What's your car journey that got you here?

Man, I'm old...
  1. 1985 Ford Ranger Pickup, otherwise known as the deathtrap. Used. Grandfather donation. Brakes went out on my twice in one year. Always wanted a truck. Got one and hated it. Sold it.
  2. 1988 Ford Probe, otherwise known as the butt plug. Donor from an uncle after the Ranger tired to kill me. Sold it.
  3. 1996 Honda Accord - Lovely car. Stick 4cyl. Leased. No nickname given to this one.
  4. 1998 Nissan Pathfinder - OK. Wish I still had this one. Truck frame, V6, functional 4WD, always worked. Sadly, leased and gave it back.
  5. 2001 Infinity QX4 - Stepping up the Pathfinder to leather seats. She was a beaut, but the styling was always off for me. Another lease that got sent back
  6. 2005 Land Rover LR3 - "Lumpy" This was a bad vehicle. If I owned it long enough, I would have replaced every part on this thing. Blown head gaskets, brake failures (locking up at 80mph), suspension failures, brakes replaced every 10K, on and on. This thing was a turd, but it was also the very first model year of LR3s and still had bad Ford engineering.
  7. 2009 Land Rover LR4 - Last of the V8 Land Rovers, I believe. Should have kept this one. Reliable, good driver, no issues for 70,000 miles. Somewhat shocking. Got a great deal on it because the dealership knew me by name at the service counter. Swore it would be a good one, and it was. Traded in...
  8. 2012 LR Discovery (5) - V6, but more car like than the LR. Still have it. 60,000 miles and the kid now gets it because I can only trade it in for about $20,000.
  9. 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser - Tank, as she's known. TBD.
This list does not include the Toyota Tundra and Ford Lighting that I own for work and don't personally drive. Don't knock the Lightning. It's the perfect construction truck. Tundra has 250,000 miles on it with very few issues (2019 V6). Bought for $35K. Imagine a time when you could buy a base Tundra for $35K.
 
1996 Honda Civic (black)
1999 Audi A4 (silver)
2005 Nissan Frontier (black)
2008 Nissan Altima Coupe (white)
2010 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport (white)
2013 Nissan Altima (silver)
2014 Toyota Prius (Siliver)
2018 Nissan Rogue (black)
2021 Jeep Gladiator (Stingray)
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser (Ice Cap)
 
1970 Mercedes 220D
1984? Subaru Wagon (with pop up center headlight)
1989 Saab 9000 Turbo
1996 Subaru Outback
1999 Lexus RX300
2005 Lexus RX400h
2011 Mercedes GL 450
2012 Audi A6
2017 Mercedes GLS 450
2022 Audi A6
2024 LC FE
2024 BMW M340ix
 
I had a few xc90s and abused them. Decided to get my first ever new car before we are all forced to have electric cars. So far it's not gone super well she's looking very second hand already but in for a penny and in for several thousand pounds 🤣😭🤣😭
 
Had a few cars and lots of dirtbikes/ATVs:
1964 Rambler (field mobile-$600 in 1969 plus $2K engine rebuild/transmission replacement on teacher's salary) |...+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7.]..+....8....+....9....+...10....+...11....+...12....+..
1967 VW Bug (last pre EPA VW-traded for 1973 Volvo-Swedish Brick)
1967 Austin Healy MK 3000 (Black-money pit)
1970 Triumph TR6 (blue-great car)
1973 Volvo 245 (Many EFI problems)
1976 Volvo 245 (no troubles tho A/C was puny)
1978 VW Westfalia Camper (Puff the tragic wagon)
1980 Volvo 245 (Leather seats/alloy wheels-our last Swedish Brick)
1981 Honda Accord (2nd and last black car) 5 sp manual-no good in snow
1985 GMC Van (6.2L diesel with 4 sp manual in floor-Tan diesel van)
1994 Dodge 360 1/2 pickup (1st and last Dodge)
1996 GMC 3 door 1/2 ton Pickup (3rd door always had an air leak throttle body stayed stuck)
1984 4Runner
1999 4Runner SR5 (5 sp manual-still our snow car)
2002 Chevy 2500HD Durmax Diesel (great truck)
 
The first car I ever drove was a green 1980s Range Rover. It was already a good 10 years old at the time and I was no more than 12 but tall enough to sneak around cars and cause trouble for my parents.

Anyways, the Range Rover...we were at some ranch so it was safe and after going well for a couple of minutes I almost drove it in a creek.

I loved loved that car. Nothing made an impression like that on me except for a 3 series red BMW a couple of years later but even that didn't come close. That BMW had a tiny TV in it. Kind of like the car screens we have now but you'd have to turn the channels to watch actual TV.

Long story short, overlanding, mountain biking, and BMWs became an obsession of sorts from early on and several bikes, 4x4s, and dogs later and this LC is the closest thing to that green Range Rover I've experienced.

