Earlier today I fell into a time sink on cars that should not have been discontinued. One of them was a car that we still own. If it was still being made, we would buy a new one in a heart beat.
Is there a car that you have owned in the past that you would buy again today if it was made with current technological improvements?
My opinion obviously. As background, I worked at Ford for many years, retiring in 2010.
I would NOT buy a Ford. Too many problems, quality has tanked.
My son in law has owned Acuras for a dozen years or so with great success. Observing that, I bought a used one with 100k miles… great success.
These days, a good quality car that has been taken care of still has lots of life when it has 100k miles. I paid $17k for a 4 year old Acura TLX. Very nice car. No problems. I’d still have it except I took the opportunity to buy a Tesla. No regrets there either.
Bottom line: A good brand of car is still a good car if it has a lot of miles. A bad brand is not a good deal any time.
Rob
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
OT:
loved the “Tappet Brothers” radio show. Infectious laughter, and while they were always joking around, they were very smart.
We purchased a slightly used 2009 Acura MDX in 2010. It has 118,000 miles on it now and runs and looks pretty much like new. We love that car - except that it takes the highest octane gas 
We stopped taking it to the Acura dealer when our local dealer moved to a less convenient location for us. Our local mechanic has told us that this car has lots of miles left on it and we don’t plan to trade it in any time soon.
We would purchase another Acura in a heartbeat.
'38Packard
At 84 I would not buy the car I bought at 24.
My first car was a hand-me-down, the best deal I could get.
Late in life cars were just transportation and Toyota offered the best deal.
At one point I downgraded from Corvette Stingray to used Ford Falcon to keep my company alive.
Complex systems! LOL
The Captain
HA! When the nanny features on my Subaru Outback effectively imprisoned me in the snowbank at the end of my driveway, I was hankering for my first set of wheels…a Hillman Imp. TPK 765F. Purchased for £100 in about 1977. Odometer went back to zero on my watch…as I was driving through Sydenham (SE London) as I recall.
You could work on cars back in those days
Yep. A consumer has a VERY LONG memory of a brand of car purchase that turned out to be a pile of krap. Never again will a consumer buy that brand again. Baby boomers have learned in the 1980’s that Japanese vehicles are generally low maintenance long lasting vehicles. I personally rate Toyota at the top of the heap. Not much flash to their vehicles but VERY durable. I haven’t owned many vehicles since discovering the Toyota brand. That is because a Toyota will last 300,000 miles the way I maintain them. I just wish I had become a Toyota customer sooner.
Quality wasn’t always associated with Japanese products. In the 1950’s I remember the cheaply short lived Japanese transistor hand radios.
The very first Honda cars in the 1960’s had a motorcycle engine. A friend of mine bought a 1976 Honda civic with a 1.3 or 1.4 liter engine. The car weight was around 1500 lbs. A bit scary to be on the freeway with semis. But Japan continue to develop & improve on current models to make them better.
The current generation of the Civic has grown to the size of a 1980’s Accord. And the Accord has grown in size also.
That TLX of mine was the SH-AWD version. The owner’s manual recommended premium, but the computer is designed to compensate in case you run regular gas… which I did. The car performance didn’t seem to suffer and there was zero pre-ignition (meaning the computer compensated for the regular gas). Perhaps your Acura would handle regular as well… check the owner’s manual and owner discussions… worth checking anyway.
Anyway, the TLX was a fun car to drive!
Not as much fun as our Teslas… which I enjoy perhaps even more than the Corvette I owned in college because of the instant torque. My Sweetie doesn’t appreciate how I drive… using the instant torque… and doesn’t like the speed at which I often take corners.
Rob
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Thanks for the heads up! I’ll check out the owner’s manual on fuel type. If if really does not make a difference, we’ll give the lower octane a try!!
Thanks,
'38Packard
The manual usually points out that using lower octaine fule will result in a loss of performance, which would mean a loss of peak power and fuel economy. Audi and Fiat manuals say that too.
Steve
In the 90’s I had an Avalon that I put over 200K miles on. I never had a problem and it ran like a top. A friend bought it and I ran into his wife recently. She said they drove it until it had over 300k miles before they sold it and they never had problems either. I just recently rented an Avalon and immediately fell in love with it. I may have to get one in the near future…doc
1986 VW Golf Wolfsburg. German-made, tight handling, perfect shifting, (I think) 16-valve 4 cylinder 4 or 5-spd hatchback, that car moved. Good stereo system. $@8 or 8.5K back then. Held on to that car for 10 years &120K miles or something. Of course, replaced 1/2 the undercarriage (CV boots, tie rods, whatever) eventually. Made the mistake of switching out to a used Audi and then got back to a '95 Passat within 2 years - good, comfortable car, but not quite the zip of that Golf. When they were still made in das fatherland.
Unfortunately, you missed your chance to buy a brand new Toyota Avalon here in the US. 2022 was the last year for it. You’ll have to buy used or buy one in China, where Buick is enormously popular.
The Toyota Avalon is the only non-Detroit-brand car I can think of that went head-to-head against large Buick sedans like the LeSabre. The 2020 model year was the last one for Buick sedans here in the US. So it’s fitting that the Toyota Avalon was pulled from the US market 2 years later.
Oh wow, just went to the toyota website and no avalon (sad face) Thanks for the heads up…doc
We have owned three Avalons - buying the first one in 2002. Loved every one of them. Sorry to see them go, but the new crown looks pretty cool. I guess this will take the place of the Avalon in the premium sedan class.
'38Packard
When I first met my future wife in the 70’s, I drove a Matador and she drove a Gremlin.
Our first new car we purchased was an Intrepid, which quickly got the nickname Decrepit.
Just in case you were curious why we now drive Hondas.
I remember when I first got married, I had a 6 cylinder Gremlin and the spouse had a Mercury Lynx wagon front wheel drive. Brings back some memories…doc