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Post by rodge on Sept 18, 2019 1:33:15 GMT
Following in from the old forum post that has everyone a touch nostalgic.
What car have you owned in the past 15 years that you would have never expected to own, yet are happy that you did?
I’ll start with the Lexus RX300. It never appealed to me when it was launched, but has been a reliable old horse of a car that I don’t want to get rid of, even when I go to change later this year.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 18, 2019 7:18:39 GMT
Probably the Citroen Xantia I had in 1992 - I'd never been a Citroen fan. I was always a Ford or Vauxhall person but was offered a test drive in the Xantia and loved it. I had a 1.9Tdi SX and it was trouble free for 110k miles.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2019 7:25:15 GMT
I've had The Car Formerly Known as the Beast for 13 years come January, so that only leaves the 3.2 A3 Quattro. No big surprises from me, I fear.
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Post by PG on Sept 18, 2019 7:31:08 GMT
In 2001 I replaced a RR Classic that had failing air suspension with a Freelander V6. I must have had a rush of blood to the head. I should have just had the suspension fixed. I got rid of that Freelander just before I joined the Autocar forum.
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Post by johnc on Sept 18, 2019 7:59:25 GMT
I am afraid I am predictable if nothing else and have been BMW for my whole time on the forum - no real surprises except I never thought I would end up with an M5!
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Post by PetrolEd on Sept 18, 2019 8:30:14 GMT
The XC90 but that's the missus bus so probably doesn't count.
In that time I've had Civic Type R BMw 130i VW Golf Ed 30 Mercedes C220 Cdi Porsche 993 Golf Gti Mk6 Cayman Focus ST GT4
Out of that list I guess the Merc was the biggest surprise. At the time I was doing loads of miles so bought a new 6 figure mileage car for not a great deal of money and it was wafty loveliness. Not quick by any means but just drove so smoothly. A proper Merc before they went all sporty.
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Post by Andy C on Sept 18, 2019 8:38:41 GMT
My first car was a diesel 306 . I wanted a Rallye, or even an XSI but the insurance was a no go. I went diesel because the vanilla petrol 306s were slow and once I’d had it tuned, the torque on it was immense .
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Sept 18, 2019 8:46:07 GMT
Mrs Sacamano had a Citroen Dyane when I met her and she hated it. I actually quite liked it - you could take all the seats out except the driver's and roll back roof, leaving plenty of room for a group of people to stand up with their head and shoulders out the car. I remember England winning a football match and we had about 8 people in it, driving round The Spanish City, waving flags and firing rockets out the top. It didn't half roll going round the corners though.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2019 9:45:20 GMT
It's on the drive.
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Post by Tim on Sept 18, 2019 9:53:15 GMT
Er, a Nissan Micra diesel replacing a lovely 370Z was a bit of a shock as was buying a campervan.
Prior to that the biggest surprise was trading a 3 yr old, scuffed, Stilo diesel for a brand new Alfa 3.2. It was a dream car but I didn't expect the salesman to be able to make it happen at a price I could afford. However that was the change that made the E39 M5 possible less than a year later and, at that time, it was a huge step up to something that had performance almost comparable with the current supercars (nowadays even some 5 door, 2 litre, hatches could comfortably dispose of the M5).
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Post by Martin on Sept 18, 2019 10:16:44 GMT
The only surprise, because I’ve always preferred cars to be as new as possible, was buying a 1970 Austin Sprite 1275cc. I bought it when I got my first full time job, so not far off 30 years ago and I kept it for over 20 years. A specialist I’d used for 15 years bought it and is planning on a full restoration, looking forward to seeing the end result.
A terrible surprise (so not happy about!) was being allocated a 2 year old silver Peugeot 806 as a company car when I started with Homebase. Strange spec, 5 seats and a 2.0 litre 16v petrol engine. The only mildly amusing bit was how nippy it was away from the lights, but it had poor mpg and the company car tax was horrendous. I had to keep it for 3 months, then managed to get out of it into a 2 year old Passat.
