Not in the least bit. When I moved to my current house, I traded my Honda for a Subaru outback due to all the snow/ice and hills I have to drive through. While I love how I never get stuck in the snow, I always felt a car was just something to move me from one point to another. Does your car have to be expensive to love it? Maybe because I always but middle-of the line cars, I just don't love them. Appreciate them, yes

I had a subaru for 13 years (Misty Dawn was her name and her color)and then switched to a Saturn. More than a year into owning the Saturn, I brought it in for some servicing. On his way outside to drive the car into the service bay the tech asked "which car is yours?" I said the subaru. He goes out to look for it, comes back in and sez "ummm, which car is yours?" I reply the Subaru. He gives me a blank stare and I'm thinking what's his problem? "No wait! it's the Saturn" Ah! That's his problem - I don't know what kind of car I drive.

I did name the Saturn - Grace Kelly - because it's an icy blue (like the real GK's eyes) and it was purchased from the Kelly dealership. But I must admit I have never felt the same affection for it as I did for Misty Dawn. I sold Misty Dawn to my nephew so she was still in the family. Then, after a year, he sold it a friend, BOUGHT IT BACK after a year or so & kept her for another year, and sold her again. The last sale was her demise after that goofball totalled her in an accident.

When I bought the subaru I had to wait for the dealership to trade with another dealer for one in the color I wanted. I showed my Dad the brochure and said that's the color I'm getting. He said incredulously "you're waiting for that color?!" Still makes me laugh to think about it and that was 1991.

I don't really care what the next car is but I figure it shouldn't start with an "s" or I'll probably be calling it a Saturn. The only car I ever really wanted was the Mini when it first came out but I've lost interest.

Yep. To this day, when I see a car like mine, I miss it so much.

In 1978, I bought a 1978 Mercedes 450SL, silver exterior, black interior...I loved, loved, loved that car. I would have kept it forever if it didn't have so many mechanical problems...I only had 32,000 miles when I sold it in 1996.

I tried to hold onto that car until I fell in love with another car, but it never happened. I ended up with a 1996 car which I am too embarassed to admit to. It was a show stopper, even by L.A. standards...but I didn't like it and gave it to DH. I still missed my 1978.

I now drive the same car as McMann, and it's nice...but it's just a car. I wouldn't miss it at all.

No, I want a nice, dependable car, but I don't need a luxury car. For me, it's just something to get me somewhere. I've never named a car, so have never kept one over 5-6 years.

Enjoy your new ride!

tina

I might get excited about a car when I can finally drive something other than a minivan! I've been driving a minivan for almost 8 years now -- no other type of vehicle can accommodate 3 kids, 2 adults, and 2 dogs. I traded the first one in for a new one of the same make/model, so boring, and will probably have to do the same next time around. I have no attachment whatsoever to these vans! I do sometimes think back to the VW Golf DH and I had when we were first married -- that car, I loved.

K, first let me say I thought it said "cat", not "car", so I'm laughing at myself for that one. Especially when I got to the part of trading in "Nelly", LMAO!

Cars don't do it for me. Course, I've never owned a BMW, so maybe that's why :)
Dh is actually at the dealer as I type, making a deal on a new Honda Odyssey. He wanted me to join him, but I passed. Just pull it in the drive way and point me to the next basketball practice or guitar lesson. :)I think when it's all about the "practical family car" I'm not that sentimental. And can't ever see naming a car. Well, not true..I've called a few POS in the past :)

I had my Nissan Pathfinder for 12 years and I woulda kept on driving it for another 12 if I could have made it last. I tried! But its days were numbered. The next set of repairs was going to cost about $2K more than the car was worth, and this was after having done a bunch of repairs that cost $2K just a few months earlier. It was time to let go.

I bought a Toyota Rav4 in July and was able to take advantage of cash for clunkers. It was sad to let go of the pathfinder, after all, I'd driven it for TWELVE years! It's taken me a few months get over that. I do love the Rav and it was just exactly what I wanted with all the optional extras I wanted. Plus it wasn't one of the recalled cars so I'm in good shape.

So, yeah, I get attached. Mainly because I don't trade in every few years, I drive 'em till they drop.

