Last year I was looking for a low budget rallyx car. I was thinking focus, cobalt, etc. Then I found a ratty nissan sentra spec v. It needed work but for $800 in the midst of overpriced everything, I bought it. The brakes needed major help. Sorted that and the car turned out to be a gem to drive. Just sporty enough, faster than traffic, somewhat efficient. Mine is a turd. Rusty and beat up. but a fun car . It surprised me. What else is out there?
I had this happen with a family members car; first gen Hyundai Santa Fe, it was way better than I expected.
I've driven a Sentra Spec V and they are fun.
Misread the title as "killing" instead of "liking". Done lots more of that than what you actually asked about.
I really liked my 07 Accent hatch. I ended up calling it my "adorable little E36 M3box".
I almost bought an Accent hatch of that vintage (07ish) for $10k out the door. It was bare bones with roll up windows and no a/c.
I bought my 04 Lancer Ralliart wagon in what for me was a rare case of thinking I needed to replace a car and seeing this for sale. I usually plan for months before choosing a car.
At the time I had a 95 Accord wagon and I had observed that the transmission had begun to show it's age. I wanted out of the Accord while it was still sellable, and saw that the Mitsubishi dealer had a wagon on the lot.
I didn't expect much, I was told afterwards that I'd be stuck with it since they're not good cars and it would be hard to sell when I wanted out.
I also didn't see it as having any performance potential, so I waited another 8 years until I could buy a Miata before starting autocross.
The lancer has been a fun and reliable daily now since 2010. Although I mainly autocross a Miata, I drove the lancer in five autocross events this fall. The turnout for the HS class was small for most of them, and I had a huge tire advantage when it was cold and wet at the FL autocross championship. I ended up with three class wins and second in class at the state championship.
I've owned a couple of the B15 Spec V's, and they are a lot of fun. On the same track, I picked up a B13 Sentra with the 1.6 about 12 years ago, and then found a wrecked NX2000 and swapped the SR20 into my Sentra, creating a Xe-R Sentra.
I love it.
When I was in my 20s I bought a Pinto for $250. There was no like about it initially, it was just a cheap car that would get me to work.
It's one of the cars on my list that I wish I had never sold.
Mk1 Ford Fiesta. I wound up owning 4 over the years and would cheerfully take another.
In reply to ddavidv :
When I was in high school two of my friends had those. They were twins and got the cars for their 16th birthday. One car was red, the other was baby blue. We may have raced them against each other a time or 12. They were surprisingly fun to drive.
93 accord. I bought it to be an appliance just before our first was born, needing something a little more car-seat friendly than a 2 door focus.
Do t get me wrong, it was an appliance, in that it just did the work I asked it to do quietly and reliably, and it just kind of blended into the background and avoided notice. But something clicked. A 4 cylinder, automatic lx. Brown. Not sporty. Not particularly efficient. Missing a hubcap. I just fell in love.
I would seriously overpay for a clean example.
1999 Jeep Cherokee XJ. Love this thing. Rusty but trusty. Like them so much I bought a 2000, in the process of making it a woods truck. As barefootskater stated above, "I would seriously overpay for a clean example. "
Mine is a cheap used winter car. I paid $35 for it $50 if I wanted it with a battery. Brakes didn't work. And I could buy a junk battery for $2.
My Buddy offered to pull it home with a rope and his truck. We drove the 20 miles to get it tied the rope and car together. And we were off. I put it in gear and let the clutch out to stop it. Then I noticed the dome light coming on whenever I let the clutch out. No battery, remember?
About the third stop sign the engine was running! No battery !!!!! But also no brakes. And well, bump into his truck. No damage.
But here's the car idling with no battery! ( we even opened the hood to check.). I tried adjusting the hand brake and got enough so that almost kinda sorta worked. Drove home.
Ya gotta love a car that starts on its own don't you?
New fresh brake shoes, no leaks but just not adjusted. A $2.00 battery that I rejuvenated started it running just fine while I had it. The oil had recently been changed and the rust problem was nothing more than surface rust on the inner fender panel.
Owning a 1958 Morris Minor Traveler was great.! The trafficators were so unique. 35 mpg no matter how hard I flogged it.
A modern Fiesta with a 5MT is a lot more fun than it has any right to be.
Sprinter. Bought it to flip it. It was the high roof, short wheelbase version, and I almost did flip it hucking it into corners. It was by far the most athletic cargo van I've ever driven.
74 Ford Maverick 302. Even in smog trim, the car was so light it really scooted. Never handled well, but easily could have.
Scion xB. I forget the year, but it was the early toaster box, so probably an 04. Grossly underpowered, but capable handling. Bulletproof engine, good trans ratios. The brakes were incredibly small, but I never had any complaints about fade.
GMT800 1500 Silverado rwd
Bought as a tow vehicle but wound up being one of the few fun to drive pickups I've ever driven. The r&p steering was particularly good and the ergo was the best of any truck or suv that I've driven
That one time we got the keys to a 2019 Mercedes-Benz Metris Cargo Van for a week.
As it turns out, an unloaded, turbocharged van can get motivated a lot faster than it has any right to be. Plus it had paddle shifters and made fun turbo noises.
amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) said:GMT800 1500 Silverado rwd
Bought as a tow vehicle but wound up being one of the few fun to drive pickups I've ever driven. The r&p steering was particularly good and the ergo was the best of any truck or suv that I've driven
Wait, that truck has rack and pinion steering?
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:Wait, that truck has rack and pinion steering?
As far as I know, all of the modern-ish half tons do.
The 1989 Ford Probe GT that I bought for the $2004 Challenge. During a test drive, it seemed pretty unremarkable - it would go where you pointed it without any drama. Then I put it on an autocross course and learned it would go where I pointed it without any drama pretty much right up until the tires lost their grip completely. A very well balanced and composed sort of car.
Sometime around 2008 I had an Avalon as a rental car for a whole week. A month after coming home and driving my old E36M3box around (an absolutely tortured Nissan hardbody) I went out and bought the same Avalon. It was obviously designed for pensioners and had zero motorsports aspirations, but was amazingly quiet and comfortable, ergonomically perfect, had a huge interior, and was surprisingly fast in a straight line. I daily'd that car for 8 or 9 years, never had a problem with it.
That said, I kinda wish I had kept the hardbody for shenanigans.
I had a Lincoln something-or-other as a rental car once. It had power everything, an Ecoboost motor, and those puddle lights with the Lincoln logo. It made me want to take it to the opera or a gala at the met. I really liked it.
The wife had a 07 I think kia spectre 4dr hatchback. It was surprisingly fun to drive on back roads and pretty decent in the snow. We bought it used cheap and when a deer totaled it couldn't find another. The versa that replaced it looked nicer and was 5 years newer but was a E36 M3 box.
Friends let me borrow their 96 Metro with the big 4 once. I kept it floored for THREE HOURS, working to keep a new Challenger on the horizon to use as radar bait while we scooted along at 90mph. It was fun to drive around town, too.
Most fun of all was that I averaged something insane like 60 stinkin miles per gallon.
Come to think of it, I liked the Spark I rented once. I think I like smaller cars more than I realized. I may go buy an SX4. Thanks for the idea, GeddesB!
You'll need to log in to post.