These aren't my photos but basically the exact two cars that started it all.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_7786.jpeg
    IMG_7786.jpeg
    1 MB · Views: 8
  • IMG_7785.jpeg
    IMG_7785.jpeg
    1.4 MB · Views: 8
Last edited:
1965 Ford Mustang
1985 Chevy S-10 Blazer
1999 VW Passat
2008 Volvo XC90 (wife)
2009 Toyota Highlander
2013 Toyota 4-Runner Trail
2019 Subaru Ascent (wife)
2024 Toyota LC FE
 
1980 Toyota Celica GT Liftback
1989 Honda Civic Si Hatchback 5spd
1996 Ford Explorer
2002 Nissan Maxima 6 spd
2013 Honda Pilot
2025 Toyota Landcruiser LC

Wife-

1989 Acura LS 5 spd
2003 Toyota Highlander
2010 Acura TSX 6 spd
2018 Audi A5 Coupe.

The 96 Explorer was a turd. Had loose suspension bolts from day 1, and never got much better. Transmission went at 50k miles limped along with a rebuild and got rid of it for the Maxima- which was ok. Had high expectations of that 3.5L V6, but must have got a dud, as it pinged all the time on premium and burned oil. Still have the TSX and the A5. Great cars for us. Loved the Civic and the Acura LS too.
 
1978 Ford Granada
1990 Chevy Cavalier
1986 Toyota 4Runner (was my dream car, bought used and traded with 199k miles when my boys got too big for it)
1996 Chevy Cavalier (they were cheap when we were young and poor)
1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo
2002 Chevy Trailblazer
2004 Toyota 4Runner
2007 Toyota Tundra Crewmax (three growing boys had lots of room)
2009 Dodge Challenger R/T Classic (I’m still traumatized by what I went through with Dodge with this beautiful piece of ****)
2008 Toyota 4Runner (Traded that Dodge for a fourth gen they had on the lot, I was not in love with the fifth gen at the time)
2015 Toyota 4Runner Trail ( My husband totaled it 😩)
2018 Toyota 4Runner SR5 (Traded for my LC)
2022 Toyota 4Runner ORP (He still drives it)
2024 Toyota Land Cruiser 1958

My husband was driving a 1979 full sized Ford Ranger when I met him and at one point we had an old Ford Tempo back in the early 90’s that we junked after two months.

I wish we could have kept that 1986 4Runner, after my husband overhauled the engine it drove like it was new, all 100 or so horsepower! 😄
 
Got my license in 2000

1998 Volkswagen gti vr6
2002 ford focus
1996 Chevy s10
2005 Scion xb
1993 Honda civic hatchback
2000 Nissan frontier
2003 mini cooper s
2006 Infiniti m45
1990 ford Taurus
1962 Vw bug
2006 Toyota Camry
2006 Toyota Tacoma
2016 Toyota Tacoma
2007 Toyota tacoma
2016 Toyota Tundra
1956 Vw bug
1970 Vw karmann ghia
1993 Toyota pickup
2012 Toyota Highlander (still have)
1962 Chevy Impala (still have)
2025 Toyota LC
 
Started driving 1995 or so:
1981 BMW 528i 3AT - leaned the importance of looking for rust, and why automatics are awful
1986 BMW 325es 5MT -, fun and decent MPG
1989 BMW 525i 5MT - a fully fixed up, 200k+ mile project from my trusted mechanic
1999 Subaru Legacy GT 5MT sedan - learned about curbstoners, lots of issues
2005 Subaru WRX 5MT Wagon - fun and pretty reliable, though not super comfortable
2014 Ford Fiesta SFE 5MT Hatch - first new - fun handling, 1.0 turbo 3, 40 mpg, too small for baby
2017 Ford Focus ST3 6MT Hatch - amazing leather Recaro seats, ultimately also too small for kid
2021 Toyota Venza Limited eCVT - 37 mpg, electrochromic roof, but not much space for the size
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser 1958 - Loved it - see The Unexpected Risk of an Early Break-In Oil Change
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser Premium - I've had it a day, but definitely love it
 
Last edited:
I am 39 years old and have had 13 cars over the last 23 years of driving. That doesn’t count motorcycles and cars I have bought my wife (2 additional cars and 3 motorcycles). I’m a bit of a gear head and I love cars from the 90’s and early 2000’s. I bought my Land Cruiser because it reminded me of SUVs of the era.

1992 Chevrolet Lumina Eurosport Coupe (my sister gave this to me and I

2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R (thought I was hot shit, worked two jobs in HS to get the down payment)

1994 Lincoln Town car (ditched the car payments until my senior year of college)

2007 Toyota Yaris (first exposure to Toyota, got me through my first few years of professional work, sold it when gas prices were high for more than I bought it in 2010 and only spent money on oil changes and gas)

1968 Mercury cyclone fast back (owned this from my senior year of college until this past July. I ended up unknowingly selling it to a major criminal. I found out by googling his name and address)

2003 intrepid R/T (my cousin sold it to me for 2 grand and I loved this car until it was rear ended by a drunk driver)

2001 ford mustang GT (totaled in an accident on the highway)

2012 Honda Insight (awesome car that got me through my mid to late 20’s, sold it to my friends little brother and it saved his life in an accident)

1999 Oldsmobile for a week

2015 Nissan Versa (bought it to go on a date with my girlfriend and now wife)

2022 Jeep Wrangler Ecodiesel (my first 4x4. I loved it but it had tons of engine and fuel system issues)

2003 ford mustang GT(It’s my Time Machine takes me back to my high school years every time I drive its. I still own this car and bought it from my employee’s family)

2025 Toyota Land Cruiser 1958 edition (I panicked and bought this when I first heard of the tariff stuff and I don’t regret the purchase one bit)
 
Back
Top