I get very attached to mine, too. We drive our cars for 9-10 years, because it's a great feeling to pay them off in 3 years and then have no car payments for the next 6+. When I finally traded my last one in, a white Chrysler Town & Country minivan, I felt very sad and very guilty, as well. My new minivan, also a pearl white (my favorite color of car) is a Toyota Sienna Limited. I'm very attached to her. Her name is Bella, because she's so pretty to me. My kids tease me about driving minivans. but I like them. They get good gas mileage, are safe, great for living here with our mountain roads, can haul 6 other people, or my dogs, furniture, large bushes, pots of flowers and small trees. I love my car!
Lynn

Well, thanks to all of you who made me feel a bit better. Because we live where it snows and because we have a long sloped drive way that is northern, we must have an all wheel drive for winter. Somehow I ended up with the SUV. Mainly because my DH hates driving in the slippery CA snow and I grew up a snow driver.

I was thinking I was being so silly feeling kind of down. Yes, I loved having no car payments! (sigh) I love vans too but I am a real wagon girl. I love station wagons. I just heard that Toyota makes an all wheel drive Sienna today. Too late!

The love affair starts when the payments end. Kept the Celica for 15 years and the 4Runner turned 10 in January. Hope to keep it at least another 5 ... maybe more. I love that's it not too big and I can put just about anything in it.

Sue & Momto4boys, dh opted to turn in his company truck (Ford F150) for a car allowance. He's still taking grief from the guys on the rig, but he loves his Odyssey. Have to admit once you get past the minivan jokes it's a pretty impressive vehicle. With the seats down it has more cargo room than my 4Runner. And it's super comfortable. Also doesn't hurt that he got a sweet deal on a fully loaded previous year's model.

I was attached to my first car, a Honda Accord. I cried when my husband convinced me to trade it in for a BMW. I never liked it. It was a total impulse buy.
My current car is a minivan. I cried the day I bought it, I swore I would never drive one. I will be doing backflips the day I can go back to a car, but I'll probably be crying again because my kids will be so big by then, and I have so many memories of my sweet babies in that thing.

Come on Marlene! Spit it out. What car did you end up with in 1996? You can tell us...

Let's see. Was it a hummer?

Lynn, I love pearl also! I'm on my third camry - wish they came in pearl. We're thrilled with no car payments too. We generally sell the camry and replace every 5-6 years because we travel a good big and drive if at all possible. I've had wonderful luck in selling the first two camrys, and prefer to do that if possible.

Goldie - we rarely have snow but we live up a steep road and my hubby has 4-wheel drive on his truck. Also comes in very handy when pulling the boat or camper!

I definitely feel most comfortable in a car, not a SUV/truck/van, and of course it being just the two of us, we really don't have need for a suv or van - the truck is good for hauling things. LOL and we only have a 9 pound pup to drive around.

tina

I love love love my car which is a 2006 Jeep Liberty w/4x4. I drive a lot in bad weather and on gravel roads and it handles it all great! And I love that I can drive up our steep driveway with 4-6 inches of snow on it without a problem too!

I am not attached to mine and it isn't attached to me! To me a car is a machine. Get me where I want to go and don't break down.

Goldy, you are too funny. A hummer??!! Ha! Yeah, and I had a bumper sticker that read...oh wait, that's another thread.

My alaska car was a 1988 something foreign (ummm maybe a camry? honestly I don't know) we bought it from the neighbor with 30,000 miles on it for three grand, great deal. I'm just not a car person so I don't really care. I want my money in my house, not my car....

ERRKKKKKKK fast forward to DH's last car purchase for a vehicle here in WA. He bought a Jag. Now really I've never cared about cars, except I've always wanted a jag. It's long, lean, silver, elegant as all get out..a.nd come on .....it's a jag. I nearly cried on the way home from the dealership after he bought it because he was driving MY dream car home. Silly given paragraph number one really is more me!!

