Cars aren’t rational. If they were, we’d all be driving around in Priuses, and while there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a Prius, it just doesn’t suit everyone, you know? The fact is, almost every driver cares about their vehicle in some way, from the parents who wouldn’t be caught dead in a minivan to the 20-something crustpunk who enjoys the space of a minivan for drums and stuff. We all have our reasons for spending our actual money on the vehicles we drive, so today on Autopian Asks, we want to ask why did you buy your car?
I’ll gladly go first, although I’m probably not the most rational buyer out there, for I tend to mostly buy cars on wants and have a habit of having cars find me. In the case of my Porsche, I wanted a particular Boxster with a particular set of options, and eventually, the right one chose me. Yep, it’s still brilliant, and was well worth the two-plus-year search. Now, with the 325i, things are a little more complicated.
I’ve always loved the E90, but I wouldn’t have ended up with this one if it weren’t for stupid rust belt problems. See, I used to own a relatively nice Infiniti G35, which was great until it wasn’t. Once the 120,000-mile mark was breached, the nickel-and-dime repairs just kept coming, from dampers to trim bits to fixing exhaust leaks. The natural sort of stuff you’d expect in the rust belt, and eventually, it all just grew tiresome enough that I sold the G35 and bought a BMW with far more previous owners and far more mileage under its belt that actually found its way to me through a Facebook group. So far, it’s been the more robust car, and it was a great one-car solution for when I could only have one car.
See, when you can only own one car, you need to balance your wants and needs. I wanted a manual gearbox, drive to the back, good steering, decent brakes, a banging stereo, and a zero-to-60 mph time in the rough area of six seconds. I needed space to move stuff, a rear seat for occasional carpooling and airport runs, decent fuel economy, plenty of parts support, and acceptable passive safety due to how undertrained many drivers are. The result? The sports sedan.
However, most people don’t fire the parts cannon at fully depreciated German cars, and most people don’t buy their cars outright or on their fancy either. So, why did you buy your car? Was it a great deal, did it just fit your life perfectly, was it a dream of yours? Regardless, I want to hear your rationale in the comments below.
(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)
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I bought my Volvo because I didn’t want to drive my Mustang in the winter. Cold and carbs don’t mix and I don’t even want to think about the toll road salt would have taken.
I bought my Miata because not having a fun car (I had sold my Mustang) was killing me. I was absolutely losing my mind.
First car was given to me from my Grandmother: a 1993 Pontiac Bonneville SE in powder blue. No 16 year old really wants a six seat four door FWD car, but that thing lasted way longer under poor ownership than anything cool possibly could have. I’m talking eight years and 90,000 miles, from South Dakota to South Carolina and back.
Finally, the starter was going out and I had a flat tire at 210k miles, and when I jacked the car up on the unibody, the jack went through the “frame” section and the car wouldn’t go up.
I found a 1995 Cadillac Eldorado (yes, with the Northstar v8) that only had 73k miles (in 2019) and heated seats. Eight years of a comfy car had changed my priorities, and it’s hard to argue with a rust-free car after replacing all the brakelines in your previous driver. Plus, it was $1,900 bucks.
Next, was looking for a fun car seven years later and test drove a 2016 Mustang GT. Yeah, after the test drive, I realized that car would quickly land me either in jail or a coroners’ office. So I bought a first gen Raptor. (Gas was cheap, interest rate wasn’t terrible, and I was 26.)
Then the girlfriend came in and the Raptor wouldn’t tow her Mud Truck, so after two years and 20,000 miles of Raptor ownership (yes, I jumped it nine times. It also hauled firewood, tires, and a broken down truck, and got off-roaded for at least 300 miles, including doing 75mph across a prairie dog town) I sold it for 13 grand less than I’d paid for it. Salvage titles are meant to be kept and hail damage sucks.
Girlfriend became fiance, and her 05 LeSabre let her down one too many times after 225,000 miles, and was replaced with a 15 Honda Civic Coupe (we put 35,000 miles on in two years, fuel economy was priority numero uno)
Still need a truck to do truck stuff because we bought a house and she still has a Mud Truck, so this spring we found a CLEAN TITLE 2011 Ram 2500 Laramie. I’m not giving up my heated seats, she wanted a long bed, and it’s green, my favorite color.
I finally, at 29 years old, got the big green diesel pickup 4-year old me always wanted.
Prior car was a Dodge Magnum RT, and it kept stalling with throttle tip-in. Not exactly safe for merging on highways.
