My parents 97 Grand Cherokee had a 4.0L that had bad intermittent stumbling problems. The dealers could never track it down. Probably 10 years after the first time it stumbled, my brother and I tracked it down to a bad o2 sensor.  Mechanically, the engine was bulletproof. 

I was told a story of someone that had taken a job in New York state, and was boarding a plane in Spokane, Washington without planning on coming back.  They put the keys and title on the front seat of their daily driver Packard President in the parking lot for some lucky person to find.  Was a legit reason and he had…

I owned my 2013 Mini for 2 years, it took me a very long time to stop chasing the turn signal. Even just before I sold it, I would occasionally chase them. I was infinitely more happy with the solid conventional design for the turn signal of the 1999 BMW e36 that replaced the Mini in my life.

I have an Eighty Eight.  It's a great normal car.  I liken it to a Camary, not exciting but acceptable in all circumstances.   It's super reliable, roomy, comfortable, and quicker than most appliance cars.

The GM official fix was a new smaller diameter metal tube.  Mine melted around 65k miles, I now have 150k on the engine and it still runs absolutely perfectly. 

Funny you say that. My two daily drivers are a 1999 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight and a 1999 BMW e36 M3. There really isn’t much comparison between the two other than they both have great 6 cylinder engines. The Oldsmobile has far better visibility from the drivers seat and is a much bigger car so has better room for…

I have an Oldsmobile Eighty Eight, it is the same vehicle as the LeSabre but with a softer suspension.   It's a fantastic car, phenomenal visibility, good engine, predictable driving dynamics, comfortable and mighty reliable.  It's a car that is almost impossible to knock. I have had mine for 15 years, it was my first…

Yep, this is the reason I daily drive 99 E36 M3. It has character for days. Every time I drive a newer vehicle, I just get bored with it after a few minutes, especially fast new vehicles. The fast ones feel like 1 trick ponys. New cars isolation and perfected powertrains just done provide feedback that excites me.

I’ve been saying this for a few years now. The 90s is where cars were reliable with electronic ignition and fuel injection that worked but without the electronics and many computers that make them complicated.

I daily a 1999 BMW, its just an absolutely delightful car. Whats most notable about it compared to newer cars is how much more engaging it is to drive. I haven’t driven a car built in the last ten years that wasn’t so refined, as to be without any interesting character. They are just so dull to drive because…

I’ve owned an old out of warranty e39 M5, it was expensive to maintain. I had an R56 Mini, the day the warranty ran out I stopped driving it and listed it for sale as I knew it would get expensive. I now drive an e36 M3 and it’s been a delightful old car, easy to get parts and not unreliable or difficult to maintain.

I have personally done this. I sold my 2002 e39 M5 which was a stunning combo of LeMans Blue over Caramel extended leather. I did it not more than 10 k after replacing the clutch and most of the rest of the drive line. Why did I sell it? Because I wanted a smaller more nimble car, I ended up buying an equally…

GM H body cars. Pontiac Bonneville, Buick LeSabre, Oldsmobile Eighty Eight. All very comfortable bullet proof cars with sufficient power to not be anemic to drive. The GM 3800 series 2 is a legendary engine for just being good. The 4L60 transmission just worked. The visibility out of those cars is incredible.  One was…

I’ve honestly only ever had great car buying experiences at dealers. Granted I’ve only ever purchased super specialty cars. I bought an 11 year old e39 M5 at my local Cadillac dealer and had the most no hassle experience one could wish for. No pushieness, and they treated me like I was buying an expensive new car. I…

Simple. My grandparents gave my twin and I their 99 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight. A perfect first car. Reliable, adequately powerful but not fast, phenomenonal visibility, and minimal features to be distractions. Also it’s extremely good in the snow, an important feature for where we live. 15 years later we still own the…

My mom had a Cutlass Brougham, it was her favorite car she has ever owned. All because it was super comfortable. She has since owned a Benz w126 420sel and two BMW e38 740iLs.  Yet she has the fondest memories of the Cutlass. 

The seat heater is quite the opposite.   The parts rent too expensive. The heating elements break down.  But replacement in the seat is very difficult and takes a person that knows leather seat repair to get the complex vaders looking good once put back together. 

Heaten seat pads are not a simple replacement I these cars. The parts aren’t too expensive, $200 or so total for the bottom and back pads. However the hard part is finding someone that can refit the Vader seat leather and make it look good. I’ve spent a total of $800 replacing heated seat pads in both front seats of…

I assume because they are cheap.  The local dealer sells them like hot cakes and has many times won the award for highest volume Mitsubishi dealer in the US.  They certainly don't sell anything exciting, but cheap is a shrinking market option and there are many people that base their decision on price.

I just put a brand new exhaust system on my 99 Oldsmobile. The old one basically rusted out so bad that pressure blew out the post cat O2 sensor. Am I considering replacing it, sure, but it’s still cheaper to fix it compare to replacing it. I suspect I could get about $3k for the car, as it’s clean looking and very…