New car shopping: compact, premium, fun-to-drive, $30k

[dvcochran]

My father has an F350 Super Duty with the International Harvester diesel engine. It was given to him by a friend of his because the guy didn’t want to fix it and it had paid for itself 5x over. It had 185k miles on it.

My father did the repairs, which were labor intensive and not much in parts cost. About 375k miles on it now. A dent in pretty much every body panel, scratched up pretty good too.

I borrow it any time I need a truck. I get comments every time too. The scrap yard guys asked if I was leaving the truck along with the metal I was dumping. The Lowe’s guy said “I guess I don’t have to be too careful” when he pulled up with the forklift to load a pallet of pavers onto the bed. It gets funny comments everywhere. My response is it’s a work truck that refuses to retire.

Love my old 7.3 Powerstroke. I do get some looks as I have been very rough on the bed.

 

[EdwardA]

Love my old 7.3 Powerstroke. I do get some looks as I have been very rough on the bed.

I had a '92 F350 dually with mecanical fuel injection(pre-powerstroke 7.3). At 370k miles I moved and sold it. Nothing major ever broke. Did replace batteties, radiator and the starter in the decade I had. No other problems.

 

[dvcochran]

I had a '92 F350 dually with mecanical fuel injection(pre-powerstroke 7.3). At 370k miles I moved and sold it. Nothing major ever broke. Did replace batteties, radiator and the starter in the decade I had. No other problems.

My 99' 7.3 PS is at 320k and still going strong.

 

[Steve]

I had a 1969 datsun pickup truck with squishy brakes and a finicky clutch. It had over 250,000 miles on it when I bought it, and I could never keep the points from closing up to keep the timing right. Still cooler than a ford. Lol.

 

[EdwardA]

I had a 1969 datsun pickup truck with squishy brakes and a finicky clutch. It had over 250,000 miles on it when I bought it, and I could never keep the points from closing up to keep the timing right. Still cooler than a ford. Lol.

Saw one of those a couple years ago in nice shape.

$4000.

Cooler how? Cuteness?

 

[Steve]

Saw one of those a couple years ago in nice shape.

$4000.

Cooler how? Cuteness?

Just a joke. I liked that little truck. Learned to drive on it, but it was a deathtrap.

 

[EdwardA]

Just a joke. I liked that little truck. Learned to drive on it, but it was a deathtrap.

I always wanted one way back then. Never had one. Now they go for big money in good shape.

After riding motorcycles for 45 years, I think everything is a death trap, so I became an expert at defensive driving....and never got hurt.

 

[Mitlov]

Here's mine. Everything is brand new, including a GSR Vtec and LSD trans. Did all the work myself and it cost me a little more than half what the OP is talking about spending. Also added ground control with eibach 15% stronger springs and tokico adjustible struts. Every bushing, berring, ball joints. Everything.

1990 Acura Integra
View attachment 23138

That's awesome! Nice car.

Personally, I have no time, interest, or ability to rebuild a 30-year-old car in my driveway, nor do I want to drive my kids around in a car with 30-year-old safety standards. So a different situation.

 

[dvcochran]

I had a 1969 datsun pickup truck with squishy brakes and a finicky clutch. It had over 250,000 miles on it when I bought it, and I could never keep the points from closing up to keep the timing right. Still cooler than a ford. Lol.

I had a 1980, the last year they used the Datsun name. Good little truck.

 

[Steve]

I had a 1980, the last year they used the Datsun name. Good little truck.

IIRC, that one I had used a hydraulic clutch. Not only were the brakes squishy as heck, I remember one time, while downshifting off the freeway, having to pump the clutch pedal several times to get it to engage the clutch. That thing... learning to drive on wreck prepared me for the military.

I drove that for about a year and then bought a 1977 Ford Mustang... 2. That's right. The good mustang!

And then I discovered air cooled VWs.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Ford Focus ST - fun and sporty. And a great value. Right in your price range.

I second this. I'm a fan of the Focus, and this model would put a real smile on your face.

 

[Buka]

I have a blue car. Always wanted a blue car, never had one before.

 

[EdwardA]

That's awesome! Nice car.