Decided to check out the Veloster N. I knew I needed something with a small modicum of practicality, but also wanted some performance. Borrowed an infant seat from a friend to test fit even though my wife and I were years from having a kid. And then they started it up. That silly exhaust burble basically sold me. The test drive felt exactly like I expected. And that was that.
Now, almost 5 years later, I get to figure out how to make an infant seat AND a rear facing convertible seat fit. When we had the infant seat in before it was behind the passenger seat (also on the side with the rear door…), but required that seat be almost all the way forward. I’m too tall to drive with the seat all the way forward. But, I’ll mostly just be driving my oldest to school, so the full family duty will be in a back-up scenario only. Hoping I can just make it work for a year or so until we can change seats. About to have the car paid off and don’t really want to get anything else in the same used price range.
I found a mk5 GTI with a stage 2 tune on an auction site. The seller was a VW tech, so I was less afraid of the years and miles. He wryly asked if this was my first VW (it is). Anyway, now I know how to change the ignition module (WHY do those fail enough that there are a ton of youtube fix-it videos?) and the intake manifold. Mostly no regrets. The car rips and I don’t get stink-eye for it in my small town.
R107 – I didn’t know my wife had a favorite car. When she told me she did and this was it, we bought one. It’s a slow, open-air vault. I don’t love driving it, but I am usually a passenger princess anyway.
2005 Tundra – I need to haul mulch thrice a year. Not really…we’re doing significant renovations and this popped up on marketplace near me. It is a single-cab, manual-windows, rubber-floored workhorse with an 8-foot bed. And a cap. The air works better than anything else we have, and it can tow. So…
1968 Lotus 7 (replica) – I have nearly been steamrolled a couple times on my motorcycle recently. This is after (gulp) 24 years of accident-free street riding while living in WV, L.A., Denver, and now SW VA. I wanted something visceral to take the place of most of, but not all of, the motorcycle riding that I do. It was built by an SCCA madman in Tennessee and has a tuned SR20DET. It will flatten your eyeballs it is so fast, and the lack of windshield goes a long way to replicating the rest of the motorcycle experience. Per my email the title is arriving today!!!
My daily was a 2001 BMW e46. It overheated one day and I thought it blew a headgasket. In a panic, I found another car, a 1998 BMW e36. It’s a lame spec, 318i and automatic, but I needed a car THAT DAY.
I needed to move the e46 around my driveway, so I added a bottle of that copper head gasket fix stuff. Well, I’ll be damned if it didn’t work. It runs like a champ. I drove it around the neighborhood for 15 minutes and it’s fine.
Time for a track car?
The 944 was purchased out of Jalopnik’s comment section after my first article there, which was about how the first 944 got totaled.
Another team was sick of the 411, knew I liked weird aircooleds and asked if I wanted it. Hell yeah.
The Lancer was a graduation gift. My parents got sick of the hooptie Altima I had, so they showed up one weekend determined to get me a reliable new car with a warranty. I hadn’t even graduated yet. That was how sick we all were of that turd Altima. Anyway, the Lancer was the nicest vehicle in the Waco area in our price range, so there you have it. It will not die and it’s been a great car. It’s basically the anti-Altima.
I wanted a two-door hatch, and I wanted a manual again. So after some searching I found a low-mileage 2015 GTI on Carvana and decided to take a chance. Other than buying at the peak of the crazy used car market, I’ve been happy with the purchase. I like tinkering on my cars, and while I haven’t done much beyond maintenance and some minor reconditioning, I did upgrade the radio to CarPlay/AA and a much larger screen.
I moved on from the Hyundai wagon to my van because…
1) I now had two young kids. No we aren’t having more and no, you don’t need a van for two kids but…
2) My in-laws now live with me and having a vehicle that can take everyone is useful.
3) We frequently do things with friends that make having us all in one vehicle fun, and we sometimes camp out of it.
4) It’s great for hauling gigantic stuff.
But the real reason I bought it was because I wanted it. And honestly, always wanted one. I have a letter from 4th grade me that read “I hope by now you own a mini-van”. So I suppose that’s why I bought it. No, I do not know what is wrong with me.
I bought my ’96 Suzuki Cappuccino, because as time goes on we’re seeing cars get larger/heavier and more loaded with tech and I wanted to get something that was the opposite of that. No power steering, no ABS, no fancy torque vectoring/four wheel steering/hybrid/electric turbos. The Cappuccino just makes me smile anytime I drive it.
I bought my Datsun 280Z because it was the most beautiful car ever penned (sans bigass bumpers) for a killer price.
I also made the argument that it was a cheaper way to learn how to wrench using it as a test bed than quitting my job and going back to school for a year (turns out, it wasn’t).