He gave it to me the next week (I swear I didn't whine) laughing at me because he knows I really don't care about cars LOL

He bought a saab something fancy or other instead. Pearl white...really pretty :) but frankly I could care less cuz I don't care about cars LOL

I love driving the jag :)

And lest ya'll think we spend a fortune on cars....they both cost less than 7000 each and had less than 30,000 miles on them. I love my car but I'm still too cheap to pay full price for a jag LOL

I too consider a car an item to get me from point A to point B - it may get me there with a reasonable level of entertainment but it's still a utilitarian item. I may be the only person out there who thinks a non-luxury station wagon is fun to drive, but to me a Subaru Legacy IS a luxury car! LOL It's a 2002, paid off years ago (and got it cheap a month or so into the '03 model year as a "get this freakin' thing off the lot"), but I don't go very far from home so it only has about 40k miles on it. I expect to drive it until it disintegrates, which will be about 20 years at this rate, although I do wish I had something smaller now that I don't do dog-rescue transports anymore. DH and I are both "small hatchback" people - f'rinstance the last time I had to rent a car they gave me a "free upgrade" to a fancy SUV at compact rates because they didn't have a compact on the lot, but they had several of the SUVs. I promptly drove it to another branch and traded it in for a compact car! They couldn't believe I didn't want the much more luxurious SUV for less than half price.

I think DH holds quite a bit more affection for his '09 VW Rabbit, though, since he's wanted one since he was a teenager and also because they're not going to be made anymore - according to the local VW dealer, VW's bringing back the Golf with a major redesign and upgrades to bring it up to their midline, and possibly bringing the Polo to the US for the low-end offering. It's the ritziest car we've ever had, by far. DH does name his cars, although the name gets transferred to from one vehicle to the next as if it's an entity all in itself; this is the third one to carry this name. He really liked his Saturn coupe for about a year, then little problems started cropping up one after the other, and by the time it was traded in last year after 7 years of ownership he HATED it.

DH did have a BMW about ten years ago - an early-80s silver sedan, third- or fourth-hand, and quite the rattling relic it was. It spontaneously caught fire in a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. DH went in to get a cup of coffee, turned around and looked out the window to see flames shooting up around the hood and out the grill, and goop on fire dripping down on the ground. It was very interesting to have the phone ring and hear a very calm voice on the other end say, "Um, sweetie, could you please come down to the Dunkin' Donuts and pick me up? My car's on fire." with sirens and much shouting in the background. By the time I got there it had already been hauled off, although I was shocked by the patch of melted asphalt - when I saw it in the wrecking yard when we went to see if we could salvage any of DH's belongings all I could do was thank the gods that he wasn't in it when it went up, because most of it was just bare black metal. *shiver*

When I met DH 39 years ago, he had the most beautiful white Jaguar. It was about 10 months old and we drove down to Laguna Beach and had to be towed back to L.A. He swore he'd never get another one but weakened about 10 years later. I took him to pick up the car and was going to meet him at home. He never showed up (this was pre-car phone days). I followed the route back and there he was, stalled in his gorgeous burgandy one day old Jag....with smoke coming from the engine!

I hear their made better now.

Funny! When I met my husband, he also had a jag. He restored an old XK140 (A 1954, maybe). Talk about a sexy car. (Google image it!) It was deep red with a black top and it was so fun.

We sold it to raise money to start our business and buy the house we are in now. Neither of us ever looked back.

That said, I have always had a penchant for cars. Citron's, old Volvos, Alfa Romeos, Audis, and BMWs. My father was a car nut. It must have rubbed off bit on me. I love to drive.

Marlene, that story reminds me of one of my old Alfa Romeos. He must have been heart broken!

So it wasn't a hummer with a really offensive bumper sticker. LOL! Hmm... Maybe a Bentley or a Rolls?

Oh my gosh Mari! I had a car catch fire once, luckily I wasn't in it at the time...what a smelly, disgusting mess that was.

I've always been a fan of muscle cars...Camaros, Challenger, Mustang...all from the 60's of course. We had a '66 Mustang we were restoring, but eventually sold when we realized it was a liability...we were too busy to finish restoring it, and had no real place to store it safely. So off it went. We don't regret it, hope to buy a Jag for our 'retirement' car someday. Until then, I am a truck girl, but did like having the convenience of a minivan for a while.

I'm attached to the freaking car payment. Gawd I am in a mood today.

Cars? No. Bicycles, yes. Taking my 31-year-old Schwinn 12 speed to the dump was a mournful day. And when picking up a new bike several years ago, I broke into tears of happiness. The bike shop guys all laughed at me. I had such stars in my eyes that I nearly ran a red light in heavy cross traffic coming home :(

Mari - DH was so lucky he wasn't in the car! Don't think you salvaged anything out of it though did you?

