Best Car You've Ever Driven?

'76 BMW 2002TII Fast, comfortable, reasonably fuel mileage, easy to work on. Had a bunch over the years.

76 Porsche 912e Rare car, ~1500 made. With a 4 cyl 2 liter 914/VW bus engine. 35 mpg at 80 mph. Easy fix. Suffered from a perceived lack of power. Had two over the years

88 VW Westfalia Syncro. By this time most of the engine bugs had been worked out. Syncro 4wd with locking difs made it unstoppable! What other car could you fire up the furnace, cook supper, keep a cold one in the fridge, and get ~18 mph that sleeps 4? I drove mine ~125k, bought it for $6k sold it for $14 ten years later. Still miss it.

And here is the stunner. ~85 gmc 5.4 litre diesel suburban. Most were POS's. Mine was rusted to the door handles, but always ran perfectly, got 30+ mpg, had a 40 gallon tank. Drove it as a work truck until the diff and the starter failed on the same day. Sold it to someone with another for the value of the fuel in the tank.

 

85 Porsche 944. Handling is unbelievable. Terrific stereo

 

I guess I'd go with my 92 Bonneville. Bought it with 140K, sold it with 200K, and heard later that it made it to 300K before dying while it was getting driven to the junkyard. It had some electrical quirks, but the engine was really solid.

 

That's the first time I have ever heard the 944 referred to as one of the best! To each his own!

 

That's as far up the money ladder I went with owning a car. I had a 80 Corvette, and drove a Delorean. But that 944 kicked butt

 

Have to be my Prius. It is the first new "car" I have had. Had a new F-150 before and that was the best "truck" I have had.
We had Tarus wagon, Subaru Outback, Camry sedan, Tempo, Supra. The Supra was fun but overall I like the Prius best.

 

An uncle of mine had a '84 half ton pickup, but I think it had the 6.2 V8 non-turbo diesel and a stick shift. If you knew how to look after a diesel engine, and were careful with oil and fuel quality, they actually held up quite well

He once drove it from Manitoba to Edmonton to visit a cousin. Since the truck was a farm truck, it had a huge diesel tank in the back, with a filter on it. There and back on something like $65 worth of fuel. Amazing

In '95 he gave it to one of his sons who was going to U of M. The kid managed to blow the motor the first winter

 

I was really fond of my mom's early 90's Ford Taurus.

 

I've had a Boxster, a 911SC (old one), several BMWs (Z3.325,320), a 350Z, Acura Integra, a few Hondas, a Camaro and a Corvair. Most all stick shifts.

The best gearbox and suspension were the BMWs, especially the 1980 320i. Next best gearbox the 350z. Not a great suspension. Then the Boxster (an Audi gearbox). The SC gearbox was a bear, but the car could handle. Porsches and BMWs are too expensive to service. A big pain in the wallet.

I say the Prius II is the best car I've owned--certainly the most advanced in technology. It's like driving a spaceship. Smooth and quiet. No more shifting! Got tired of that after 30 years.

My wife just bought a new Insight--she likes Hondas. Great deal--several $K cheaper than the Prius III--priced like a used 08 Prius right now. Quiet and CVT transmission like the Prius. A bit smaller, though the length next to my Prius II looks the same.The eco mode is like Prius III. Dash is more Honda. You can't beat the price for the technology. Electric motor in series with the ICE is different from Prius, but same result. My advice was to buy a hybrid--ICE cars in a few years will not bring much resale value.

 

I'd have to agree with the OP regarding the '91 Mercedes SEL. I once drove an 89 560 SEL and to this day, it is one of my favorite riding cars. It was solid, smooth and majestic. Mercedes does not make them like that anymore. Fast forward to 2006 and I drove my friend's S Class (2006) and it felt like a sloppy handling Lincoln Continental. Second on the list would be a Lexus LS. Granted it is far from sporty but I prefer smoothness as the most important factor in driving. That Lexus drove like buddda!!! It was a rental and I had the opportunity to drive it from Orlando to Miami. I believe the year was '98.

 

I went through a phase of having Porsches. In addition to the 912E, at the same time I had a 68 911s soft window targa. Beautiful car to look at, but scary to drive. It was so flexible in the middle due to age and design it would twist quite substantially with hard cornering. I also had a Euro spec 82 911sc I '"stole" from a former client who didn't really know what he had. Bought it for $3500 CDN (~2800usd at the time) This was in ~'95. Great car to drive, but I hated being anywhere in it as everyone would treat you as rich.

Finally sold them all, and keep the 99 outback running and my '82 rabbit pickup truck on the road every now and again.

 

I enjoyed my 1963 Falcon wagon, tiny inline six, went about 250,000.

I enjoyed my 1989 All-trac wagon; 100 HP, AWD, so about 25 HP per tire, never spin out in it's life; still going at about 250,000.

 

Mk3 or Mk4? It seems like everyone I've met with a turbo Mk4 has modded the car to run over 500hp. The 2JZ-GTE is an amazing engine.

Ever have the opportunity to drive an Integra Type R? Still one of the benchmark FWD cars today, and most cars still don't match up.


Best car I've ever driven: Lotus Elise. You don't get into the car, you put the car on.

2nd: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX - I'm biased since it's my car, but it has super-aggressive turn in, incredible grip, and makes its drivers look like heroes on the race track.

 

I drove one of the first Datsun (Nissan) 280Z's when they first came to the US and before the US required them to begin installing emission equipment. Fell in love with that car but was in school and could not afford to buy it.

The best car that I owned and loved to drive was a Triumph TR4.

 

Besides the Prius, my best car was a '93 Geo Metro. Got as almost as good gas mileage as my Prius (#1 priority). Also, I was living in the Bay Area at the time and quite a few times in San Francisco found a parking spot where if my car was just a couple of inches longer I could not have parked there.

When I got a new car in 2000, I didn't even have to think twice - I was going to get another Metro. However, GM now made it. I gave it a test ride anyway, and while the Geo Metro could go up a long, steep hill (Rte. 17 for you Bay Area folk) with four adults in it no problem, the GM Metro barely could make it out of the parking lot. Also, what was metal in the Geo Metro was cheap plastic on the GM Metro. That's when I decided I really, really hate GM.

So I went and got a Toyota Echo (also a damn fine car - quality-wise even better than the Geo, but not quite as fun, and while the mileage was respectable it wasn't nearly as good).

 

Best car I've ever driven, bar none: My 2006 Zap Xebra SD. Still my daily driver. The Prius will go farther and faster, doesn't rattle as much, is bigger, and has had fewer minor repair issues, but the little garden-pest green three-legged clown car is the better car.

(The EV Porsche holds promise of being a better car once the original conversion flaws have been fixed, and should some day become the best car I've ever driven. But not yet. Knock on wood.)

 

I liked the '88 BMW 325xi I drove a while back. Was to be my second car, but found out a day after writing the cheque for it that the gas tank was leaking and the way they wrap around the rear axle in those cars, it is almost $2000 to fix that alone. Had to give the car back and cancel the cheque. (I was under 18 so luckily buyer beware doesnt apply to minors!)

I must say if it is just comfort and riding for a long time, our '07 Lexus RX350 is awesome. Sort of wish we got the 400h, but couldnt justify it at the time since it was to be driven much more highway than city. We've taken that on 2000mi+ trips and it is just a nice drive.