I bought a _______, in spite of _____

Have you ever bought a car for a not quite rational reason....yet been surprized by it(pleasantly or unpleasantly)?

Not the best example, but in 1970 I bought a 1968 Cyclone GT, even tho I thought I wanted a Mustang or Cougar. (I bought it mostly because I like the color.) I was surprised that this car was so big on the outside, but had a laughably tiny trunk and a mail-slot trunk opening, and that it seemed to hug the road tighter...the higher the speed.

Basically, I want to know if there is some really great car that you may have "discovered" that no one else thinks is great....or, one the other hand, a car you found to be way over-rated.

That's rather how I ended up with my Alfa Alfetta sedan (see reader's rides.)

I had my heart set on a Toyota AE86 Sprinter, with the 4age motor, because I thought they represented excellent performance for modest money. Turns out it's next to impossible to find one for under $8k that isn't riddled with rust, or questionable drifter-wannabe-hack-job mods.

Desperate, at this stage, for transport, I picked up my Alfetta on a whim, (for $5k.) It was such a clean, well sorted example, I figured I could easily re-sell if I ended up hating it. As it happens, I love this car. It offers everything I wanted in the AE86, plus more; excellent handling (perfect 50/50 weight distribution), rev happy twin-cam, powerful enough to keep me on my toes, light weight (~2200 lb), cool 80's styling, and not particularly rusty. As a bonus, the Alfa owners I've met thus far have been a great bunch of people; friendly, very DIY orientated and not at all snobby as I had expected.

i bought a P71 in spite of being on the hunt for a Lincoln LS

and damn i'll never go back, the vic is a badass car.

I bought a 944 (or rather traded another car for it,) when I was on the hunt for another Mk2 MR2. I liked the looks, but I was totally underwhelmed by the car. I sold it a couple of weeks later for $1500.

I test drove WRX's, SRT4's, and RX-8's trying to find a car. The dealerships were all jerks (long hair/goatee) until they found out how much down I had and what my credit looked like. That really pissed me off so I bought a used P71 from a hilarious reseller/importer with a small portion of my down. I've never looked back! The P71 is a monster at everything it does for soooooo cheap!

I bought an Escort GT despite the fact it was pink(well, technically Sunrise Red), drove it for 136kmi with nothing other than routine service & fuel, and traded it in for an Eclipse GSX in 97. Talk about a double-sided bad decision...

Of all the cars I've owned & sold, that Escort GT really is the "one that got away". Although I always wished the US would have got the Cosworth!

i got a 4door E30 eta automatic despite what i really wanted at the time was a miata

cons automatic needs paint needs mild work

pros gas mileage cargo capacity

if i can trace down some of the drivability problems and get it painted it will be pretty good. if i could swap it to a stick it would be great.

i cant believe the crap i get from some people though "it looks like some old professors car" well, i guess its better then what they would say about a miata.

I bought a Saab 9-5, in spite of their reputation for sludging their motors with alarming regularity. I liked it for what it was, which was a Swedish interpretation of a transportation appliance; efficient, a bit spare, accomplished in an understated sort of way. Basically like the sort of car you'd get at IKEA, if they made cars; serves its purpose, looks nice in that slightly stark Euro sort of way, but nothing to get yourself all worked up over (unless you're wearing a black turtleneck and smoking a Gaulois Blonde while reading this, in which case...). And, FWIW, the motor had no significant sludge when I got it, and an updated PCV system and regular applications of synthetic oil kept everything perfectly happy in the engine itself.

What I didn't like was its tendency to strand me due to other components failing. Belt tensioner went: call AAA. Then the turbo blew up 850 miles from home on the South Carolina/Georgia border at 1am: call AAA and begin to question the plausibility of finding a Saab specialist in the Deep South (I did, amazingly enough: if you ever need a really good Saab guy in Savannah, GA, let me know). Finally, the transmission ate itself: call AAA and begin plotting replacement vehicle options.

I went back to BMW after my 2.5 year Swedish fling. The Saab was fine for what it was, but it never inspired the sort of emotion I feel in a real driver's car. It was a good lesson in not trying to convince yourself to like something more than you really do.

I bought 23 Fiats over the years in spite of the bad reputation they had. I actually had very few problems with them.

I bought a Ford Fiesta based soley on being beat by one at a stoplight drag race. Best damn cars I ever owned (I had 4).

A bought a Dodge Charger 2.2 back-in-the-day because they were one of the few hot cars that were affordable. What a mistake. Sold it exactly 30 days later. I just couldn't stand it.