I am not really attached to my current car, though I warn the kids not to go running past it in the garage (esp. when DH leaves the snow shovel leaned up b/t the doors) since it is in nearly pristine condition. I have a 2006 Subaru with 3500 miles on it. Yep - drove it home from the dealer's, parked it, and it sat while DH drove my old car to new job (better gas mileage) and I drove "his" Explorer around with the kids, and on 200-mile+ round trips twice a week (or more) during construction. Didn't pick up the Subaru until we had moved (didn't have another driver) and then went back to old house for closing a month later. We bought it so we would have 2 4WDs for winters, but DH always took the little Integra.

Now *that* I'm attached to. The 2nd car I ever bought was a used red 1988 Integra named Rosie. Then when she was getting on in years (1996) I bought a brand-new 4 door Integra SE with tan leather, CD player, sunroof - Green Pearl so of course her name is Pearl. I babied that car til the day someone sideswiped her while DD and I were in Walmart. Not long after, DH started driving her and she got a big dent on the other side and varous scratches. The back defroster stopped working and I had to fix the wiring. Dash lights for climate control stopped working, lights on shift stopped working, trunk started leaking, motor for antenna failed (not in that order). She's on her 2nd battery - DH was listening to radio last w/e while I ran into grocery store, ran it down and had to get it jumped. Last night DH noticed that the dash lights for the shift position aren't working either so he can't tell in the dark if he's overshot D and shifted into D2. He hasn't shifted into R instead of P yet but he announced that "Betsy" is getting old. The kids wonder why he called it a "she". Funny how cars and ships are female? (I wanted to correct DH and tell him her name was Pearl but I didn't want everyone to laugh at me).

I want to take care of the other 2 cars but don't really see any point in obsessing like I did over Pearl (and to some extent Rosie). Eventually they'll get old and not worth fixing and any $$ we spent on cosmetics (dents, paint) will have been money down the drain just b/c the car's so old anyway. The Subaru and the Explorer don't have names.

Ok, I'll admit it, *sigh* I love my Aztek, yes I said Aztek.

I know it's the ugly duckling of the car world, but it's a great car with a lot of smart features on the INSIDE of it.

I love the center council that doubles as a mini cooler, the globe shaped AC/Heat vents that can move in any direction, the back seats that can fold down and then forward up against the front seats so you don't always have to remove the seats when you need more space in back, the back hatch that comes down and has two seats and drink holder molded into it for tailgating etc., having your own personal air pump in the back should you get a flat or something, and the cargo space in back-I've fit things like a six piece dining set, a love seat, full drywall pieces etc. people are always surprised at how much it can fit, the way it gets 25-26 MPG Highway which I think is ok for a mid sized SUV, I love the way it drives smooth and handles more like a car than an SUV.

I paid 13,000 for my 04 Aztek with 26,000 miles on it in 2006- it now has over 70,000 and has never been into the shop except for regular maintenance.

I will be so sad when it dies and have been crazy enough to consider buying another one before they all disappear.

Okay, my turn here.

When we met dh had a restored 1972 Cutless Supreme convertible. White with white interior and tiny red pinstripe which he bought on Valentine's Day from a little old lady. She was first owner and it was around 1982. It was amazing. In 1990 it needed work and as a starving student he did not have much money.

So he got a 198? Celica hatchback. Sillycar was it's name. It got him everywhere he needed to go and was easy to work on.

Then came the 1966 Dodge truck, almost a mint green. It had push button neutral, park, drive. That was handy because when someone tried to hotwire it they did not know it had to be pushed in so they gave up. He used it to deliver papers downtown. A coworker gave him a bulldog off a bigrig to put on hood and he took off the letters to spell DOG. It was the best.

Then we grew up and got our house. A few months prior to garaging it, someone stole the Cutlas from the parking lot, flatbed towed it because all oils and such had been removed, you could not drive it at all. It was found in a vacant lot in scary part of town, took two patrol officers to go get it. We were "fined" $100 for abandoning our stolen car??? and just signed it over to the junkyard. She was stipped clean. The theives even scraped off the 20yr old rubber weather stripping that was rotten. The only thing left was the dash with the original 8track. That was total heartbreak as she was so close to her new garage and overhaul.

Then we got a 1993 Ford Ranger. Did it's job and we sold the sillycar. I got a Chrysler Cirrus in 1995. We took both to Atlanta for college and returned to CA with both in 1997.