I’m also a firm believer that performance and fun are two very different things, and classic cars offer fun no modern sports car can.
Now let me cry a bit while I spend a week’s salary on parts because I’ve had yet another bad surprise with that car.
After all that de-rusting work?
I hate to hear that!
The rust is gone, but the mechanicals aren’t completely up to snuff yet.
The brakes are a little jittery and she doesn’t start as well as I’d like.
We’ll get there! It’s just that I’ve told my SO several times already that “the car’s good now, I won’t have to spend as much on parts as last month”. I wish It was true once!
Evaluated my needs and wants and met them in the middle with an NA Miata. I don’t regularly have passengers or large items to transport, and when I do, I can borrow another vehicle. I don’t have a lot of money, so decent fuel economy, reliability, and reparability is a must-have. Furthermore, I wanted something with a manual so I can retain the ability to row my own gears (I no longer have access to the car I learned to drive stick in), and I wanted the car to be something I could enjoy every day, not just an appliance.
Miata Is Always The Answer. Found a guy selling a well-maintained stock 1990 model, love at first drive, been driving it ever since.
My first car had almost no logic behind the purchase decision though. At 16 I decided I wasn’t about to spend my hard-earned cash on something “boring” like a Camry or Civic, I was going to buy a classic car I could learn to wrench on. And I did – before I even had my license, I bought a barely-running 1966 Ford Thunderbird and went on to drive it to school almost daily, scrambling to fix and tune it along the way.
I bought that car because it was the prettiest car I’d ever seen and it made an impression on me, so I was determined to restore it over the course of high school. That quickly turned into “I hope I can afford to keep this running through high school,” which turned into “I hope I can finish rebuilding the engine so it runs again by the end of high school,” which turned into “That’s it, I need to pay someone to fix this part, and there will be no more restoration until I’ve saved up a more proper budget,” and the car is still unrestored to this day… with all the parts I fixed passing the problem torch to other parts of the car, so it’s never worked entirely properly.
Worst of all, it was wrecked last year… which is why I had to buy my Miata in the first place. And yet, I bought my battered T-bird back from insurance, with no intention of scrapping it or selling off the good parts. This time I bought the car again because it’s just important to me. It’s been a significant part of my life and a formative part of my sense of self, as weird as it may sound to attach that much gravity to a beat up old car. It felt like a companion and old friend or huge goofy pet when I was trying to find my place in the often-hostile landscape of high school… It was a place of refuge when I needed to hide from bullies, and the engine always started just in the nick of time so I could get away. I learned how to rebuild an engine because of that car, how to repair cracked metal, how to do an alignment, how to tune a carburetor… how to see value in old stuff other people see as junk, and to stubbornly say “I’m not letting you die just because you’re being fussy today.”
And those feelings never really went away… I love that car, and somehow I WILL fix the mangled rear bodywork and put it back on the road. I have no interest in reliving my high school years with it, but I’m not done making memories with it, and someday I will drive off into the sunset in my beautiful land yacht full of stories and cherished memories knowing it was worth it.
I bought my E93 BMW because I’d been driving for 50 years and never had a convertible. I guy I was working with at the time extolled the wonderfulness of the 335is. So, the only one I could find, they wasn’t knackered was a ‘12, in white w/ a black interior & DCT. (Still driving it.)
We bought a ‘17 F-150 to tow our travel trailer. My wife grew weary of trying to park that thing. So the search was on. A small(ish) hatchback seemed the ideal. A Kia Soul was in the frame, but it came w/ CVT or a turbo w/ a dry clutch DSG that looked to be a reliable as a Focus w/ the similar PowerShift. We finally settled on a used MK7.5 VW w/DSG. So far (12K miles), she loves it & i’m not totally annoyed by it.
I am disappointed that the top spec GTI doesn’t have memory drivers seat and mirrors and the mirrors don’t fold when locked. It also pretends to know which key is used to start it, but when you shut it off, it says “goodbye unknown driver”.
When I bought the VW, I bought 3 cars I said I never wanted again, 1) a German car, 2) a black car, & 3) a VW (had a friend that called Golf’s “Hitler’s revenge”).
2023 was the last year for the Lexus GX460. And local dealerships were offering ~$8k off any still in stock. Lucky me, they still had one with the color combo I wanted.
