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You don't see these every day. Looks like a beautiful example of a 1970s-era BMW 3.0CS.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
While I no longer own this car, I believe that this 1994 Subaru SVX LSi was the best car I've owned. Not because it was particularly a good car mind you, but because it was so unique.
I actually received this car from my grandparents for the cost of the needed repairs on the car. My grandfather bought this car and was the sole owner for 15 years before it came into my possession. With minimal repairs I owned a truly unique car, which at the time only had 19,000 miles.
What made this car great though? Was it the rare panda original paint coat, the immaculate all-suede interior, the hide-and-seek audio controls? Or the fact that the aerodynamic windows allowed you to drive at highway speed with the windows down with little road noise? No, it was the sheer wow factor this car represented driving down the road. I almost caused three accidents because people where staring at this car trying to figure out what it was. People were always looking at it as if it was some sort of rare exotic car. Clearly it was not.
Here is my 2012 B7 Volkswagen Passat. There is much more to this car then meets the eye. That is, there are many reasons I chose to pull the plug on purchasing one. It's more about what this car stands for rather than what the car has to offer. This is Volkswagen's first stab at controlling the American mid-size market. Built in the new LEED certified plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the B7 body is entirely different from its B6 European brother built in Germany. Although the cars look identical, this version is a different platform.
I wanted the best model they had to offer so I went for the 3.6 SEL Premium and ordered it directly from the factory. It exudes nationalism in the fact that it is purely American aimed at Americans. It has interesting touches such as remote start (which is illegal in Europe and Volkswagen's first and only model to offer it from the factory), rear turn signals which are red instead of amber, an American exclusive Fender Audio System, and even DRLs that switch off when the turn signals are on. These features may go overlooked by many, but they are the cool differentiations that drew me toward this car.
This right here is my first car. A 2001 Chevy Monte Carlo SS. Say what you want about it, call it a redneck car, I don't care. This is what I wanted.
At the time I got my permit, I was planning on receiving my Dad's 2003 Volkswagen Passat W8, a dream car. But, the engine (which is irreplaceable) went, so I had to buy a car with my own money.
After a lot of looking around, which I do in my free time anyways, I found this 2001 Monte Carlo SS, fully loaded and 87,000 miles, for $8,000! Now, keep in mind that I'm on Inside Line daily and I favor top-notch cars, but I had a good feeling about this.
So this is my 1991 NSX.
It took me about three years searching on and off to find one I liked. I had found many lemons beforehand or I would call or go check it out and it was sold just that morning. I could only assume those were as nice as they seemed in the ad. I had grown cautious because I usually go check out a car that seems too good to be true in the ad and you check it out in person and it is flawless, until you put the car on a lift.
When I saw this one, it seemed too good to be true...all maintenance was up to date, the car was clean inside and out, bone stock, and the car was local. I jumped on it ASAP and it was pretty great. Seals were leaking, but no drips, otherwise it was perfect. My autobody and detailing friends could not believe how clean this car was.
Everyone enjoys unsolicited compliments. Whether it's an unspoken nod of approval, a thumbs up, or just hearing something nice as in "I like your car." Back in March 2005 I had the good fortune to buy a fine-looking, new "S197" model Mustang GT shortly after Ford introduced it. I wasn't prepared for what happened next. Right from the outset parking valets, toll booth operators, gas station attendants, pedestrians and fellow drivers would admire my relatively rare ride and offer their compliments. "Is that the new Mustang? Nice." Needless to say, this was slightly addictive. Unfortunately, it didn't last forever.
Mustang Makeover
Ford had a hit on its hands and within the first two years had produced and sold 327,504 model S197 siblings. Although my ride still looked great, as its exclusivity faded away, so did the kudos. Please don't misunderstand, I loved my 'Stang and didn't want to trade it in for the latest sensation, I just wanted to give it a slight makeover to bring back that lovin' feeling.
Hi, I'm Matt (subaru123). This is the car I learned to drive in and now drive just about every day. It is three years old and approaching 34,000 miles. I absolutely love driving this vehicle and detail it myself. The pictures are a day after my last detail to it.
Driving the car is amazing compared to any other that I have driven. The engine and exhaust sound great for what it is (I enjoy driving without the radio because of the sound). 0-60 times are in the mid-sevens and acceleration is more than adequate. The five-speed automatic kicks down on command when in Sport and upshifts are nearly CVT smooth. The steering is direct and heavy (the way I like it). The suspension soaks up all the bumps and is quite stiff at the same time. There is very little body roll in the corners and almost no nose dive under heavy braking. The brake pedal has a rather long travel, but is firm towards the end and stops are very short and linear with very little ABS intrusion. Lastly, the AWD is my favorite feature. I never once slipped in the rain and you can accelerate around curves as if it was dry out.
Around Christmas 2010 I lost my all-in-one, everything car, a 2004 Acura TL. It was the first "real" car I purchased and fell in love with. It handled everything: family duty, poor weather conditions, highway cruises, and nights on the town. And after a good amount spent it was a real sleeper when it came to speed and handling.