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Post by racingteatray on Sept 18, 2019 10:26:48 GMT
Difficult. Probably the Z1. Because I usually buy cars with at least one eye on all-round practicality - space for passengers, decent amount of luggage space, good touring abilities.
The Z1 only came about because I was posted to Russia for 3 yrs and therefore decided to sell my car, which at the time was a 52-plate Audi S3 in Nogaro Blue, on the basis that I wouldn't get any use out of it and it would just sit there depreciating and deteriorating.
It was fate that, just after I sold the S3, I spotted the Z1 up for sale on the Munich Legends website for a whisker less than I had just got from selling the S3. I'd always liked them but had never thought about owning one as they are completely impractical, however I realised it was a way to put the cash into having a car in London that wouldn't depreciate and practicality was no longer a major concern. I went to test-drive it, fell in love and the rest was history.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2019 10:33:41 GMT
Not in the last fifteen years but my most unexpected was a Sunbeam Imp in white. It was unusual for a mini fan and was particularly good on left turns but not so good turning right. I bought it for fifty quid and six months later sold it for a ton. Did not buy road tax either, just fuel.
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Post by Blarno on Sept 18, 2019 12:04:06 GMT
Replacing a Subaru Legacy Turbo with an Escort GTi was a weird choice, but it turned out alright because the Escort was a decent, reliable and relatively chuckable car.
I always made myself promises to own certain cars throughout my life: I told myself before I passed my test that I would own a 405 Mi16 after getting a lift in one belonging to my Brother's mate, and I ended up buying one when I was 20. I promised myself a Subaru before I was 25, and bought the Legacy when I was 22. My cousin owned a 205 GTi 1.6 in the early 90s, which prompted me to buy a 1.9 at age 19.
I also promised myself a Porsche 968 by the time I was 30, but becoming a father at 26 and buying a house put paid to that.
I never promised myself I'd pay far toom much money for a diesel Vectra, but I did.
Now I just buy what I can afford at the time.
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Post by Ben on Sept 18, 2019 15:59:40 GMT
Prius probably. Never thought I'd like it that much, especially given how much I hated its predecessor.
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Post by bryan on Sept 18, 2019 16:05:52 GMT
A Honda CRV I had as the company car whilst the TT was on order. Best thing on reallocation list but wallowy old bus compared to the preceding A3 Sline and subsequent TT!!
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Post by grampa on Sept 18, 2019 18:02:16 GMT
Well I guess it's the manufacturers who have surprised me rather than me surprising myself - if I take myself back to the start of my motoring career (rather more than 15 years ago), I would never have expected to own a Mazda, Alfa or Renault, but the Xedos 6, GTV and Megane 225 rather changed my mind. I've driven a few cars that I liked but never expected to - a Corsa courtesy car, an Agila courtesy car and a Beetle 1.2 courtesy car and a Jag X-type diesel - I half expected to like that but not as much as I did. If I go the other way and cars I didn't like that I expected to - a BMW 520 (the late nineties one and a mid naughties one whichever E numbers they are), a BMW 318is (the mid nineties one) and a standard 318 saloon (the early noughties one).
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Post by ChrisM on Sept 18, 2019 20:39:25 GMT
Probably the C-Max.... never expected to walk out of the dealership having bought the one in the showroom having originally gone there just to get a quote on a bumper repair for younger daughter's Fiesta. I had seen a used C-Max on their website and enquired about a test drive after getting the Fiesta assessed, but it was sold previously. They let me have a test drive in another one but it was beyond budget. New car salesman who sold me the Ka saw me walking through the showroom and asked what I was doing there, we got talking, he sat me in the one in the showroom, we talked some more and the figures came out better than the used one....
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Post by Roadsterstu on Sept 19, 2019 7:36:47 GMT
I had a Nissan Bluebird saloon when i got my first MX5, so I could run the '5 as a weekend car and have a daily driver that didn't cost very much. Which it didn't!
