Best Car You've Ever Owned

[Dai Corner]

We've done 'worst car you've ever owned' so how about 'best car'?

Mine would be the Ford Focus I traded the problematic Renault mentioned in the other thread in for.

Three years old, previously owned by an old guy who probably used it once a week to go shopping. Cost me £4000 plus the Megane, no expenses other than servicing, MOT and tyres, got £4000 back when I traded it in for my brand new Mazda 3 thirteen years later.

 

[steamybrian]

My present car a "Kia Venga"

 

[Herefordian]

Toyota Camry, 71-reg.

It's comfortable, covers the miles with ease and returns 50 MPG.

Just shades my 23 year old Ford Focus, which I've owned from new and now use sparingly considering its age.

 

[Lockwood]

I would also say my Focuses.
First one was a 1.6 estate, ended up suffering from a turbo and engine fault that was beyond economic repair.
Had some nasty cars after that as stop gaps.
Got a 1.8 hatchback, maybe not quite as fast off the line as the estate, but it has some serious oomph when I need it.

 

[GusB]

I mentioned this in the worst car thread, but I think the best one was my 1 litre Micra (L-reg). It saved me an absolute fortune in bus fares, was ridiculously cheap to insure fully comp and it gave me back heaps of time, which was more precious than a anything else at the time.

I bought it from a friend for £350 and fairly soon it needed another £250 for a new clutch (it had been a city car). Not quite the bargain I thought it would be, but nevertheless it served me well and I'd have another one in a heartbeat.

 

[36270k]

2003 Toyota Avensis 1.8 estate
Bought on Ebay 8 years ago for £642. Only faults were bumper scrapes ( previous owners wife was not very good at parking ) and interior covered in fag ash.
After 15000 miles still running perfectly. Will probably keep it till it dies.

 

[richw]

Now this is a subjective question, I had A 2003 Seat Toledo 1.8 turbo petrol from 2014-2016 that cost me £850 and never gave me any trouble, was pleasant to drive when considering it’s age, mileage and being a sub £1000 car. It passed all MOTs in my ownership first time, and only required the normal servicing which was done cheaply by my local backstreet garage. It was true bangernomic motoring, and would definitely be my Best Buy.

But in all senses of the word “best” would be my current car, a 2017 Seat Leon tourer TDI with a 7 speed DSG gearbox. It’s truly relaxing to drive, good on fuel, it covers the miles without any effort. I love it. But it cost around 15 times the earlier mentioned Toledo. Is it 15 times better? How do I rate that?

 

[jfollows]

1. Ford Mustang GT 5.0 bought new in ~1991 in the US when £1=$2 so about the same price there as a Ford Fiesta would have been in the UK, imported back to the UK and sold in 1996
2. Mazda RX-8, so much power out of a tiny rotary engine
3. Jaguar XFR bought 1 year old so about 50% of the cost of the new car, sold in 2018

As you can see, fuel economy was not a major concern (all 3 ~22mpg), I live in town and go long distances by train anyway.
Probably the Jaguar was the best, but the Mustang was the most exciting because it was my first new car.

PS My next car will be a UK-spec Ford Mustang which I will buy in October 2024 when I get a lump sum from taking up my IBM pension.

 

[Dai Corner]

My favourite (as opposed to most reliable, technically advanced or lowest TCO) is my 2003 Mazda MX-5. Dad bought it when his mother died and left us some money and I now have it so it has sentimental value. We both kept it in our garages and only took it out on nice summer days so it's (unusually) virtually rust-free and low mileage. Great fun to drive but VED is a killer!

 

[JohnMcL7]

Now this is a subjective question, I had A 2003 Seat Toledo 1.8 turbo petrol from 2014-2016 that cost me £850 and never gave me any trouble, was pleasant to drive when considering it’s age, mileage and being a sub £1000 car. It passed all MOTs in my ownership first time, and only required the normal servicing which was done cheaply by my local backstreet garage. It was true bangernomic motoring, and would definitely be my Best Buy.

