QBiN wrote:

bjt wrote:

Artex - what is that? I honestly have no idea. Looks cool though.

Kia Optima sedan.

Thanks! Yep, 2014 Kia Optima SXL. 2.0L Turbo @ 274HP. Sold the old whip and got this earlier this year. Had to get a 4-door to fit our new arrival. My wife still lets me mod which is cool! Keeping the mods subtle for now, and I threw some K5 badges on there (the Korean version of the car) to hide the fact that it's a Kia 😵 . I really do love the car though - I think they've done very well with this car and I don't cringe when I hear the "Kia" name anymore.

I kinda doubt that the pictured Kia belongs to Artex... since it's actually out of shrink wrap 😉

1998 Pontiac Grand Prix SE 4-door. Weird gold/green color, 3.8 V6. Bought it with 156,000 miles now has 157,000 miles 😀 replaced a 1975 honda civic project car.

2011 Nissan Altima 3.5SR. 15% FormulaOne Pinnacle Series tint.

Arctic wrote:

Now I use public transportation and it is much more convenient: http://www.blogto.com/upload/2011/05/201157-potd.jpg […]
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Now I use public transportation and it is much more convenient:

Ah, the good old TTC. That used to be my ride until I moved. Now I ride a bicycle. It costs me practically nothing to operate.
I once had a car, but I don't miss it at all. Although fun to drive, they're a huge money pit and a major liability.

StSam wrote:

I kinda doubt that the pictured Kia belongs to Artex... since it's actually out of shrink wrap 😉

😎 . Nice!

Skyscraper wrote:

I drive a VAZ 2103 "1500S" and a Volvo 960 "16V turbo", I have owned the Vaz for about 7 years and the Volvo 4 years. I used to change car alot but now I dont and I somehow save alot of money by this behavior change.

I have previously owned 10+ different BMWs so Im the typical Vogons user it seems. I have also owned at least 5 other Volvos, some small Asian death traps, a VW Caravelle from the mid 80s, a Ford Fiesta from the early 90s and an Opel Kadett from 1984.

😲 VAZ? Why? Are you Russian? 🤣

RacoonRider wrote:

Skyscraper wrote:

I drive a VAZ 2103 "1500S" and a Volvo 960 "16V turbo", I have owned the Vaz for about 7 years and the Volvo 4 years. I used to change car alot but now I dont and I somehow save alot of money by this behavior change.

I have previously owned 10+ different BMWs so Im the typical Vogons user it seems. I have also owned at least 5 other Volvos, some small Asian death traps, a VW Caravelle from the mid 80s, a Ford Fiesta from the early 90s and an Opel Kadett from 1984.

😲 VAZ? Why? Are you Russian? 🤣

Vaz (Lada) were once very common in Sweden as they were the cheapest cars you could buy! 😀

I have it because its economical, no tax, extremly low insurance (less than 100 euro/year) and if the battery go flat you just use the crank! 😈

Skyscraper wrote:

Vaz (Lada) were once very common in Sweden as they were the cheapest cars you could buy! 😀

I have it because its economical, no tax, extremly low insurance (less than 100 euro/year) and if the battery go flat you just use the crank! 😈

You learn something new every day! A friend of mine once told me that in 90s, when lots of cars were stolen, he had one of the similar cars and at first secured it for the night by removing the battery. When his neighbour's car was stolen despite having no battery, he started taking carburetor home for the night as well 😁

The insurance is not that low if you consider that prices for a car like this start at 150 euros here.

RacoonRider wrote:

Skyscraper wrote:

Vaz (Lada) were once very common in Sweden as they were the cheapest cars you could buy! 😀

I have it because its economical, no tax, extremly low insurance (less than 100 euro/year) and if the battery go flat you just use the crank! 😈

You learn something new every day! A friend of mine once told me that in 90s, when lots of cars were stolen, he had one of the similar cars and at first secured it for the night by removing the battery. When his neighbour's car was stolen despite having no battery, he started taking carburetor home for the night as well 😁

The insurance is not that low if you consider that prices for a car like this start at 150 euros here.

Car insurence costs in Sweden depends on who you are, where you live and where you park your car. For most cars a basic insurance (dosnt cover anything) is 300+ euro/year where I live. The road tax is another ~200 euro/year for a normal sized car, luckily you do not have to pay road tax for cars older than 30 years.

You can actually buy a street legal car in Sweden for 150 euro, its not even hard to find one, its the owner and running costs that are expensive.

Skyscraper wrote:

Car insurence costs in Sweden depends on who you are, where you live and where you park your car. For most cars a basic insurance (dosnt cover anything) is 300+ euro/year where I live. The road tax is another ~200 euro/year for a normal sized car, luckily you do not have to pay road tax for cars older than 30 years.