Dh got a 1988 Jeep Grand Cherokee. We loved the jeep. He loves jeeps. It had some 80,000 miles on it and old guy took care of it. DH commuted 50 miles each way for 5yrs in it. It was simply to work on just hated working on it because we had to.

2004 we had Jeep and Cirrus. We purchased a 2004 Ram 1500 to tow a used ski boat that was stressing the jeep when towing. Ram was extra vehicle.

2005 we drove by the Ford dealership just to look. DH spied a 2005 Mustang GT convertible which was lowered with 20" rims. The local shop made her look sweet. DH was afraid to look because "lookin leads to likin and liken leads to touchin and touchin leads to lovin". Well, he loved, he liked, he touched and now loves it. At 11pm I told him to just go get it, for once spoil yourself. Then 2 mo later I decided to drive it to work and scraped the fender against garage door opening. Then a few months later he scraped the other side against garage shelving, nail was sticking out. Then just a month ago he was moving the trailer and did not know the rubber gard was off a rack pole and scraped a big one along the back bumper. Soooo sad but fixable at least.

DH and ds had a funny thing they would say. DH would ask ds what kind of power Ram had, hemi. What kind for mustang, pony. What kind does Mommy's Cirrus have, nothing. Very funny.

2008 I decided to ditch my Cirrus, it was old and ready to die. I traded it towards crown molding, guy took a trade. I had to decide what to do. Keep Ram and drive it forever when I am old or trade it in. I decided to trade it in. I got a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder Sport 4x4. Seats 7, 8 if you squeeze em in. I do miss the power of the Ram but the Pathfinder is much better suited for my needs and for my future needs.

DH decided at the same time that it would be too impracticle to fix up the 1988 cherrokee and it had no safety features at all. He got a 2009 Jeep Wrangler. By himself he lifted it and has totally 4xed it out. He loves it and so do we. He is a total jeeper. But this meant parting with the 1988 cherokee. A guy bought it for his 16yr old dd to drive a few blocks to school and some errands. We needed the money but dh really did not want to sell it to her. He wanted it to go to a jeeper like himself who would fix it up and take it out on the trails. He actually cleaned it up for the girl, changed the oil, waxed it and put on new wipers. Dad could not believe it. DH has commented on maybe trying to buy it back. He just loves his cars.

He alternates depending on weather, driving the mustang or the jeep. Can't get Mustang wet or muddy and can with jeep. Of course doggy never goes in mustang, heck he barely lets me. (this is literally the only posession he has ever had in our marriage of 21 years which I insist is totally his, it is his little piece of unnecessary).

DH love the classic muscle cars and it a total jeep lover. He parks right next to the mercedes and bmws at the hospital and they never suspect it is his jeep. Secretly we know some of those doctors would love to jump in that baby and take her down a few mountains but they fear falling in love and betraying their beauties. So they resist.

To each their own. This is first time we have had all new cars and are taking great care because we plan to keep them a long time. So yes, we love our cars, are somewhat attached but we also know that if there came a time where we had to downsize we would easily track down that girl and our old cherokee if we had to.

I lust after red BMW Z3 roadsters, 1998 actually is my favorite year. If my cancer came back I was gonna lease one and drive like a speed racer until I got too sick to drive. But yay it didnt and instead got a 2000 white town and country minivan with grey leather upholstery- it was my first new car ever. I got it to haul hockey girls around. It has been great for driving on vacation it just glides. It has 111,000+ miles on it and is still a great car.
My husband now drives the second car love of his life, his 1998 silver durango with grey leather seats bought new- has more miles on it than mine. And he adores it. His is the Dog car as the seats fold flat and is perfect for taking the dogs everywhere.
My car is known as the Mom Mobile. God forbid that DD drive my car on campus when hers is in the shop. LOL
Keeping both cars until they die.
My DH drove a 1972 Dodge Challenger with Hooker headers and Mag wheels when I first met him. I was not a car enthusiast. That became our family car and my DS rode in the back seat in his car seat!

Roobear,

You are so funny. Rosie McDonald loved the Aztec too. Hey, I like them too. Like I said, I love odd looking cars. LOL! Can you blow up air mattresses with your air pump? It sounds like a cool car. Everyone should have an ice chest in their car.

This turned into an interesting thread and made me feel so much better. Part of me wants so badly to feel like my car is just a machine, designed to get me from one place to another. I was beating myself up for feeling the way I was feeling. I'm glad I am not alone.

