Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

Ok, a new OUR CARS topic. Lets keep to the topic and no bashing.

Everyone please play nicely or I will take the legos and lincoln logs away.

I finally got smart and got rid of the ill fated Mazda 626 I owned and purchased a 2005 Subaru Impreza RS 2.5 Loaded (except no sunroof). I could have gone with a higher model with less features but really didn't need the extra space. With the current gas situation I am glad I went with the smaller one.

I just got back from Alaska. In the last 24 hours I drove from Bellingham, Wa to Colorado Springs, CO and at WA and Oregon gas prices that section was the most expensive part but all in all I spent about $450 for that trip. OUCH!!!! "But I guess it could be alot worse.

Quote

the sign of a true skiier

i own a 94 saturn sl2, not the finest automobile ever made, but it drives and gets 34 mpg, i hope to soon purchase a used impreza
This post has been edited by spunkyskier01: 03 October 2005 - 11:27 AM

I filled up with biodiesel yesterday and it is about the same as the 15 gallons of SVO I put in 2 weeks ago. In other news my friend Mike purchased a 79 240d Mercedes in Almeda. Its alrights, slow as hell but its a cool car and if he cleans it up and maintains it he can easily make his money back. My dad may also be in the market for a 300d turbo in the next few months if my operation is a success.

Ok all, so here's my current car, a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Edition. I picked it up at a local re-builder, as the pervious owner ran it into(and under) the back of a pickup truck at 1600 miles. So I picked it up for dirt cheap this spring and have been racking up the miles since then.


The other pics are of my previous cars, a 91 Mazda 626 that I enjoyed beating on, an 88 VW Golf that was my Rally Cross car, a 91 VW Jetta that was my commuter car for a bit before it started spewing all of its coolant every time it rained, and a 99 Jeep Cherokee that I had fun no matter where I drove it (and buried it!)

Duck, on May 2 2005, 08:55 AM, said:

Smart cars will finally be sold in the USA for those who think they are cool. For those who don't know, smart cars started Europe and have since migrated to canada. Now they will be sold in the US though.

http://www.us.smart....u.net/index.php

Zap cars already imports a small number of then in our country. The problem with the new imports is that they will all be gasoline powered. They will still get exceptional mileage but the diesel models get in the ballpark of 60-80 miles to the gallon.

Here's a great old car with a story...

I bought this 1957 Star Chief in 1969 from a fellow Army specialist - he loved my Olds convertible and I had just been assigned to a post in Saigon (BIG surprise). I knocked $150 off the price of the Olds and took the Pontiac in trade - intending to spend two weeks driving it to Oakland CA (point of departure) and just leave it in some parking lot. Never even registered it - what could they do? ...send me to Vietnam?

Well, I learned during the trip that this was a really grand old car. It worked like a clock and was plenty fast to boot. I got to Oakland with no troubles and just couldn't bring myself to insult that car by just abandoning it. I sold it for $250 to an Oakland cab driver named Ulysses Johnson (that's "yul-a-sees") and left for Southeast Asia the next day.

Two years later when I came back and was discharged from the Army - again in Oakland - I was cleaning the military trash paperwork out of my wallet and came across Ulusses's business card. I dialed the phone number - he answered and remembered me - and I asked him about the car. He still had it and was willing to sell it back to me! Cost me $500 to get it back and another $500 to repair it to drivable condition. That car then took me and a pack of hitch-hikers back to New Jersey - a two month journey during which I blew all of my discharge pay. I continued to drive it for the next two years then gave it to a needy commune type in Missouri. She wrecked it. I've always felt guilty about that.

Photo was shot near Springfield, MO in 1973. New replacement car is in the background.

the Buick LeSabre Custom. More room, more power. more room
It's for sale and I am either going to buy the Nissan Nismo that is on the lot, or 1999 MB S320 in black.
they have been selling smart cars up here for awhile, I have some friends that have them and they love em.
My old rides:
Subaru Impreza
Lexus LS400
Pathfinder LE
This post has been edited by phillybluntz: 05 July 2006 - 11:37 PM

Well tommorrow's mission will be to photograph my car. It's been a little over a year since i took possesion of it and has required no maintenence yet (crossing fingers). It's a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire, pretty much a ubiquitous car with ubiquitous engine, i like to call it my fake sports car. Just enough power to satisfy me though the 3 speed transmission is not the nicest thing to deal with as it revs decently high at highway speeds. I put around 12 000 km on it this year to take it to about 123 000 km. That's the start of danger territory for anyone familiar with General Motors, though hopfully my car'll last me another 3 years at least.

93' Geo Metro Lsi Sport Coup Convertible - 3 cylinder - lens tape for a rear tail light - plastic rear window tore out; duct tape fix every month or so - no heater - made it to the hill every single day last winter - 45 to 50 mpg - lets see a hybrid do that - might be warmer tho.