On my way to work (did I mention comfortable commuter?) an older woman ran a stop sign, caught me on my rear quarter and spun the car out. The resulting damages led to the car being totaled.
Heartbroken and carless I vowed to never put myself into a position where I have one car for all duties. Living in NYC, especially in the borough of Brooklyn, it feels like only a matter of time before someone hits your "baby." With the insurance money I bought a new scooter (what I normally commute on when the weather permits) and a 2001 Honda Civic EX with 80k miles for commuting and family duty.
As the fall approached, I was fearful of another terrible winter here in the northeast. I'm not at all a fan of the "SUV in cities" craze but I figured if I was going to get one, I'd get a "proper" SUV and proceeded with my search for a Jeep Cherokee.
Nikki is a Data Content Administrator at Edmunds.com. Read her first entry on her car here.
My car doesn't have navigation, a sunroof, or push-button start. It doesn't have fog lights, a back-up camera, or folding rear seats. My car doesn't even have rear seats. What it does have are six gears, four (non-runflat) tires, 330 hp and an 8,000rpm redline. And that's good enough for me.
Actually, if that were true I would have bought a Lotus Elise years ago. I must admit that I do enjoy the leather seats, power windows/locks, and 10-speaker stereo system. And yes, I'm addicted to the heated seats. As the perfect blend of luxury and performance, the Z4M Coupe fits my every need for a daily driver. And at under $30k it fits the budget too.
Read Chris's first entry here.
Since the story aired (the pics were originally taken in 2010) I have continued "shopping" on Craigslist. These pics are as of today.
All of these changes were performed from late November 2011 to now. I have completed the following: Genuine Ford Racing FR500 black rims with Nitto 555 staggered tires. Complete Eibach Pro suspension drop kit, Accufab throttle body and Plenem combo with 4" spacer, SCT tuner and Shorty antenna. Also acquired online were gas hood struts, black billet gas door, Mustang Bullitt pedals and factory mud flaps.
I have strived to update the Mustang in a classic and tasteful way. I recently got the car detailed inside and out and tinted the windows. This is a daily driver (though I do have a winter beater) and we will do our first Hot Rod Power Tour Long Haul this year!
Again everything was installed by me in my garage with regular tools. Notice the new driveway too! Current mileage is 126k. -- Chris
News Editor Kelly Toepke sent me this picture of a Zamboni at Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, the official training center of the L.A. Kings and Lakers.
TRIVIA QUESTION: Which Edmunds editor used to drive a Zamboni?
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Hey, everyone. My name is Matt (also known as twa727) and I live in Richmond, VA. I have a 2005 Honda Civic LX named Piggie. It's probably the most boring and plain jane car that you're going to read about on this blog, but I'll try to help you understand why I love it and what makes it more unique than any other Shoreline Mist Metallic '05 Civic on the road. I know, it's not sporty, it's not fast, it's not entirely beautiful, especially by new car standards...but hopefully by the time I'm done you'll understand why I love it.
I paid $10,995 for Piggie with 50,546 miles. Then started the real fun. I had just bought a car I didn't really know how to drive. I know, a gearhead that didn't know how to drive stick? How sad! The salesman gave me a quick rundown in the parking lot of the dealership (even before I bought the car!) and I was off on my way after doing my paperwork. I think I must have stalled that poor car 35 times getting the twelve miles back home. It never skipped a beat though, even when I smelled some burning clutch and decided to stop trying and let my mom drive the car home...
What do you think his 60-foot time is?
Josh Jacquot, Senior Editor
During my short Army career I was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone in 1968, and before reporting to my next duty station I was allowed to drive home. This practice ended soon after due to "instability" in some of the countries on the route.
I'd already convinced a friend of mine to dump his '64 Ford Galaxy to get a sports car, so we made the trip back together as far as Guadalajara, after which he headed to Texas to be discharged (I headed to Travis AFB in California for departure to Viet Nam).
The trip was actually fairly uneventful. Both cars ran just fine on crummy gasoline, and the only mechanical problem either of us encountered was a bad generator in my MG, repaired with a Land Rover armature. Luckily, the problem surfaced in Costa Rica, which had Land Rover dealers.
We were both officers, documented in our passports, so every border crossing resulted in salutes with no delays. Until Arizona, that is. After being waved through, the border agent yelled for me to stop after seeing my Canal Zone plate on the rear. No contraband to find (I was a lieutenant, after all), and luckily they never looked in the door panel to find the handgun.
This stretch was the only unpaved portion of the Pan-American Highway, a roughly 200 mile stretch that took us all day and passed over Cerro de la Muerte. The '66 MGB was mine, and the '67 TR250 belonged to my friend. I'd already driven my recently purchased MG from California to New Jersey to ship the car to Panama, so driving it home made sense, in a way. I currently drive a 2005 Elise, but the car in the photo made me a believer in British reliability.
