The best driving car I have owned was a Honda Civic 4th gen. Hatchback from 1988. Modest in many ways but light and with a remarkable suspension design which made every drive a joy.
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Pick your favorite iconic car from any decade....
- Thread starter Iridescentone
- Start date
Retired auto tech here with 40 years under my belt and I can't think of many domestic vehicles I'd recommend....... I get people asking me what to buy and my answer is typically "Honda, Toyota or Subaru."
I have to agree with you 100% on that. My last two vehicles have both been Mazdas. My last was a 2024 cx30 my current vehicle is the 2026 CX-5. Both are quality vehicles And I actually believe that Mazda being a smaller company like they are is quicker to react to any issues that do crop up. There were some issues with the new software and infotainment system on the 2026 CX-5. Which is to be expected when you are on the first generation of anything whether it be hardware or software but Mazda has reacted quickly and gotten patches out in a timely fashion which have corrected my issues. Often It seems with the large automakers who are part of conglomerates.It takes them forever to get issues taken care of. they have too many cooks spoiling the overall soup.
And yeah we could always buy older cars that still do have computerized controls they are not as sophisticated and far easier for the average mechanic or owner to work on and fix.. I have a small code reader that will read codes but with these newer cars unless you have the big bucks tools and software to reprogram whatever it is you find wrong with it you're pretty much out of luck you have to take it to the dealer or to a big shop who has the right equipment..
I was on another forum recently talking about the same exact thing when it comes to modern automobiles I had to kind of laugh because I made a comment saying that I'm pretty sure I'm going to be dating myself when I say this but I certainly miss the days when I got into my car and it had two red lights one for temp one for oil maybe a gauge for charging it's lot easier to figure out and work on. Also, don't even get me started on the current trend from all automakers to put features behind the paywall. We pay enough for these vehicles to begin with and we shouldn't be forced to be nickel and dime for monthly subscriptions to things that used to be part of the vehicle or on the key fob instead of an app.
I will research that, thanks.
EDIT: I see the issue now. My old 2006 doesn't have that and I will certainly take it into account next time l car shop.
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For almost 50 years I have driven Hondas, most with 5-speed manual gearboxes. The last one was a '19 Fit EX with a CVT. Never cared for that transmission, but for a few weeks I rented a '24 Mazda3 Select Sport hatchback (the Fit was in the bodyshop after someone pulled out of her driveway as I was passing by) and fell in love with that car. Once the Fit came back from repair I traded it in for a '26 Mazda3 Select Sport hatchback. Even though it has an automatic transmission it is so good to leave the CVT behind (I drive it most of the time in its manual mode).
Great idea, just hasn't been implemented great yet.
Otherwise, I love my G35. Nissan has some nice stuff too, but I feel it's one notch below Honda and Toyota.
Honda quality isn't what it was - our Fit has been a real "Friday car" - some if it due to stupid stuff like the door locks being designed for electric locking and unable to withstand repeated use of those funny little metal things we put on a ring and keep in our pocket.
My last few newer-ish vehicles have been Subarus, beyond that I drive junk because I can.
I'm the master of the $50 car..... I can turn chicken chit into chicken soup and get three or four years out of them and sell the leftovers for a profit.
In the last 40 something years, I've owned over 100 vehicles and all but maybe 10 were registered and driven by me....... the others were parts cars.
Not to mention all the issues they had with their engines. I owned two sportages a 2012 and a 2014 the 2014 had the infamous 2.4L Theta II GDI blow up engines. I never had problems with either of them. But I guess I was one of the lucky ones because many people had problems with those engines blowing up
I remember reading a similar article in the old hippy-back-to-the-land/do-more-with-less magazine, "The Mother Earth News." It talked about the $250 car.
The author said that he never paid more than $250 for a car. (this was back in the late '70's) The car had to run ok and not be in need of any serious mechanical repair. He would drive it until something broke or needed attention, then sell it to the junkyard and buy another $250 car. He wouldn't even buy things like batteries or tires. He said that he usually got 9 months to a year's use out of his cheapie cars. That equates to $20-25/month for a car payment, excluding gas. I can't remember, but he might not have even done any oil changes.
Sure, my go-kart has one, Comet knows how to build one... for rec vehicles. But for an actual car, we aren't there yet.
It works great, it was banned from F1 before it could ever dominant.