I finally drove my car today and actually put the key on my chain. Tomorrow I'm going down the hill to buy a set of sturdy all weather mats. I *do* live in the country so I always have to protect my cars from country stuff that clings to wet soles. A new car gets new mats around here. It is raining cats and dogs here so I need them.

Oh, I'm also taking Nelly's other key and the rear cargo cover to her.

Shannon, my exhusband bought a yellow Dodge PU like yours! It had the push button transmission and I was forced to learn to drive that. I called it the Bananamobile.

I also had a '66 El Camino (while married to the ex) that was stolen and stripped down. On Christmas morning the LAPD came to the door to tell us they'd found the truck, or what was left of it. Turned out it had also been used in commission of several robberies, so it was in impound held as evidence for a couple weeks. When they finally released it we were going to have to pay impound & towing fees, but since there was nothing left of it, we just let them keep it. I cried when I lost that rig, I'd always wanted an El Camino and I ended up driving a '72 Pinto till he finally bought me a 79 Olds Cutlass (this was in the mid 80s)

And now that I think of it, my now DH had a revolving door policy on cars, too. We've probably had every make/model ever heard of, and some not heard of, at some point. He was going to get his used car dealer license but I convinced him that would not be a good idea. Thank goodness he believed me. We've managed to keep 2 permanent vehicles since I bought my first truck.

I have a 2002 V6 Honda Coupe with 178K miles. It runs just like it did the day I drove it out of the dealership new. I keep putting off getting a new car because it costs me nothing to run (normal maintanance) and insurance is cheap (I live in NJ so that's a plus). So, I am very attached especially since I don't need to treat it with kid gloves and worry about every ding I get in a parking lot.

I'll admit it - I'm attached to both of our vehicles. We have 96 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was mine before I met DH; now it's the car he drives most of the time. That vehicle took me on some wonderful trips and just has a lot of memories associated with it.

"My" car is a 2004 Jeep Wrangler, and I didn't realize how attached I was to it until it had to be hauled away on a flatbed towtruck a couple of weeks ago (clutch gave out). As I watched it go, I was struck by a strange sadness - it felt like I was watching an old friend being taken from me. I've got it back now of course, brand new clutch and all. I missed it, so ... yeah, I'm attached.

Are you attached to your car? ... YES!!!

1st wheels was a General moped called Atomic. Loved my moped.. freedom at 15! I used to drive it 11 miles to work after school.

1st car - 1972 Grand Prix bought in the 80' - gas guzzler; my dad took my keys because I drove it so much ended up giving me the "Flintstone Mobile" which was a 1965 Ford Fairlane.. It was called the Flintstone Mobile because it had holes in the floors.

1982 Kawasaki 440LTD.. don't recall naming it but I loved that bike & so did all my Harley friends.

From there I sold my Pontiac to a friend.. we were at Pathmark one night, she drove over a parking block & killed it. I ended up buying a 1969 Mustang.. OMG I loved the car. I stripped the paint, fixed the holes & primed it black. Never got it painted. Don't know why I sold that car but I'm sure my dad had something to do with it. lol

Then I had cars that I just drove & wasn't attached to.. a white Pinto; a small red Mustang II...

Had another car that caught fire as I was driving it to pick my son up from daycare, the name of the car escapes me.. I was on a busy highway in the fast lane; all of a sudden I started losing power, started getting over to the shoulder when I looked back & saw smoke. I managed to get on the shoulder; unload all of my stuff before it got ugly. The funny thing was I'd failed inspection; always took it to an inspection station verses my dad doing it at his gas station because he didn't want anyone questioning our cars (we drove some bombs).. the inspection guy came by the day my car caught fire - he tested it at our place & changed the sticker. I always blamed "pip squeak" for jinxing my car. My dad's mechanic came & got me with the tow truck; hooked my burned car to it and we drove the 20 more minutes to get my kid.

From there I bought a Bronco II which I loved. At the time I also had a 1992 Harley Sportster. My ex made me sell both of them for a Nissan Sentra - which I hated.

I then bought my dad's hand-me down - 1982 Taurus - that car treated me well.. son bought it from me. Then got a 1993 Taurus (teal) which I also loved; which son bought from me.. then he sold to my neighbor.

