How many vehicles have you owned?

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AZjeff

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Let's keep this to privately owned 4 wheeled passenger vehicles for personal use - cars, trucks, SUVs. Starting in 1987 I've owned 34 vehicles, almost all jointly with my wife and we've always had at least 2 in the driveway. 8 were brand new. 12 cars, 12 trucks, and 10 SUVs. 23 domestic and 11 foreign, foreign = built off shore. Oldest '68 VW Fastback, newest '16 Silverado. Longest owned current '86 Samurai for 15 years. Smallest motor 1.0L 3cyl Geo Metro, biggest 6.6L Duramax diesel. Interesting stuff when you put it on paper.
 
I think about 20 since I started driving in 1959, but that doesn't take into account the many years that I had a dealers license and didn't have a personal car, just drove what was on the lot.
 
Hum, never really added it up..


Previously owned:

1999 Mazda Miata
1997 Toyota Tacoma
1970 VW Bug
1966 VW Bug
1967 VW Bug
1984 VW Scirocco
1988 VW Jetta
1998 VW Jetta
2003 VW Jetta


Currently owned:

2012 Ford Expedition
1992 Honda NSX
2001 Honda S2000
1999 Toyota SC400
2008 VW Rabbit
 
8 (3 were new, first hand) since my drivers license in April 2005
3 Renaults (Megane, Clio, Kangoo)
1 Alfa Romeo (156)
1 Fiat (Grande Punto, totaled on ice in an emergency braking... and driving to work with 2 hours of sleep)
2 Toyota YARIS (the best cars I had, still own one)
1 Citroen (DS3)
 
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Since 1962, seems like to the best of my recollection, 26 cars and trucks and maybe a similar number of motorcycles ... That is personally owned, not in conjunction with anyone else
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I either get attached to them and they stay for long periods, or they go relatively quickly ... Longest owned was my Dad's 1962 F-100 that I got from him and rebuilt after it was wrecked under him (not his fault) - had that for over 30 years. Shortest was prolly the 1967 Beetle 1 year and 1974 Beetle - 2 years.

The ones I have owned the longest (or run the hardest) either ran many 100,000's miles; or had engine swaps and build-ups do to racing. So the weak points were discovered and well known, or they got totalled and were hauled off.

Smallest 1,600 cc, largest 464 ci
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For motorcycles, smallest was 90 cc, biggest is 1,200 cc
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Assuming that leasing means ownership... 15 since 1996.

5 have been new (3 of these leased)

6 FWD, 5 RWD, 2 4WD, 2 AWD

11 auto trans, 4 manual trans

Smallest engine: 1.6L. Largest engine: 5.7L

Oldest: 1981. Newest: 2018.

1 assembled in Europe, 1 assembled in Japan, 2 assembled in Mexico, 3 assembled in Canada, 8 assembled in USA

Number of time an oil change wasn't done by me: 1 (one of the leased cars had a recall and I had a free oil change for it)
 
Previously owned
60 Corvair
62 Chevy Nova
64 Chevelle
70 Olds Cutlass
72 Chevelle
84 Toyota truck
90 Toyota Tercel

Currently owned

98 Toyota Tacoma
03 Dodge Caravan

Not too bad for 47 years of driving
 
Y'all, 27 cars and counting. My list is in order of vehicle age, not possession. --Scott

1958 Chevrolet Bel Air (given to me by a woman where I worked)
1962 Austin Healey 3000 BT7 (ultra-rare triple carb model)
1962 VW bug (my first car, my Mom's old car)
1963 Austin Healey 3000 BJ7 (bought from original owner)
1963 Chevrolet Nova (2 door!, a rock solid unibody chassis, loved this thing)
1969 Triumph TR6 (crashed and totaled on Hwy 9, fortunate to survive)
1971 Triumph TR6 (a highly modified, street legal, Hwy 9 race car, undefeated)
1973 Jaguar V12 E-type (every man should own a V12, a love/hate relationship)
1982 Buick Regal (the peak of American car junk)
1982 Volvo DL (our first new car!, reliable as time, a great car)
1986 Toyota truck (errand runner, chronic head gasket problems)
1988 Pontiac Fiero GT (strong 2.8L motor, twitchy handling, cramped interior)
1989 Chevrolet Beretta GT (strong 2.8L motor, our commuter)
1991 Ford Taurus SHO (a total sleeper, Yamaha DOHC V6)
1993 Mazda MPV (total [censored], bad lifters, bad transmission)
1995 Nissan Quest XLE (nice unit, nice driver, very reliable)
1999 Buick Regal GS (Dad’s car, supercharged, strong motor, got it after his passing)
2000 Dodge Durango SLT Plus 5.9L (snow car, very capable, crazy strong motor)
2000 Ford F-150 XLT 5.4L (weakest motor I've ever owned)
2001 Subaru Outback (total [censored], one major problem after another)
*2003 BMW 330Ci (highly modified, balanced and quick chassis, 100% trouble free)
2005 Chrysler Pacifica Touring (functional, served its purpose)
2006 Mercedes Benz C230 Sport (b-day present for Sue, too many annoying issues)
2008 Saab 9-7x 4.2L (strong motor, too many annoying issues)
*2010 Honda Element SC (our Great Dane hauler and Home Depot errand runner)
*2011 BMW 328i (M-Sport package, a very enjoyable automotive package)
*2015 Ford Focus Titanium (our 3K miles per month commuter)

