MadScientistMatt wrote: Have you considered a Jeep Cherokee instead of the Land Rover?
Yes, I've had three Cherokees. Enjoyed them all. Not 5 shoulder belts (3 in back seat) and I'm not passionate about them. And therein lies the rub.
I could buy a minvan, a Crown Vic, a Tahoe, an Explorer, a Diamanté, a Mazda 6 or any number of other vehicles. I just don't feel like compromising AGAIN!
Bobzilla wrote: 02/03 Elantra. Cheap, reliable and can be made more entertaining. Plus, you can surprise people with something uncommon.
I do like my Kia's... It's just that I don't LOVE anything but the three vehicles I posted in the first post.
I'm used to "settling" with the vehicles I own. Im 44 and I don't want to compromise anymore.
My UNrealistic automotive love is a silver 356... The other three are $4k cars... And I love them!
ebonyandivory wrote: The other three are $4k cars... And I love them!
Only because you haven't owned them. Buy one, give it some time and then...
ebonyandivory wrote: I can't do a minivan! We have one already plus my kids are all small. They fit with room to grow in the P5 so any of the vehicles I mentioned would work. I won't seriously look at anything without 5 shoulder belts.
True, they may be small... but the thing about kids is if you keep feeding them they get bigger. And, they travel with more stuff. What if they all choose to play the upright bass? 
I'm just kidding BTW. At 44 you sould get something you really like.
ebonyandivory wrote: I'm used to "settling" with the vehicles I own. Im 44 and I don't want to compromise anymore. My UNrealistic automotive love is a silver 356... The other three are $4k cars... And I love them!
I hear ya there. For 11 years with my ex-g/f I "settled" with cars. Every time I bought something that was fun for me, it was met with disdain. She bought cars that looked great, but often ran like crap. I bought cars that ran great but often looked like crap.
Regardless, now I can buy anything I want. So I bought a minivan to haul my bikes around. 
I look at the neat cars being introduced and while I can pretty much afford one, I made the decision to race DH again for the next couple of years (and ECM can confirm how much those bikes cost), so my fun DD car desires will need to wait.
A little background i suppose: Yes I'm 44. I started a little late with kids, my wife is a fair amount younger than I.
I'm a state-employed nurse and she works two days a week because (I) we decided her being home with the kids was more important than me driving a late model or more expensive vehicle, hence the low-ball budget at 44 y/o. It's fairly self-imposed but kids and family come first.
I was the type of kid who fantasizes about an '82 Rabbit Diesel rather than a Lamborghini Countach or whatever poster was popular with 12 year-olds.
(I DID have a Heather Thomas bikini poster though!)
icaneat50eggs wrote: You secretly hate yourself
Secretly? He just posted on a public forum how much he hates himself :p
Maybe you just like to work on your own cars...
I've said it before and I'll roll it out again. I just don't see this mythical level of failure with most guaranteed unreliable cars. I have several friends with VW's, and not one of them has ever been left by the side of the road. B4 Passat, plan ahead to change you front control arms. R32 Mk IV Golf, so the gas gauge doesn't work, Audi TT never ever does anything wrong. But the cars keep on running and never quit. When I lived in the UK we had a succession of Land Rovers. Never ever left us stranded. Ditto friends with Range Rovers. My dad ran a 6cyl XJS and plenty of friends dads with less than zero mechanical knowledge ran older (six cyl) Jag's. People weren’t' constantly being left by the road side (V12's are another issue)
According to GRM level internet lore not one of my friends or family should ever have made it to work, school, hospital on time, yet they did and do, day after day, year after year with no problems.
Does something happen when British or German cars arrive on American shores? Does someone at the docks spray salt water into every connector and electrical component on the car then cut half way through every brake and fuel line to guarantee failure?
I ran an SVT Contour for several years and that’s another guarantee failure of a vehicle that’s absolutely impossible to work on without a hoist and days and days to do the simplest repairs. Never an issue for me and the guaranteed impossible tasks were all easily accomplished on the drive way with jack stands and a few hours.
I think most issues are just internet lore BS.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: I think most issues are just internet lore BS.
I tend to agree. People tend to complain louder than they praise. And they repeat negative viewpoints way more than they repeat positive ones. So if on one side you have only a few people praising a car, and fewer yet repeating those praises, and on the other side a few more people complaining about a car and a LOT of people repeating those complaints, then you end up with a very small voice that says the car is good and a very loud one that says it's bad, even though the reality may not reflect that.
Even if you added up all the complaints about a specific car and compared that number to the total number sold, the percentages aren't there to say that they will in fact be unreliable if you own one. Especially when you start seeing used examples of supposedly unreliable cars that have tons of miles on them, obviously doing the job of running and driving long enough to rack up said miles. My BMWs and Range Rovers and Jags have been great, which is why the E38 7 series and Jag XKR are on my short list of cars I'd want to buy.
I haven't read this whole thread so this may have already been mentioned but you don't necessarily love the least reliable cars made.....you love the more interesting cars out there. As do most of us or we likely wouldn't be on this forum. Reliable cars tend to be more appliance like and boring. Interesting cars tend to be more complex with more systems and potentially require more maintenance and up keep. They may tend to be more abused and used also. It's the dilemma we all seem to face sooner or later. Do we play it safe or go for the gusto?
I gotta say, I feel MUCH more enthused and MUCH less helpless/hopeless after starting this thread.
In fact, what do we think about building a Mk IV Golf with a Jag Six and Disco axles?!?!
Seriously though, MUCH more enthused!
Thanks guys and please keep it going!
Do we have some more good things to say about my Unholy Triumverate?
Get a P71, and then drive it like you stole it ....
erohslc wrote: Steal a P71, and then drive it like you own it ....
Fixed.
You did seem to indicate your life was lacking adventure...
erohslc wrote: Get a P71, and then drive it like you stole it ....
Main problem with that is ZERO passion for them. Secondary problem is only trashy young dudes drive them in my area.
That and the cops I know think the owners are wannabe losers. Too bad for me too because I don't usually care about stigmas but in this case I do. And they're a lot of car for the money.
Again, no passion for them. And I've owned and driven Panthers so I have some background.
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