I now have a 2002 Mazda Tribute - nick The Trib.. it's Cypress Green metallic; bought because of the color. It will be a sad day when I have to replace her. Yes, I say "Zoom-Zoom" as I leave people in the dust. Love my Trib!

yes, we *were* attached to both of our cars ~ loved them and it would have been years before we had to replace them-- however ~ we now have an empty garage! One was totaled on dec. 23 & last week same fate on feb. 23 ~~ TWO MONTHS ~ TWO CARS ~ the airbags went off in both and it's pretty much a given that insurance companies find it less expensive to total a car than repair, unless it's brand new ~ both were caused with horrible snow/ice conditions ~

ajsmama, we were able to get a few things out of the trunk, but otherwise it was pretty much a write-off.

I've had a LOT of cars since I started driving... oh man, 23 years ago... mostly because I was never flush enough to buy anything decent and so drove a series of cheap (few hundred dollars) crapboxes until they died, getting maybe two years out of each before they did things like blow some kind of gaskety thing and dump all the oil in the engine all over the road, promptly seizing the engine into a dead lump, or lose the entire electrical system (in a car with power steering and power brakes, natch) at 70mph. I didn't have a decent vehicle until I was about thirty!

Phyl345, wow!

Who was driving? Is everyone OK? I am assuming everyone is OK, otherwise you would have said something? Well, your cars must have loved you. They gave their lives for you.

That is some kind of luck. Glad you are OK.

DH's Jag V-12 convertible, purchased new in 1990, has 32,000 miles on it and I swear 30,000 of those were used driving it to and from the shop. It's the only car I ever named. PITA. Pretty piece of garage sculpture, though.

Those of you with Toyotas should do some googling about the acceleration problem.

Test: Toyota electronics go haywire, car careens out of control - Good video here showing how an automotive mechanics instructor was able to wire a Toyota Avalon so that it would roar away on its own & not send a code to the computer.

this story also mentions other models not involved in the recall

KitchenDetective, When DH had his Jaguars, I always kidded that the little frame that goes around the license plate, some saying, "my other car is a...", that his was "my other car is a tow truck". But you have to admit, there is no more beautiful car than a Jag, IMO.

Rose, Lynn's Sienna and my 4Runner aren't on the list. Lowspark said her Rav4 isn't either.

Here is a link that might be useful: not in the recall

Natal, from what I read this morning, some cars not on the recall also may have the problem as far back as 2003.

I have an '05 Explorer and although I like it, can't say I love it or am attached to it. When I had my '86 *RED* Camaro Z28, I definitely had an attachment to it! Maybe cause it made me feel 20 years younger! LOL

I wonder how many other brands of cars something like this could happen to. At another forum someone posted that there's no physical connection from the gas pedal to the throttle body. In older cars you had a cable going from the foot pedal all the way to a connection on the carb/throttle body. Here, it's a feedback device going to the computer, which then relates that to a servo that directs the throttle.

It's more about the computer physically locking up for a moment. If you think about your home computer locking up; to where you can't do anything while it's locked up; it's the same thing with the cars.

The link I posted above says - ~Snip - Additionally, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that electronic throttles which have come under scrutiny in the sudden acceleration investigation  will come under review by U.S. safety officials. This applies not just to Toyota, but all automakers. The purpose will be to see if electromagnetic interference (for instance, from power lines) could affect vehicles' computer systems.

Sorry to go off-topic; figured I'd add the info here since the post is about cars. We all should learn whether our cars have this technology and what we can do (if anything) to stop the car safely.

I am totally and irrationally attached to my old car. We just got a "new" one - a 2008 hyundai santa fe, but I am already thinking about what to get next when we sell this one. We got a killer deal on a low mileage used one and could probably even make money if we sold it today (and would make money if we totaled it). I love having a bigger car with a toddler and I love AWD in bad weather but I do not really love the crappy gas mileage so hoping in a couple of years our options are better for a CUV with better fuel economy (some of the models coming out this year look good so we'll see how good they really are and then look for a good deal in a couple of years).

But we just put a lot of money (where a "lot" is relative to the value of the car) our 2001 Honda Accord. NOTHING special about it at all but I just love that car. It needed a new CV joint, 4 new tires, an expensive 100k mile service and new brakes. Somewhat recently it had the timing belt done and a new clutch. It runs like new now and even though it's nothing luxurious or sporty and never was, if I am going somewhere by myself and the weather is OK I will always take the old car.

