GreiginFife
Money List Winner
The "best car" thread got me thinking about all the car's I've owned over the years as I tried to pick out a favourite. I chose my Astra, not only because it was a nuts flying machine, but because so much of my time and effort was invested in bringing it back from the dead.
Then I thought, jeez, I might have had a few cars. I passed my test in Dec 95, so been 25 years on the road. Got my first in June 95 in prep for passing. Saved for months to get it, a 1991 red Ford Fiesta XR2i. And I thought it was the business, thinking back, it was a lump of plastic inside
Then I went on my journey; My list (I'm sure some of the more "vintaged" on here can surpass this by sheer volume of years)
The year at the start is the reg, not the year I bought it
1991 Ford Fiesta XR2i (loved it, nippy as hell for a n/a 1.6 engine)
1994 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8 (bought it from my then boss, lovely car but at 19 it was too expensive for me to run)
1995 Ford Escort Ghia 1.6 (genuinely thought I was the mutts nuts, leccy windows and mirrors, plush seats and a CD player, in truth it was a total bag of bolts).
1994 Rover 216GTi (ok, no idea what happened here, it was as shite as it sounds, kept it 2 months)
1993 Peugeot 205 1.9GTi (loved it until someone wrote it off while it was parked up)
1992 Ford Fiesta XR2 (thought I'd go old school, handled like a shopping trolley, got shot quick for more than I paid, they'd started becoming quite desirable to enthusiasts at that point)
2000 BMW E55 M3 (my first "near new" car, cost me a packet but I had a good job by now, even so at 25 I was struggling to run it, had it 6 months and it was gone)
2000 Vauxhall Astra 1.8 SRi (the car for me, piston rings blew in 2005 so engine was swapped out for a bigger unit (see best car thread) - I kept this car as a weekender until 2016 when it finally gave up the ghost.
2005 BMW 320cd M-Sport (my first foray in to German diesels lovely car and was only 2 years old when I bought it to run it as a daily alongside the Astra)
2008 Alfa Romeo GT 1.9jtd Cloverleaf (beautiful car, lovely to drive let down by poor mechanical design and poor reliability)
2010 Ford Focus ST (everybody was raving about them so got one and it was terrible. Engine, terrible, interior terrible, ride quality terrible... as you can guess, I found it terrible.
2014 Mercedes A220d (my first new car, and what a machine it was. It was lovely to drive and punchy when it needed to be. Badly damaged by a truck that failed to stop, my second parked up car to be hit).
2016 Mercedes C43 AMG Coupe (brilliant, just brilliant - just lacked a bit of boot space for the clubs)
2018 BMW 335d Touring (great size, not too bad looking but hated it, sterile unengaging drive couldn't wait to offload)
2020 BMW M340i (current car and my current love. Amazing car to drive with loads of room for a 3er or any family saloon for that matter. Metallic Orange just sets it aside as you don't see many of them)
So there, apologies for the text wall, but it seems I've been through a few cars over the years. 15 in 25 years...
So, what you all been through?
Then I thought, jeez, I might have had a few cars. I passed my test in Dec 95, so been 25 years on the road. Got my first in June 95 in prep for passing. Saved for months to get it, a 1991 red Ford Fiesta XR2i. And I thought it was the business, thinking back, it was a lump of plastic inside
Then I went on my journey; My list (I'm sure some of the more "vintaged" on here can surpass this by sheer volume of years
)The year at the start is the reg, not the year I bought it
1991 Ford Fiesta XR2i (loved it, nippy as hell for a n/a 1.6 engine)
1994 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8 (bought it from my then boss, lovely car but at 19 it was too expensive for me to run)
1995 Ford Escort Ghia 1.6 (genuinely thought I was the mutts nuts, leccy windows and mirrors, plush seats and a CD player, in truth it was a total bag of bolts).
1994 Rover 216GTi (ok, no idea what happened here, it was as shite as it sounds, kept it 2 months)
1993 Peugeot 205 1.9GTi (loved it until someone wrote it off while it was parked up)
1992 Ford Fiesta XR2 (thought I'd go old school, handled like a shopping trolley, got shot quick for more than I paid, they'd started becoming quite desirable to enthusiasts at that point)
2000 BMW E55 M3 (my first "near new" car, cost me a packet but I had a good job by now, even so at 25 I was struggling to run it, had it 6 months and it was gone)
2000 Vauxhall Astra 1.8 SRi (the car for me, piston rings blew in 2005 so engine was swapped out for a bigger unit (see best car thread) - I kept this car as a weekender until 2016 when it finally gave up the ghost.
2005 BMW 320cd M-Sport (my first foray in to German diesels lovely car and was only 2 years old when I bought it to run it as a daily alongside the Astra)
2008 Alfa Romeo GT 1.9jtd Cloverleaf (beautiful car, lovely to drive let down by poor mechanical design and poor reliability)
2010 Ford Focus ST (everybody was raving about them so got one and it was terrible. Engine, terrible, interior terrible, ride quality terrible... as you can guess, I found it terrible.
2014 Mercedes A220d (my first new car, and what a machine it was. It was lovely to drive and punchy when it needed to be. Badly damaged by a truck that failed to stop, my second parked up car to be hit).
2016 Mercedes C43 AMG Coupe (brilliant, just brilliant - just lacked a bit of boot space for the clubs)
2018 BMW 335d Touring (great size, not too bad looking but hated it, sterile unengaging drive couldn't wait to offload)
2020 BMW M340i (current car and my current love. Amazing car to drive with loads of room for a 3er or any family saloon for that matter. Metallic Orange just sets it aside as you don't see many of them)
So there, apologies for the text wall, but it seems I've been through a few cars over the years. 15 in 25 years...
So, what you all been through?
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