Oh man, well I bought my 2002 Boxster S when I was in my early 20s, moved to Los Angeles for work, where my daily had become a little gold 2003 Mini I bought for nothing, but had the CVT. I had to leave my Saab at home on the east cost as I knew it would never pass smog, but I just couldn’t deal with the CVT anymore and the allure of the three pedals became too much to ignore, combine that with a location that’s always convertible weather and I knew I could try something fun. I was at an event with Matt Farah and I asked him what car I should look at for those criteria, and he said “Marco you have that Boxster.” Got in with Marco from TLG and picked up the most wonderful boxster for a song he had from some longtime clients. It was just the best time, until a Nissan lead rear ended it on the 10, which gave enough frame damage to total it… but I made money on the insurance payout!
Turned that into a 2016 Cadillac ATS-V coupe, 6 speed stick Frost Edition with matte white paint that I still have and absolutely love. My driving at the time I wanted a bit more modern confidence, didn’t want to go full LA and get an M3, and wanted something you don’t see, something a little odd ball but still with the performance and driving chops. Took it home cross country where it garages for the winter, but I still just love it.
but truly, everything stems from “I can’t get a Saab anymore what the hell do I do?” If that Jason Castriota 9-3 got built in an Aero with a stick that would 100% be what I drove now, but alas!
My car needs to be fast, sporty, fun to drive, comfortable, and something that my wife can stand to be in. The BMW M240i with the 6MT and the BMW LSD checks all of the boxes. It’s way more than quick enough for me, quite comfortable, handles well (albeit being a bit heavy), and rides smoothly enough in “Comfort” mode to keep my wife happy. Sure, a Cayman or a Miata would handle much better, but I do rather like my wife and appreciate having her in the passenger seat.
1996 VZJ95 LandCruiser Prado – we were looking at a vehicle capable of bringing us to the Appalachian fishing and camping spots we wanted to get to. Laughing at the prices of 4Runners and domestic LCs during early COVID, we went to a JDM importer and were very happy with the process. 25kkm later and super pleased with the adventures from NY to SC along the mtns.
2004 Mustang Mach-E AWD. Traded 2013 Tesla Model S in for it. Quite frankly, I wanted an EV that was a little fun on the commute, but wasn’t a Tesla.
I bought my Alfa 2000GT because the NB MX-5 SP I was keen on sold before I could get to it, and then I remembered that 70s Alfas are fun too. Not too dissimilar on price back then either (this was nearly 10 years ago). My W114 Merc 280E I bought because I was depressed and not making sensible decisions. Basically I traded my ’08 Subaru Legacy GT 6-speed wagon and a bunch of cash for it at a dealer, because.. well, because I wasn’t making sensible decisions. I still like it, but it’s been rather expensive and has been off the road for extended periods getting things fixed. Still, at least I have nice reliable 50 year old Alfa to get about in.
Two cars, two reasons:
2024 Mercedes GLC300: my third GLC in a row. They do the exact job I buy cars for: 750 miles in a day with a load of stuff and my roommate, and at the end of the day I don’t feel like I’ve been hit by a truck. This one has all the features and gadgets I want, and it’s not monochrome!
1987 Mercedes 560SL: I wanted an R107 ever since I got a ride in one as a teenager. Finally got one I could afford to buy outright. Been a pain to keep running, mostly due to my ineptitude, but driving it puts a grin on my face.
I bought my 2011 Ranger (used) because I knew my wife would be retiring soon and we would need something affordable to maintain and hopefully reliable. The rubber floor covering doesn’t mind the mud, grass, and grime of a landscaper. There is no screen to freeze or malfunction. The engine is less complicated than modern vehicles but not as simple as 70’s machinery.
It’s been a loyal friend, and I appreciate it.
Mazda5. Because at the time it was the smallest, most fuel efficient, best handling vehicle with sliding doors available at any price.
Fortunately that price was dirt cheap.
13 years later I still have it and still have no regrets. Well OK sometimes I regret not having a MT, other times I’m happy to have the auto.
Problems? A few. It’s wrenchable enough I can usually DIY but most issues have been very minor, engine mounts, leaky oil cooler, weird idle shake issue fixed with LED taillights, sometimes a loose nut on the strut causes a rattle, just needs to be retorqued, chewed through rear tires till the stock fixed upper control arms were swapped with adjustable ones out of a Focus, etc.
It passes CA smog Every. Single Time.
(Overall the good greatly outweighs the bad.)
FAQs:
How’s it handle? It handles great, much more like a mid sized car than a van. Not a surprise, it’s essentially a stretched, somewhat heavier Mazda 3 which was well regarded for its handling.
Is it fast? It’s fast enough for me. Its an MZR/Duratec engine so there are options…
Can it do truck things? Yes if those “truck things” are moving appliances, full beer kegs (6 @ 165 lbs), bicycles and construction scrap. No tow hitch though although they do exist.
