Lifetime Car List

This covers cars owned by my wife and me, after we were married.

1980 Toyota Corolla, 1987-1993. Paid $3400, donated at 135K miles. My wife bought it before we were married, but it lasted well into our marraige. Fairly reliable no big bills, after 100K it began suffering from a very slow cancer, as one little, non-critical thing after another stopped working. A good buy.

1983 Plymout Reliant, 1987-1991. Free, a generous graduation gift from my parents. The right car for Chrysler at the time, but forgettable. Dying at 110K, donated.

1988 Toyota Tercel, 1989-1996. Paid $5800, sold for $500 at 115K miles. A big disappointment, especialy considering that we bought it with a mere 21K miles on it. Developed a bad oil burning problem around 80K miles. No Toyota reliability there.

1987 Ford Crown Victoria, 1992-1998. Paid $4800, sold for $400 at 115K. Beth calls this one "Erik's folly". Seemed like a lot of space for the money. Very unreliable, only consolation was that repairs were cheap. First car I had with power windows and locks. Last car I will own with rear wheel drive and carbeuration.

1993 Dodge Caravan, 1996-2003. Paid $11,500, donated at 146K. The first car I owned that I didn't hate by the end. Biggest disappointment was the AC, which died at 70K miles. I had the consdenser replaced for a few hundred dollars, it died the next year, and I gave up, and just re-charged the AC every year during the first hot spell. Also, had a very weird stalling problem when getting off the highway after driving at high speed for > 1 hour. Always started after, though sometimes with some reluctance. All in all, a good buy. Last car I will own without power windows and mirrors.

1995 Ford Taurus, 1998-2004. Paid $8200, traded in for $1500. I thought it was a good buy when I bought it, but its reliability was mediocre. I had the radiator replaced, but I have the feeling I was way over-sold on the repair. Otherwise, no really major failures. Once it wouldn't turn off--fortunately I was near a Pet Boys--and that nicked me for $300. At the end, 110K miles, it had a bunch of problems, all fixable in and of themselves, but pretty expensive all told, and I was sick of it. Good price, mediocre performance.

2002 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport, 2003-present. Paid $18,200. By far the most expensive vehicle we ever purchased, though if you compare size, equipment and years of inflation, it doesn't compare so badly with the 1993 Caravan, which we thought at the time was a bargain. First car I have ever bought that was still under manufacturer's warranty.

2005 Ford Focus ZX4 SES, 2004-present. Paid $16,000, before trade-in. First new car I have ever bought, fairly loaded (but I still wish it had leather seats), something of an indulgence (by my standards). Lots of fun to drive after the ponderous cars I have been driving for the last decade (and before that, small but under-powered cars). So, really, the first fun-to-drive car I've ever owned. After 6 months, I still look forward to driving it every day, and so far have very diligently kept up my vow to keep it very clean. See my idiosyncratic review.