This car is all about the driver experience, not necessarily drag times. Although 0-60 in 4.2 seconds isn't slow. At just around 3,000 lbs, and mid-engined, the driving dynamics are just incredible. You are supremely balanced no matter what you do. And the steering, oh the steering! You must sample the hydraulic steering. To call it precise hardly captures the joy of sitting behind the alcantara-wrapped wheel and maneuvering the car quickly through a bend. Having come from a 2008 Audi TT (3.2L 6-speed DSG), loved the car to death, but the ultra-light non-adjustable steering just made controlling the car difficult in corners. So, how to describe this marvelous piece of machinery from Stuttgart?
Too spectacular...Magical. Telepathic. Intuitive. Superb, muscular stance. Perfectly balanced. Zero body roll. Love the PDK w/paddle shifters (seven-speed dual clutch transmission), burble of the engine, the exhaust note. The engine growls and sings opera-style at throttle, right behind you. It's literally got your back. Keeping it beneath 4K RPM for the break-in period is a repeated exercise in restraint. The R sits very low, nearly one inch lower than the Cayman S, yet it is so easy to get in and out of. The sport seats are amazingly comfortable, and contrary to popular assumption, it's not at all bad over bumps, even great as a DD (Daily Driver)!
Seeing two other near-lookalikes of my car in your "reader rides" prompts me to offer a little engineer-geek experimental data I was able to conduct with my 2010 Mazda3s GT 5dr 6MT (not a Mazdaspeed though).
I ran careful checks of fuel economy with the trip computer, averaging each over the same 15-mile loop of Washington State I-90 with very light (essentially zero interference) traffic. I used cruise control on each loop, starting and ending at a standstill in the same location for zero altitude change and near-zero wind effect. The weather was dry and cool on all of the 2-3 days of the experiment.
My car now has 36,000 miles on it but this experiment was done between 10,000-20,000 miles.
WHAT TIME DOES TO US AND WHAT IT DID FOR MY CORVETTE
Time is a funny thing. Hard to believe how quickly it goes by especially as you get older. Forgive me. I am aware this thought is nothing new or surprising. It is a phrase that even if translated into different languages, people all over the world can relate to it as well.
But as the other saying goes "you get better with time and or age," which as a human being never really made all that sense to me. Am I any better off after I had my wisdom teeth removed? This usually happens with age.
Or maybe because you have more hair in places you didn't before. Some people lose hair! Some get fat. Well, by "some" I really mean 99.9% of us get fat. And old fat hairy people aren't better off than thin young people. That is a true statement.
So then the phrase "better with time or age" is really just there to comfort the once young if you ask me. And that's fine because we like to tell each other and ourselves things to make us feel better.
Like me telling myself my 13-year-old (by model year, 15-year-old design technically) Corvette is still the sh#@. Although many out there would have you believe the Corvette is actually &*^%.
By now you've probably seen Chevrolet's Super Bowl ad preview with the Chevy Sonic Kickflip.
Well, here is the giant skateboard seen moving down the freeway.
Thanks to Ben Reynolds, Production Coordinator at Edmunds.com. His Dad spotted this and snapped a quick pic.
Here's the ad featuring the Sonic's crazy stunts:
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
In light of Saab's bankruptcy, I felt compelled to write a review of my 9-3. My name on the site is Remdog and this is my born-from-jets 2002 Saab 9-3 with 125k miles. My three years with it has been quite an adventure.
Since I picked it up one fine June afternoon, I found this car full of contradictions. On paper at least, the Saab is an excellent used car value. I can't think of many sub-$5,000 cars with a 22 cubic foot trunk and less than 7-second 0-60 time, while weighing 3,100 lbs and returning over 25 real world mpg. Not bad from a brand known more for their "soul" and "feel." Alas, my 9-3 has also let me down with its terrible reliability and exorbitant repair costs.
This is my 2008 Jeep JK (Wrangler to the common folk). Over the years, between my wife and I, we've had three Jeeps. To call me a Jeep fanatic would be an understatement. I love this vehicle. It rides like crap, gets crappy gas mileage, slow as crap, and loud as crap. But I love every minute of driving it.
I recently moved from Buffalo, NY, to Northern Virginia (about an hour and half outside of DC), where I hooked up with a local Jeep club. This gave me the opportunity to "explore" some of the countryside, and it really gave me a chance to see what my JK could do. I've been living here for about a year now, and I've made multiple trail rides through George Washington National Forest.
Did I mention how much I love my JK? I do! Driving it makes me feel like...you know something not a lot of other people do. It really is a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand. -- Christopher
If you want to participate in the Readers Rides blog, click here to read the submission guidelines and email your text and photos to submissions@edmunds.com -- Donna
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February 22, 2012 2:35 PM
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George's 2012 Volkswagen Passat
February 21, 2012 3:00 AM
Sean's 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
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