But in all senses of the word “best” would be my current car, a 2017 Seat Leon tourer TDI with a 7 speed DSG gearbox. It’s truly relaxing to drive, good on fuel, it covers the miles without any effort. I love it. But it cost around 15 times the earlier mentioned Toledo. Is it 15 times better? How do I rate that?

I guess it's the difference between 'best' and 'favourite? It's funny you mention the Seat because I had a 2004 Seat 1.9 diesel with the rarer 150bhp version which had sat with the dealer for months as they were selling it as the 130, I bought it in 2006 as the surge of the turbo (it was very laggy) just put a big grin on my face. It had a lot of flaws particularly with it being an impractical saloon which with the arrival of a puppy meant I needed to replace it with an estate but it's the car I enjoyed the most.

My current car is my best car which is a 2011 Mazda 2.5 estate which I've held onto far longer than any other car because there's been nothing I want to replace it with, it's extremely practical, it's well specced, it drives well, it has a manual gearbox and it's been very reliable.

 

[Ted633]

My best car is my current, a 2011 Saab 9-3 TTiD. Bought when it was 18 months old (34,000 miles, ex rental car) and it has been superb. Happily does 70mpg on the motorway and is comfortable on long journeys (have done 300 miles non-stop without issue). Non routine issues have been an EGR valve (£100, took me 15 mins), and a couple of suspension links. Due to it being based on an older car, I've been able to do all the routine servicing.
Now about to go through 200,000 miles and I'm sure it's good for a while yet, but the introduction of the expanded ULEZ will see it off, as I have to commute to Heathrow. Will be sad to see it go.

 

[Ashley Hill]

The best car was my last one,a Vauxhall Corsa. It was 4yrs old when I bought it and I had it for 18yrs. It was only a 1.4 but went like excrement off a shovel and hills were never a problem. If only I’d looked after it better it wouldn’t have failed it’s MOT so badly that I had to let it go.

 

[83A]

I have a 2012 Mini Clubman 1.6d which I bought from the local garage as I needed a car in a hurry. It was a temporary purchase.

But that was in 2016 .

It’s done 178k, easily does 60mpg. £20 a year tax and apart from a DMF at 150K has been utterly reliable. It’s fun to drive and the BMW engine is a peach.

I’m now of the mindset to see how long it will last !

 

[birchesgreen]

My Ford Fiesta 2006. I had it for 14 years, inheriting it from my Dad who bought it from new. Hardly any bother, it only had an issue once when the water pump failed. The only other time i needed AA assistance was when a pothole broke the suspension (which isn't the car's fault).

Replaced last week, the electrics are starting to go, central unlocking failed last year (luckily locking was fine) but its fine for a good few years yet though i suspect it'll be scrapped due to it's age.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I've only owned two cars, and have mentioned both in other threads: the First Car and Worst Car ones respectively.

The best (and first) was the 1994 Renault 5 I bought in around 2006. I never thought to "name" cars back then, but thanks to Ian of Hubnut I should probably retroactively think of one...
Alliteration and French, so... Raoul, le Renault Cinq it is (or was, sadly).

 

[Spamcan81]

Depends how you define "best". The one I probably enjoyed the most was my Rover P6 3500. The burble of that V8 was music to the ears. Had its reliability issues at times but I was happy to put up with those.

 

[Herefordian]

I've only owned two cars, and have mentioned both in other threads: the First Car and Worst Car ones respectively.

The best (and first) was the 1994 Renault 5 I bought in around 2006. I never thought to "name" cars back then, but thanks to Ian of Hubnut I should probably retroactively think of one...
Alliteration and French, so... Raoul, le Renault Cinq it is (or was, sadly).

My goddaughter absolutely loves Hubnut.

I never name my cars but she decided my Toyota Camry is called Callie.

It's just stuck really.

 

[Cowley]

It’s quite a difficult one picking a best car because vehicles that were great when I got them look like old hat now. For instance I’ve had a Golf GTi or two and various Audi Avants that were lovely at the time but look like classic cars now.

I had a 2003 Mercedes Sprinter which was an absolute weapon when I first got it and converted it to a day van/camper and I think that’s probably the vehicle that I look to with the fondest memories. We took that thing all over the place including Germany, France, Italy and even right down to Croatia. Had it for nearly ten years and it was on 265000 miles when I sold it (we’d done about 120000 of those) and because the kids grew up with it so many memories of their childhoods are wrapped up with us driving to distant places in that van.