To me it's like that perfectly faded, broken in pair of jeans that are just starting to get good after 10 years. yeah there are a couple of frayed edges but oooh so comfortable. DH wanted to sell it when we got the "new" car and go back down to one car again (we have shared a car for the last 10 years or so that he has been working from home) but it's really much harder to do that with a child... and I just could not bear to give up the old car.

kgwlisa,

I knew I had to know more than one person who loves their Honda. (Have you seen that Honda commercial?) My Sandy LOVES her Honda Accord. And it is older than dirt.

I used to drive a Honda Civic when they were tiny hatchbacks. I loved that car too.

Toyota has notified customers re the recalled vehicles. My camry was actually made in Japan, so not a problem. I have loved my toyotas, the most we have done to one is a water pump. They are so dependable and low maintenance, I would buy another one tomorrow.

I remember when there was a problem with Ford - I believe it was something to do with the accelarator sticking, there was an awful accident here and a lengthy trial.

tina

Marlene, I know what you mean about the jag. I had to have one about 20 years ago, so I got a slightly used one and it was sooooo cool, but it left DH and I stranded beside the road one night, so he made me trade it in on a Honda, I still have a pic of me and the jag in my den. Before the jag, I had a great big ole boat of a Cadillac which I adored, I passed it on to DS with a hundred thousand miles in perfect shape, he wrecked it within a month. I guess I have always been a car person. Right now I have 2. Three years ago my elderly relative left me a 2001 Buick Lesabre with 7,000 miles on it. It is such a grandma car, but it is loaded and soooo comfortable. So I kept it and traded my Jeep Grand Cherokee in on a Pontiac Solstice. I cannot tell you how in love I am with that little red two seater convertible. I only drive it when the sun is out and nearly always with the top down, it is 3 years old, and has less than 5,000 miles on it. My DH says it is excessive, which is what my license plate says. XS IVE. My granny car only has 24,000 miles, so I think I'm keeping them both for a long while.

Was sad when we traded in my old BMW wagon (1993 with 136,000) miles on her -- but we got a great trade-in for BOTH of our cars -- DH drove a 1993 Lexus with 185,000!

But we had got to the sad point of not being able to trust our cars .... so many repairs and ugly breakdowns.

Now we have two Nissan Versa (2009) and just love them -- and the gas mileage too.

Jan

In 1974 I bought a 1969 VW bug. It had a sunroof and no heat. When I was 22 I drove it cross-country all by myself with a CB radio -- yes, I was a "Beaver in a Roller Skate" to the truck drivers. What an adventure. By 1980 it was having transmission problems, so I tried to sell it. It made a lot of weird noises, so anyone coming to test drive it declined. So I raffled it off. For about a month I relentlessly sold $5.00 coupons to anyone who would buy one. I sold 150 of them and had a big party where I pulled the winning ticket -- I lived in an old farmhouse at the time. A friend of a friend won it and replaced the engine and drove it for several years more. Loved that car.

When my son was 17, and had his drivers license for about 2 weeks, he totaled my Corolla. Thank god no one was hurt. So I went out and bought a tank -- a white 1993 Volvo 240 wagon. It's still my only car and it has 270,000 miles on it. I love it because it has never failed me, and when I put down the back seat, the bed is 4' x 6' -- I can fit anything in there. The body is in perfect shape, and although I sometimes have car envy when I ride in someone's new(er) car, I just can't imagine what else I would buy. Oh, and you can see it from space -- when I did Google Earth on my house, there it was, parked in front.

Interesting editorial in today's paper by Cal Thomas. The founder of Toyota must be turning in his grave realizing what his grandson's greed has done to the company.

"Longtime Toyota observer H. Thomas Johnson, a professor of business at Portland State University, has written that Toyota's current quality crisis "reflects disastrous policies adopted after 2000, when top management's thinking changed sharply in a direction that, while consistent with that of most other Western companies, would never have been tolerated at Toyota in the past.

That change came when Toyota management decided to overtake General Motors as the world's largest carmaker and placed immediate financial gain over quality and safety. As a result, quality and safety suffered, and Toyota now risks losing market share and profits. It is a flawed model, one that affects governments as well as companies."

I'm still attached to my first car, a 1957 Ford. Bought it used for $500 in 1961. Drove it to the junk yard in 1967 and bought a new Plymouth Valiant. I've never been as attached to a car since.