I bought a second AMC built Jeep because I forgot how horrible my first one was. The second bad experience has prevented further escapades, though I do look longingly at Wranglers.

I bought my Austin Mini with mixed expectations. I was ready for unreliability and a car that was fun to drive but for brief periods only. I've been shocked that it has been dependable, fun to drive even on trips (with new seats!) and is a car I just can't picture selling, even though I only expected to play with it for a few years. If only it wouldn't leak oil like the proverbial sieve from the gearbox...

P71 wrote: I test drove WRX's, SRT4's, and RX-8's trying to find a car. The dealerships were all jerks (long hair/goatee) until they found out how much down I had and what my credit looked like. That really pissed me off so I bought a used P71 from a hilarious reseller/importer with a small portion of my down. I've never looked back! The P71 is a monster at everything it does for soooooo cheap!

I got to test the wrx when it came out too. Dealer felt he knew everything, kept correcting me that it was AWD not 4wd, despite his lack knowledge of what type of differentials and couplings the system had and what specifically differentiates the naming of a system. I was very underwhelmed, to me it drove like a v6 sedan of the day, however I did not drive it in anger on bad roads.

Was going to buy a new Mx5 after a test drive from a rental company, but the dealer just wouldn't get off "those there are rare cars in these parts, thats why they cost so much over invoice," Then I was going to buy a sky but they really held their value and I didn't want to spend over 21k. I ended up with a c4 that fell into my lap, got it with the cash I had saved for the down payment of a new ride. I was expecting a crappy engineered gm pig that was a dog, a boat and overall crap that made nice sounds and looked nice and was very well surprised to find out how under-rated these cars are.

Gave a dealer another shot a few months ago when I saw the new sti in a subaru show room. Was pleasantly surprised when he said they do not offer test drives, nor will the dealer take you around the block in it. He said if you want a ride, you buy. Quite large reservations for a 35k car when they are across the street from a BMW dealer. I understand not wanting people to be beating on your flagship car, but making that policy when you could go across the street and test drive a not too cheap 7 series on a whim doesn't give subaru a great reputation.

If I went to a dealer and they said they didnt allow test drives, I would walk right back out again. But then again, havent there been a number of incidents with those type of cars being totalled on test drives? I seem to remember back when the SRT4 first came out a salesman totalled the car and seriously injured or killed the customer riding with them.

To stray off the subject(slightly?), I've taken countless cars on test drives, some at dealerships and some belonging to relatives and had a Corvette saleman and a V6 Capri salesman tell me to REALLY open it up in these cars as I wasn't driving aggressively enough for either of them. I drove my mother's uncle's SEL300 6.3 like I was trying to destroy it, but typically, I try to test the limits of adhesion and NOT the limits of the gas pedal. The only time I "visited" a dealership and was not allowed to drive the car was in the early '70s when one of the Mazda RX sedans was first hitting showrooms (I think it was the RX 3 or RX 4). I look back now, and think it makes sense that they wouldn't allow a young 20 something driver to get his hands on a rocket with wheels. Tho the Triumph dealer down the street from him let me take a TR6 out by myself...none of that "I have to at least drive it off the lot, for insurance purposes".

Aside from the owner of the "pink" Escort GT, has anyone bought a car in spite of the color? I bought a snot green Capri (with a saddle colored interior) about 15 years ago. I like Capris, but THAT color....almost as bad as that root beer metallic from about the same time period.

I started looking to replace my Neon Sport coupe in the fall after the heater hose went and killed the VSS. I swore up and down that despite how fun it was, I would not get another Neon. Just not worth the trouble.

In particular, I wanted another Accord.

In the end I drove the Sport till I totaled it, was in the proces of getting handed down my mom's tuarus, and totalled that. I was stuck driving my dad's F-150 to the verge of bankrupsy for gas. Finaly I found my blue Neon R/T sedan. Picked it up for $2400, then had to drop close to another grand to get it drivable. Damn, that thing is way more fun even the Sport.

I traded my 96 BMW 328is on a 2005 Ford escape because I needed something that could flat tow an air cooled VW. Thought I would hate it, but within a week it grew on me to a point that I dont know how I lived without it.

Travis_K wrote: If I went to a dealer and they said they didnt allow test drives, I would walk right back out again. But then again, havent there been a number of incidents with those type of cars being totalled on test drives? I seem to remember back when the SRT4 first came out a salesman totalled the car and seriously injured or killed the customer riding with them.