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Post by Tim on Sept 19, 2019 9:35:12 GMT
I had a Nissan Bluebird saloon when i got my first MX5, so I could run the '5 as a weekend car and have a daily driver that didn't cost very much. Which it didn't! Burn the witch!!!!
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Post by Stuntman on Sept 19, 2019 19:54:09 GMT
I've only had five cars in the last 15 years and none for these were particularly surprising I suppose. By then, I knew what sort of cars I liked, and generally bought one of those! Perhaps the most surprising of these five was the VX220 Turbo, which I had from September 2003 to November 2005. Glad I had it, always have happy thoughts when I see one nowadays, but don't miss it. The other four have either been M3s or Caymans
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Post by LandieMark on Sept 19, 2019 20:31:37 GMT
The Legacy. I was going to buy a Passat TDi!
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Post by Alex on Sept 20, 2019 5:21:53 GMT
Probably the only surprising one was the Megane Sports Tourer but that came about after my big motorway crash in the Focus. I needed a replacement and most manufacturers at the time were quoting 6 months lead times for their diesel estates. A local Renault dealer, however, had a top of the range Megane sitting at the docks ready for immediate delivery so that was that. In the end I quite liked it really.
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Post by Roadsterstu on Sept 20, 2019 8:08:32 GMT
I had a Nissan Bluebird saloon when i got my first MX5, so I could run the '5 as a weekend car and have a daily driver that didn't cost very much. Which it didn't! Burn the witch!!!! I felt totally comfortable commuting to from Brum - shit drivers, but a 400 quid square car with big bumpers, that doesn't back off when you push your way in makes for less stressful journey! Work colleagues stuck taxi signs on it.
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Post by Tim on Sept 20, 2019 9:19:47 GMT
What was the difference between a Bluebird and a Stanza? I drove one of the latter a few times and it really sticks in my mind as being a dangerous car with unplanned oversteer likely to strike in the most unexpected places. Ultimately its owner binned it quite spectacularly on an s-bend.
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Post by Boxer6 on Sept 20, 2019 9:44:27 GMT
The Legacy. I was going to buy a Passat TDi! Legacy for me too, which Mark was partly responsible for by waxing rather lyrical over his!
I kept it for nearly ten years; quite a feat for someone who, prior to that, was looking to change car after 18 months!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2019 9:50:11 GMT
Rather puts my "Stick in the mud" 31 years and on look a bit like indecisiveness perhaps.
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Post by racingteatray on Sept 23, 2019 10:22:41 GMT
I've only had five cars in the last 15 years Outside of the world of company cars, that is a statement only a petrolhead could make!
My wife has only had three cars in the last 18yrs and only four cars in her entire life...
Since 2004, I've had....12 cars.... ...7 BMWs, 2 Audis, a Saab, an Alfa and a Merc. That's the same number of cars that my 72yr old mother has owned in a driving career spanning over nearly 55yrs!
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Post by Roadsterstu on Sept 23, 2019 10:34:58 GMT
What was the difference between a Bluebird and a Stanza? I drove one of the latter a few times and it really sticks in my mind as being a dangerous car with unplanned oversteer likely to strike in the most unexpected places. Ultimately its owner binned it quite spectacularly on an s-bend. I've read the Wikipedia page and I'm now completely confused. Stanza in the UK preceded the Sunderland built Bluebirds, whic I think were Stanzas elsewhere. Maybe. Then I got bored.
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Post by Tim on Sept 23, 2019 12:23:20 GMT
I think the Stanza and square shaped Bluebirds were on sale at the same time for a bit. I'm sure they were similar in size but wonder if the Stanza was some sort of slightly upmarket (!) version with a different body and plusher trim that never really caught on? EDIT I just braved the Wikipedia listing! The one I drove was a T11 series 5 door hatch, produced from 1982 to 1986. On introduction it was sold alongside the Bluebird which was, at that point, still a rwd car, the Stanza being Nissan/Datsun's first fwd car in this category. It was replaced in 1986 by the UK built fwd Bluebird. So now you know
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