 

[Bletchleyite]

2005 Berlingo Multispace. Only car I had from brand new. Not exciting but practical and spacious and incredibly comfortable. Only downside was that I wished I had bought the diesel as it was very slightly underpowered.

 

[Cowley]

There is something to be said for a car that you couldn’t care less about of course.

I’ve had the odd cheap banger that’s turned out to be a really reliable car and if you have to plant it into a hedge or a gateway on a country lane to pass someone but you don’t care if it gets scratched by brambles and covered in cow excrement there’s some very relaxing driving to be had there.

 

[dgl]

My sisters 2014 K13 Micra. Given to her by out Auntie who at the time had become to ill to drive ended up becoming basically used as a taxi for me and my mum to get us to work and back. Decent amount of kit(Sat nav, climate control/AC, speed limiter/cruise control) and has been very reliable.
It's done over 120k miles, has only had one non wear item fail (the VVT solenoid) and the only time the RAC have been called out was we she left the lights on and flattened the battery.

One tip is to get a OBD II code reader then if you do get the engine warning light come on you'll have some idea of the reason.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

1996 Suzuki Swift 4 door version 993cc automatic P530PYW.

 

[nlogax]

Have owned a fair few ‘nice’ cars over the years but the second hand Geo Prizm I picked up in the late 90s was my favourite. Pic below is from Wikipedia but mine was the exact same colour. No gadgets, no gimmicks, no frills, just incredibly cheap and reliable motoring. I must have put 50k miles on it over the four years it was in my ownership. Flawless.

 

[A0wen]

Difficult one - 3 contenders,

1988 Astra Mk2 1.3 - my first car, surprisingly quick for a 1.3, reliable, cost buttons to run.

1990 Audi 80 1.8 - I replaced the above Astra with this wonderful machine. It was before Audis became too common so a bit of a leftfield choice. Just lovely to drive.

I then had a run of company cars until about 10 years ago when I knew I was going to change job, so handed back the company car and bought a 6 year old Ford Focus 2.0 Ghia auto for £4k. It was pretty much immaculate and I ran it for a year - the only problem I had was a spark plug failed (the previous owner hadn't had them changed), so a cheap repair. Apart from that it didn't miss a beat. Apart from being thirsty (30 mpg from 2.0 petrol engine) I really couldn't fault it - quick, nice to drive, comfortable.

 

[gavinro]

Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9 in Sorento Green. Absolutely perfect (for 1990)

 

[AndrewP]

Best and favourite has to be my current Jaguar XF. Faultless to date, better built than the many Mercedes I have hired and enjoyed and looks good. Will be replaced by something else from JLR when the time comes.

Got to say my first two cars, Austin and Rover Metros were both amazing fun back in the day

 

[Jamesrob637]

My current Skoda Superb as it gets 700 miles to a tank with predominantly motorway driving.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

1988 Astra Mk2 1.3 - my first car, surprisingly quick for a 1.3, reliable, cost buttons to run.

Mk2 Astras were pretty decent cars... my dad had an estate with only a 1.3 engine, which somehow managed to pull a 14' touring caravan around the Yorkshire Dales!

 

[Iskra]

My current Audi A3 Sport is the best I've ever owned it's smooth, comfortable, the infotainment, satnav and displays are excellent and it's an overall nice drive. The model before that I also owned was also excellent and was a little more rugged, this one is more computer than car.

I have liked all my cars though, before Audi's I had a Fiesta which I liked a lot and my first car was a VW Fox, which while simple was pretty good, rugged and very easy to drive.

 

[E27007]

A year 2000 Honda Insight self-charging hybrid, a masterpiece of innovation by Honda, Euro 3 but the emissions met Euro6 of 2015, I drove from Inner London (Tower Bridge) to Norwich and return at 108 mpg,
Most trips of miles on open roads were in the range 95 to 105 mpg, 800 miles per tank refill of 8 gallons, being self-charging there was no means of plugging in to a charger, (they did not exist anyway)