My dad tried to test drive the G8. They told him they only had one and were only letting serious buyers test drive it. My dad has a head full of gray hair, and pulled into the parking lot in a pristine 95 525i. It was clear he is a potential buyer. Without blinking an eye, my dad says: Well dumbass, that's a great business strategy. While you guys are sitting on inventory, you aren't letting me see if i want to buy it or not. Goodbye, I'm going to buy an Avalon.

Of course he did no such thing, but it was funny to watch the salesman's face. It was actually the owner of the dealership we were dealing with.

I low-balled a bid on an NYG sedan on eBay, just for the heck of it, and knowing that I wouldn't win it at that price.

Well, I knew wrong, and now it's in my back yard.

I bought a $500 92 Nissan 240SX coupe as my first car, in spite of it having a blown head gasket, burnt piston ring, more rust than the surface of Mars, old-man-car gold paint, noxious smoke out the wazoo, broken HUD and odometer, and worst of all, a slushbox.

Hey, at the time I was (and still am) a broke-ass motherberkeleyer and was desperate for a running car. It still handled like magic in corners. It somehow survived a year before it finally overheated for good.

I don't like red or green cars, yet I have bought 5 red and one green because they were good deals, yet I never liked the color of any of them...I lived with it because of the deal, but they have all been sold now. Red Cherokee, Miata, A1 GTI, CRX, Saab 9000 Turbo and a green fox Mustang GT. All except for the Miata were sub $1000, so I knew I couldn't be picky on the color.

We like red cars. Red is good. And so we bought a burgundy pickup truck. and then we found a good deal on a Volvo wagon, so we had a burgundy wagon. And then we found the 318ic, also Burgundy. so we had a Burgundy Pickup, burgundy Volvo, and Burgundy BMW. The truck was sold, and Dad said no more red cars. Which is why he just bought a Burgundy BMW 525. Our garage has two Bmw's of the same exact color, and a Burgundy Volvo in the driveway

I'm a 20yr old guy that lives at home and I never have passengers in my car. I drive a civic hatch and deliver pizzas once a week in addition to my day job.

Yesterday I bought a '97 Pathfinder for $600 with a broken t-belt, because it was a good deal, my civic is rusted out and winter will be here soon and I want a car that will be able to maintain operating temps at idle when it's -30 out. A decent heater, defroster and heated seats FTW. I guess my "in spite of" would be in spite of: not needing the space or 4WD, the terrible gas mileage and that driving my civic is 100x more fun.

I bought a Datsun Roadster rather than a Datsun 240Z because:

The roadster was on a frame rather than unibody.

The Roadsters usually had floors and the Z's never did.

Every Z I looked had the cylinder head stored in the hatch area, since the head gasket had just blown and was in the process of being rebuilt when the owner quit.

I still have a love affair with the 240Z - 26 years after I first admired the Z car at Road America's "Z Zone".

I've also owned several red cars. After each one I said it has to be something besides red the next time. Owned an orangy-red Vega, a red TR3 (I had re-painted BRG), a red PV544, a red Audi Fox, and a red Ford Fiesta....ALL in the space of 10 years. Of those 5, I really miss the Fiesta and TR3. I used to tell "car nut" friends that I would buy anything with wheels...if it was painted YELLOW, like my first car.

I bought a 78 Triumph TR-7 in spite of my sober state

i also was on the look out for a fox mustang when i bought my Aero Vic LX... 4 wheel disc, V-8, right wheel drive, SOO MUCH FUN.

I bought a 1992 Jeep Cherokee because I needed something to tow with. Bad move. After a couple of months I hated that thing with a passion which bordered on obsession.

Like ddavidv, I bought a Fiesta not expecting much. I bought mine cheap because the ignition module was bad, I stuck a module on it and prepared to sell it, then discovered it was a heap of fun! So what if it was baby poop beige. That car got totaled when some goober in a Buick tried to crush me between his car and a Toyota.

I bought my first MGB in a non running condition because I had an itch to do a 2000 Pinto swap in one. No, that's not a rational reason. I got it all together and discovered that I loved it! The 2000 swap worked okay but I got the itch to build a whoopass B series motor, so I did. Big sidedraft Weber, headers, high compression, mild porting, Kent cam. That was a LOT of fun- until a rod nut came loose on I-26 one morning. Only salvageable parts were the head and 3 pistons.

I've said I'll never have another black car, 'cause they show dirt so bad. And yet, now both the cars I've bought recently are black, including my daily driver (which I bought despite the fact that most people say they are incredible money pits)