That road tax is quite the bargain 😀
For my Nissan Micra I would pay 36 euros per month, so 432 euros per year.
My BMW 325i Coupe costs me 68 euros per month, so 816 euros per year.
Those are petrol, so cheapest road tax category. Diesels are considerably more expensive (roughly twice as much), and LPG is more expensive still.

And then there's the parking permit. I believe that is some 80 euros per year per car.

For the US people... We are currently in a 'cheap' phase in terms of petrol. That is, I pay around 1.50 euros per liter now. It has been over 1.70 at times.
Converting that to US$ would be about $1.66 per liter. Which is about $6.28 per gallon.

In Russia we have liability insurance that is obligatory and covers the cases when you are a culprit in road accidents with other cars or people involved. Say, if you run into the back of a mercedes, its owner repairs it for your insurance money and you repair your car for your own. It costs from 50 to 350 euros and depends on the car (model year, hp) and your personal data - age, experience and largely previous accidents. If you have two cars, you have to pay twice despite the fact that you insure your liability and not your car...

The Russian don't make a lot of money and it is considered a significant sum. 250 euros is the average salary for the working class. The last time I payed 100 euros (5 consequent years with no incidents), people generally pay more. Insurance cost doubled (in some cases almost tripled) since last year and is a subject of fierce discussions among people.

Apart from that, we pay "vehicle tax", around 120 euros for 220 hp. And that's basically it 😀

I have a couple of rides:

Used to have a car, but we used it so seldom since moving to Munich... we got rid of it. I wasn't at all attached to it anyway, it was just a little 1.1L Getz.

RacoonRider wrote:

In Russia we have liability insurance that is obligatory and covers the cases when you are a culprit in road accidents with other cars or people involved. Say, if you run into the back of a mercedes, its owner repairs it for your insurance money and you repair your car for your own. It costs from 50 to 350 euros and depends on the car (model year, hp) and your personal data - age, experience and largely previous accidents. If you have two cars, you have to pay twice despite the fact that you insure your liability and not your car...

The system in Germany is basically the same, except that you have the option to insure your car for accidents that are your fault as well. This mostly makes sense for newer cars, since it usually is expensive - except for mine 😊

dexter311 wrote:

I have a couple of rides: […]
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I have a couple of rides:

Ah yes, U4/U5 Stachus 🤣 immediately recognized it, I was there only two days ago 🤣

I drive a 2003 Opel Astra G 2.0 DTi. Boring, but reliable and very cheap to run, and compared to newer station wagons it has a lot of room (one might say it's bigger on the inside 😉 ). And I've grown quite attached to it over the last ten years. Till inspection do us apart / Bis der TÜV uns scheidet 🤣

So, mostly this car, and once every two weeks or so I use the train and the Munich public transportation system.

Living wrote:

Drive...i ride this everyday. Its plain stupid drive a car in citys like Buenos Aires. […]
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Drive...i ride this everyday. Its plain stupid drive a car in citys like Buenos Aires.

Haha, living in Villa del Parque and studying Derecho ?

Used to drive this and I absolutely loved it, so much effort and time to have it completely stock but fully loaded with oem goodies

then kids arrived to my life and had to switch to this pig, same brand though soulless

Kids and baby seats fit in my convertible just fine. Don't see the need for a four door car. Maybe for teenagers?

kanecvr wrote:

Kids and baby seats fit in my convertible just fine. Don't see the need for a four door car. Maybe for teenagers?

Where do you put your luggage (pram, suitcases, etc.) when you want to travel somewhere?
Hence, the benefit of a large 4 door sedan with a big trunk or "boot" as we call it here in South Africa (pronounced the same way as the ones you wear on your feet) 🤣

kanecvr wrote:

Kids and baby seats fit in my convertible just fine. Don't see the need for a four door car. Maybe for teenagers?

Prelude's back seats were a joke, and the trunk space was enough for a pair of medium sized suitcases, that's it. It really is a car for 2.
I hate 4 door sedan's are the most boring thing on earth (unless it's an M5 I guess), some day I'll have my sports-coupe back.

When I was a teenager back in the 90s I looked at an 86 Fiero, but I decided not to buy it because it had 172K miles.
Fast forward over a decade later, I looked at another 86 Fiero, and guess how many miles it had. This time 172K didn't seem like a big deal anymore and I bought it. It had some problems at first, as expected, but over time it became mechanically sound and it has served as a reliable car.
I like the relative simplicity of early EFI era GMs, and I understand them better than anything else. I like the self reliance that comes with all that. I feel like it's feasible to keep them running almost forever on a moderate budget. Such old cars have been documented to death. Even the ECM programming has largely been reverse engineered at this point. I guess it's not that hard for people to crack a 4KB ROM running on a 1980s 8-bit CPU. 😀 Everything is so much more complicated now. When I've tried to help people fix problems on newer cars, I tend to get frustrated and annoyed.
The suspension is shot, it really needs to be overhauled. Body is terrible and I don't want to spend money on that. Engine/trans are still good.