Is it cool? Aw HELL yeah! Everyone thinks so!
1997 BMW M3 for $800 – I traded a 2003 B5 S4 + the cash. Started having lots of little small issues with the S4, and just did not trust it. Still the fastest and most powerful car ive owned. Drop the clutch from a stop at 4k RPMs and that thing rips off. I just could not trust it for my daily driver. I had it posted for sale for weeks. I could not even sell it for $3500!!! (Running, driving, no CEL) then when I was showing it to the 5th or so party the hood latch broke. I felt defeated. Finally this guy contacts me and asks if I was interested in a partial trade for E36 M3 (Sedan, 5spd, TECHNO VIOLET) and wanted me too meet half way, about 150miles away. I did not trust the S4 to even drive me there! (and maybe back) I told him everything about the car, and this guy ended up driving 300+ miles, and I handed him $800 and the S4 for the BMW E36. 10 years later that was one of the best decisions I have made. I love this car.
2022 Audi S5 Sportback (Integrated Engineering Stage 1 tune, 446 HP). Bought it when I sold my 2018 Golf R (APR Stage 1 tune, 371 HP), which I sold as I wanted more capacity to haul crap back and forth between FL and NJ twice yearly. I like the S5, but really miss and loved the R. The S and the R very similar in straight line performance, but the S suffers from much more turbo lag. The R handling was far superior to the S, but the S is no slouch; it amazes me how Audi is able to get a 4,000 pound sled to handle as well as it does. The issue I currently face is that I want to replace the S, but am conflicted regarding what to replace it with. I do not like the touch controls on the Mk 8 R, so that is near the bottom of my list of desirable replacements. I understand the Mk 8.5 R will replace some of the haptic controls with actual buttons and knobs like my S has, but my reading tells me some of the haptic controls will still be present in the ’25 R. I am considering the ’25 Audi S3 which is built on the same platform as the Golf R and will have the same engine, drivetrain and rear diff as the R, have mixed emo regarding the Integra Type S, don’t like the boy racer styling of the Civic Type R. I do not track my cars but am known to push to about 80% on a nice driving road. So I’m wanting something smaller than the S5, which means I will likely get a roof carrier for the crap I haul north and south.
This harangue goes beyond the article’s title question of why I bought my car. I am open to suggestions and appreciate input regarding what cars to consider other than what I have mentioned. Thanks.
I bought a Boxster because I wanted a Miata. But that needs a bit of a longer explanation, so here’s the speed round:
16 years old, 1990 Miata, crankshaft failure, move to college , modified 2002 WRX wagon, rod knock, stock 2001 A4 1.8T 5MT Quattro (so many options), graduate college, high miles, rust, bushings, 2015 M235i RWD ZF8, first automatic, too expensive, too fast, too big, too boring, 1998 Boxster manual.
In other words, it goes good slow car – bad fast car -good slow car – bad fast car -good slow car.
Now, I wanted another Miata, I initially got the 2-series because I didn’t want to lose my job due to an old car breaking down. During that time, we got my wife a car, and I realized I could steal it if I had mechanical problems. So the 2-series had to go, and I was back to the Miata problem. Common Miata problems speed round:
Rust, certain death upon meeting an Escalade, rust, fragile diff, rust, no trunk, rust, too loud at 70mph, rust, needs aftermarket rollbar, rust.
So, what I needed was a Miata with a bit more power, was safer and was rust-resistant. After Subaru, Audi and BMW ownership I was comfortable with complex and troublesome engines but riddled by nightmares of rust (mainly from the Audi)
Enter stage left: Boxster (speed round)
Side-impact airbags, galvanized body, factory roll bars, galvanized frame, strong chassis, stainless exhaust, cavernous frunk, THICK PAINT.
I perused all the Boxster forums for days and didn’t find a single article about body or frame rust. I found some about radiators corroding when they get packed with leaves, and one about a little spot below the side vents rarely rusts under severe neglect. And that was it, I’m now the proud owner of a manual 1998 Boxster in Arena Red, and I adore it. Flat-6 noises, lift-off oversteer, and a slick shifter, free of oxidation-based paranoia.
It’s now my year-round daily, top down in the Summer and ass out in the Winter.
I wanted a fast car that got better than 14 mpg for my daily so I went electric. It’s fast, quiet, handles as good as my muscle car and cost me less that $40 a month to drive. For fun I still like big ICE power and favor MOPAR.
5th Gen 4runner. Zero problems. Only maintenance has been completed. Goes where I want it too.