily enough they didn't perform the same on the twisty bits.  But that carb 1.8 engine was frugal and reliable so I thrashed it 75 miles a day for years.

 

When I sold my Ginetta G26 I found a Volvo 740 with "above average miles for year".

Shitting Nora, these things are tough.  You can tell why they were expensive, everything was well built (except the fuel gauge sender) and it never broke down, let me down or even ran badly.  I only got rid because I changed job and didn't fancy driving into Cambridge every day so bought a motorbike instead.

 

This was best at "just being a bike"  The Honda VFR750.  I thought the performance would be good, the ride would be exciting, all the bikes I'd had were like that but this Honda just sent you to sleep unless you rode like an absolute twat.  So I did, which isn't a great idea for 400 miles a week.  However Flitwick to Cambridge in 37 minutes is still an impressive time.

 

Lastly, the Skoda Octavia 1.9 Tdi.  Bought to replace a Porsche 924 that was very enjoyable but not too reliable.  The reason for the lack of reliability was that it hadn't moved for a year or two before I bought it and fixing all the niggles took longer than I appreciated.  The Skoda was roomy, quick enough, depenable, very economical and even looked dull.  I won't even post up a photo of it, just go and look in an old minicab rank.

[purplebargeken]

VFRs - cracking bikes, never got round to one but wish I had. Too late now. 

[cort16]

Probably the Alfa 159 just because everyone told me not to get one but it looked fucking amazing, next to the other euroblobs, never missed a beat and did near on 50mpg.

[New POD]

Tricky, any one of a number. I'll go for Mr Boll's old Cavalier, I think. Did several hundred miles in it in ten days, as well as everyday use before/after that. It was one of those cars you know you could just jump in and drive to the moon and back without having to worry about anything.

Comfortable, reliable, a bit dull but would do anything you asked of it.

 

Mk2 cavalier 1.6 GL, 1.8 CDi Auto, 1.8 Sri

Mk3 astra 1.4 mpi (82 bhp) Saloon.

MX5

[scruff]

[Crusty Sills]

It has to be my 2004 Peugeot 307 2.0HDI estate. It was an S spec which is misery spec if not lower. It was ace! Moved house twice in it and all it asked was tyres, brakes and a cambelt change. after 5 years  owning it I grew to just enjoy having a usable estate that wasn't to big but did what it was asked.

Unfortunately it was raped by a bus last year and went to the bean can maker in the sky.

[dave21478]

All* Vauxhalls are NOT shit....well.....up till the late 90's anyway.

 

Whenever I have needed a car, not necessarily something I have wanted, but just a car to do a job, I have bought a Vauxhall. Corsa 1.4, Cavalier 1.8 auto, Cavalier 2.0 ecotec, mk3 astra 1.6 auto, mk3 astra 1.6 sport, vectra B V6 Sri, a couple of calibra 16v models and a V6 too.....all of which were solid, reliable, dependable, comfortable and rarely needed anything other than normal service items.

In fact me dunking the V6 Calibra in water that was a little deeper than anticipated, resulting in a dead airflow meter, is the only failure to proceed that I can think of between all those cars.

[Rusty Pelican]

This has been utterly superb at just doing what its supposed to , after an initial flurry of expense inc. radiator as the original kind of leaked a tad , new stat , alternator ( bearings gone but still working somehow ) and that stupid little gas strut for the bonnet its been totally reliable , last year i spent £26 on it for an oil and filter change and £100 on a zorst downpipe ( original finally gave up )and that was it .

Four years 22,000 miles and it only cost me £600 .

Bargainous reliability 

 

[srad34]

K Plate BMW 318is E36 coupe, bought with 190k, one previous owner.

Spotless except for factory fit rusty rear arches, paid £600, did another 50k over 2 years, nothing fell off or broke, flew through 2 MOT's, sold for £600!

last of the properly built BMW's in my humble opinion....

[Wilko220]

Probably my 1991 Peugeot 309 Trio S, with a 1400cc petrol lump, manual everything, and groovy green seat belts. Cheap to run, cheap to maintain, utterly reliable even with 110k on the clock and after patched up with scrapyard bits following two front end crashes. The third prang killed it.

[maxpower]

This..... just a great old workhorse...still regret selling it.

 

[mat_the_cat]

This would have to be a choice between my old Focus and the current Kangoo. The Focus was great in that it was a bit of a shed, so really didn't care about it. At 180k miles though, it was starting to feel like an ELV without cash or time being spent on it. Mind you, managed 1000 miles in 20 hours last February (but the first few were worrying with a mysterious lack of boost), and it never actually left me stranded more than walking distance from home so it did pretty well.

 

Had the Kangoo less than a year so early days yet - it's undoubtedly more practical but the combination of a modern diesel with Renault electrics is a little bit of a worry! That said, apart from sorting out a previous owner's bodge on a fuel line, it's been faultless. Getting a bit worried that I'm starting to look after it more than 'just a car' though - I even washed the salt from the wheel arches the other day!

[pshome]

Can't remember how many 504 i owned over time, they were all perfect. Only one ever left me stranded on the road side. The engine blew up at 120 km/h with a big bang on this white one, "Made in Nigeria".

Pistons and bits all over the road... oil on the windshield, truly spectacular! The car was maybe 2 years old at that time. Check out the quality door fit, been like that from new all around.

 

 

VW Bus wasn't bad, but by far not as reliable as the 504's. Drove the Passat all the way through the Sahara to Benin. Apart from a broken front spring no issues, still didn't make me a VW fan. 305 in the background was a piece of shit, not strong enough for the roads. Only kept it because it  was a former emabassy car and i "forgot" to replace the CD numbers, very useful when crossing over to Nigeria for shopping. Over time they were all replaced  with 504's.

 

Even the tyres didnt last on the 305 for any long.

 

Occassional smaller damage never stops a 504.

 

 

Still love my 504,car of choice for long distance trips

 

 

mountain roads

 

and even the occasional tought job.

 

 

 

[RichardMoss]

My 2003 Chevy Lumina coupe (Monaro body, 3.8L V6).  As well as being great fun to drive - RWD, no electronic driver aids - it was hugely practical and reliable.  It was as big as a Vauxhall Omega and would easily seat 4 adults, had a huge boot, was incredibly comfortable, never once broke down and on a run could give 35mpg even with an autobox.

 

I swapped it for a Jeep Cherokee which is also great fun but more labour intensive

[Cavcraft]

Sorry, but this is a fairly recent example. It's only 'not perfect' because of the occasional and random refusal to start when warm, once left 15 minutes or so though, it's fine.

 

Comfortable, fast, ace on fuel, roomy, tows like there's nothing behind it and the whole car just fits me like a glove. It's probably about the most least desirable car on here (and the real world) but I bloody love it...