Hybrids are cleaner but I don't like them. Gotta love the Geo's. My friend had one but the city took it. He didn't even bother trying to get it back because the towing/impounding fees were more than the car was worth. Funny.

So here is my fleet:


They may look similar but are very different. The red and blue are pretty rare european import cars. I drive the beige one, brother the red and the blue is sitting in my garage getting restored with a bit of engine and a ton of interior work. The paint is really buffing out nice. I'll be able to make $500-$1000 if I decide to sell it. Not bad for a summer and a little work. We are going to start brewing our biodiesel soon.

edmontonguy, on Jul 6 2006, 01:30 AM, said:

'93 Cavalier (aka Sunfire). Older body than yours, same powertrain. I could do without the incredibly abrupt shifting from 3rd down to 2nd when I'm on a hill, but the car was cheap and beggars can't be choosers. 201,000 miles and a top-end rebuild later, the thing still gets me to work and back. The previous ownder removed the rear banch seat to he could slide 8' sticks of lumber through from the trunk.

I have been driving a 2000 Isuzu Rodeo for the past 6 years. I got a great deal on it since it has only the bare essensials on it (5 spd manual, 4 wd, A/C, basic factory AM/FM cassette, crank windows). The odometer just turned 114k and it is still running like a champ. I bought it when Isuzu was offerring the 10 year/ 120k powertrain warranty which has always been honored without question and any problems (which have been very minimal) have been fixed the same day without costing me an extra dime. Even the gas mileage is not bad for a mid-size high clearance SUV (20-22mpg city and highway) Unfortunately they stopped making the Rodeo in 2004. Not sure what I'll get next maybe Jeep Wrangler or Liberty.

My wife's vehicle, on the other hand, was a 1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara which was nothing but problems! The main problem was the 4wd failing to engage in high altitudes such as the road to Winter Park (Suzukis are rear wheel drive when 4wd is not engaged) causing some hair-raising journeys and frequent frustration. I was very glad to have the extended warranty although Suzuki almost always insisted on having an inspector look at the vehicle which would take several days, but hey, they covered 1 day of rental car. My primary goal after the 45k service when the dealer kept it for a month to replace the differential a third time and fix several other items which caused the vehicle to barely stay running when idling and the "check engine" light to stay on, was to get rid of the car before the warranty was up and to not loose too much $$ on it in the process. When the vehicle had 66k miles on it, I got a call from an auto wholesaler who specialized in suzukis and knew they were pieces of crap. She purchased my vehicle for $200 more than I owed on it-mission accoplished! The vehicle was then shipped to Costa Rica with 9 other Suzukis on a large semi- truck. My wife's current vehicle is a 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada which is comfortable and has all the toys but uses gas like it's going out of style (15mpg city/ 21 Highway). The "smart track" AWD system has proven reliable and has taken us to & from the mountains many times safety although it is difficult to find a roof rack for this vehicle since they do not make Oldsmobiles anymore. We are thinking about a Mazda 3 hatchback to replace the gas-thirsty Bravada. Has anyone had particularily good or bad experiences with Mazda products? Let me know what you think of the Subaru Impreza also, maybe that is worth a look.

My other vehicle is a 1989 Ford F-150 bare bones 2wd pickup. I have owned this truck for 1 year and have put a new clutch in so far (it had 156k on it) and had the transmission refinished so far but it is probably due for more work soon but still runs OK. It works good for hauling large dirty items or as a backup vehicle in case one of the SUVs goes down. Also the cost of insurance and liscense tags is very minimal.

mazda, particularly the new ones are a great deal for ther money, and are in my opinon the nicest cheap cars made by ford today, subaru is alwayse good, and try looking at a new volkswagon rabbit (formerly golf) or a jetta.
This post has been edited by spunkyskier01: 11 July 2006 - 01:49 PM

boardski, on Jul 11 2006, 08:10 AM, said:

Oldsmobile Bravada = Chevrolet Blazer
My wife's car is a '99 Blazer and we bought the Thule Widemouth clamps to hold the ski racks. They clamp directly to the factory rack. If you don't have the factory rack, then it may be different. I'm pretty sure you have the same engine in yours that we have in ours; you may want to look into replacing the injectors after 100,000 or so because the have a reputation for quitting when you least expect it. That happened to us and a few friends with the same vehicle.

Ma baby... 6 months and 46 000 km later...








Yeah, that's the snowboard rack I built... :)




How I park sometimes at work...


And finally a rack for my other hobby... Minimoto...

-Iain

You finally got it, eh? Looks like it off-roads well I'm guessing you commute a long way to work- 46,000 KM in 6 months? I put on about 10,000 in that span.

liftmech, on Jul 17 2006, 10:30 AM, said:

Well, my commute is about 60 km (120 km return), but I love it so much so I end up spending waaaaaaay too much time in my car!!

-Iain