Personally, I have no time, interest, or ability to rebuild a 30-year-old car in my driveway, nor do I want to drive my kids around in a car with 30-year-old safety standards. So a different situation.

In the US, 100 people die every day. 3/4s of them are cars less than 6 years old. It's not really what you drive, but how you pay attention. I road motorcycles for 45 years...and didn't get hurt...I paid a lot of attention.

Admittedly, more difficult to pay attention with kids in the car.

 

[dvcochran]

IIRC, that one I had used a hydraulic clutch. Not only were the brakes squishy as heck, I remember one time, while downshifting off the freeway, having to pump the clutch pedal several times to get it to engage the clutch. That thing... learning to drive on wreck prepared me for the military.

I drove that for about a year and then bought a 1977 Ford Mustang... 2. That's right. The good mustang!

And then I discovered air cooled VWs.

I drove mine for a couple of years then bought my first Jeep CJ-5. I have had 8 since and two CJ-7's. Good times.
I don't remember having any trouble with the truck that was not self induced. There were 5 people crammed in it one night and we launched the truck at a RR crossing. Did quite a bit of damage to the steering and front suspension.

 

[Steve]

I have a blue car. Always wanted a blue car, never had one before.

I had a blue car once. When I was in Germany, I had an Opel Ascona that was like 4 different colors, just from replacement fenders and dent repair and such. We had a bunch of "inert blue" paint that was expired and going to be thrown away, so we painted my car inert blue. Looked pretty good after we were done. The color was pretty much this:



When we were done, it looked like this, but not as shiny, and with crappier wheels. But I drove that car all over northern Europe and it never left me stranded.

 

[Buka]

I had a blue car once. When I was in Germany, I had an Opel Ascona that was like 4 different colors, just from replacement fenders and dent repair and such. We had a bunch of "inert blue" paint that was expired and going to be thrown away, so we painted my car inert blue. Looked pretty good after we were done. The color was pretty much this:

View attachment 23142

When we were done, it looked like this, but not as shiny, and with crappier wheels. But I drove that car all over northern Europe and it never left me stranded.

That’s a great shade. Bitchin’ looking car, too.

 

[EdwardA]

I had a blue car once. When I was in Germany, I had an Opel Ascona that was like 4 different colors, just from replacement fenders and dent repair and such. We had a bunch of "inert blue" paint that was expired and going to be thrown away, so we painted my car inert blue. Looked pretty good after we were done. The color was pretty much this:

View attachment 23142

When we were done, it looked like this, but not as shiny, and with crappier wheels. But I drove that car all over northern Europe and it never left me stranded.

Opels were great cars. When I was 15 my mom traded her '70 Baracuda (383) for a '69 Kadet and a '63 Karman Ghia, which was mine...had two more of those later.

 

[Steve]

That’s a great shade. Bitchin’ looking car, too.

We drove that car into east germany through Dresden, Leipzig, and up to Berlin in 1990. Was the first western car a lot of folks had seen along the road. In retrospect, that was pretty dumb and we should have rented a German car, but we were dumb. I was barely 20 years old.

Funny story, we pulled into Dresden. Late at night, got out and were caught up in a huge candlelight vigil. I asked a guy what it was for and he said it was for Lenin. Needless to say, we gtf outta there and drove through the night into Berlin. Last thing we wanted was to be around communists during the cold war.

About 20 years later, I was talking to a friend who currently lives in Munich but is from Dresden, and she was talking about a vigil for John Lennon, the beatle. Yeah, it was the same one. Who would have thought a bunch of east germany, a year after the wall came down , were remembering john lennon.

 

[Steve]

Opels were great cars. When I was 15 my mom traded her '70 Baracuda (383) for a '69 Kadet and a '63 Karman Ghia, which was mine...had two more of those later.

I had a 74 karmann ghia that I loved. Interestingly, it was also blue. Last year they were made.

 

[EdwardA]

I had a 74 karmann ghia that I loved. Interestingly, it was also blue. Last year they were made.

I had the '63, then bought myself a '68 and a '59 in that order....later, two busses and two beetles. All air-cooled. That's how I learned to work on cars. Start simple.

Gave them up at 45. No more cars without AC.