* = still own
 
I've owned almost too many to count. At various times in my younger days, I purchased cars and fixed them up to drive and sell.

From 1969 until about 2000 I owned 11 VW buses. Several received a complete restoration. Today I could not afford any of them. Collectors took that away. One sold at Barrett-Jackson for over $100K, not by me but the collector that purchased it from me years before.

In 1970 I purchased a 1961 XK-E coup for $1,000 and did not restore it but fixed it up and drive it all over the place. I later sold it to help finance the Lusso.

In 1971 I purchased a 1963 Ferrari GT Lusso for $1,000 that burned. I restored it with all factory stuff over several years. I drove the car all over the place for a couple of years and then it started to become too valuable to risk an accident. I sold it to a collector that offered me more than double what I would have asked. I had a terrible case of seller's remorse as they loaded the car onto a transporter. In 2005 the car sold for $2M to a collector in Las Vegas and I was invited to come visit the car and drove it with the new owner one Sunday morning. I was relieved to find out that he drives every car in his collection. Today the car is valued at $2.5M. This was 2 years after the Cedar Fire here in San Diego that destroyed all my photo albums and memorabilia. This trip to Las Vegas was like a trip back in time. My second trip was in a wheelchair after surgery for my cancer in 2009. This time the collector drove me around in the Lusso then we went through every car in his collection over 2 days. It was some very good medicine.

In the middle of all this, I bought and sold a dozen or more Datsun 510 station wagons. My wife's DD was one of those wagons.

One of the many cars that I really liked was my 1979 Scirocco with a 5-speed purchased new. It was not really fast but it handled well and was fun to drive. The only problem ever was a blown head gasket which was a simple fix.

Another oddball was a 71 Honda N600 sedan purchased new. 2 cylinder, 600cc and a blast to drive. I removed the cooling fan and shroud, installed wider 12" Minilite wheels and ran Formula 3 intermediate tires along with modified suspension including big sway bars front and rear. I was the ultimate freeway ramp shooter. Oh, by the way, the oil of choice was Castrol 20w-50.

These are just a few but maybe the more interesting ones, some not because they were special but just fun to drive and one very special one.

And don't forget my 84 Civic wagon that is still in DD status with over 440K miles.

A very good driving car was an 84 Audi 4000 Quattro with the 5-cylinder engine and 5-speed transmission. It was a good driving car but was a mechanical and electrical nightmare and dealing with the warranty and the factory rep was a terrible experience. On top of that Audi was having unintended acceleration problems. The value of the cars was going down the toilet and dealerships were dropping like flies. The factory response from Germany was that Americans were too stupid to own their precious cars, that the unintended acceleration problem was [censored] (which it probably was), the electrical problems were owner's faults, the alignment problems the same along with eating water pumps and carbon build up in the combustion chambers. Because of bad grounds, the life of alternators and batteries was measured in months. The fuse box would melt because of the fuel pump circuit and the fuel pump would eat itself up frequently. The car was great to drive when everything worked but I was happy to dump it.

Our 96 Volvo 850 turbo wagon gave itself up to protect my wife on the freeway when she was run through a guardrail at 70 or so miles per hours. The airbags went off and she took a rid to the ER and was released with no injuries. Thank you, Volvo.

I also just purchased a self-propelled shipping crate that's fun to drive. It's a 2006 Scion xB with a 5-speed. It's got a DC exhaust header and stainless-steel exhaust system, Hotchkis competition sway bar set, front and rear along with Koni's. It's not fast. I would call it engaging to drive, kind of fun at speeds that won't put me in jail. It's very good at on/off ramps on freeways.

For me, the hobby of fixing up cars has to stay with older generation cars and only those that have not been picked over by collectors. Right now I'm looking for a 1966 R8 Renault, 1108 cc sedan. That was my first new car and I've decided it's time to go looking.
 
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