Most underrated or underappreciated vehicle you have ever owned?

KM? This is America!

You know what they say. There are two types of countries in this world. Those who use the metric system and those who have landed on the moon.
You do know NASA operates in Metric right?
 
1995 Mercury Tracer.
Basically a 4 door Ford Escort.
Had the sluggish 1.9L, but a 5 speed.
When my 4runner 22re threw a rod bearing, I bought the Tracer at auction for $500 as a temp DD... had 199k on the clock already (this was in '04)
Consistently got 33mpg and didn't do shit to it. Ended up driving it 2 more years, had the 22r block in the trunk for 6 months waiting to scrounge cash for machining.
Sold it for $1000.
That car was impressively fun and simple. The interior ceiling felt lining was dotted with a bunch of brown stains in the back, like somebody exploded in there. Could never figure that out.

(then 10 years later, I had a soda can explode in a hot car and had an idea...)
 
88 Nissan Pathfinder I drove in high school and through college (98-03) until transmission stopped going into high gear. Parked it at my parents and it sits idle about 360 days out of the year, but every time it snows, my dad will fire it up and it's always ready to go. Probably still has Deep Purple in the CD player:rockon:

@ramjo drove his 91 Nissan 4x4 from high school (1997ish) up until just a couple years ago. That thing was a warhorse.


Just got a text this morning from my dad about the Pathfinder...man I miss that thing!

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Yes, that is what I meant.



And we haven't had a man on the moon since.


Crikey...what we have heeya ah two NC4x'ers...one who made the original tongue in cheek comment, we'll call him Cheeky...engaged by ahnotha with a 'well actually' comment, we'll call him well actually...re-engaged by cheeky and another sarcastic comment. Let's see how this turns out. A classic, classic forum bout.
 
Crikey...what we have heeya ah two NC4x'ers...one who made the original tongue in cheek comment, we'll call him Cheeky...engaged by ahnotha with a 'well actually' comment, we'll call him well actually...re-engaged by cheeky and another sarcastic comment. Let's see how this turns out. A classic, classic forum bout.

Love the play by play. :lol:
 
I'll tell you how its gonna turn out... I'm going to ignore both of you :D:lol:

Another one I forgot.
'97 Saturn SL2.
Bought it in '99, our first "real" car.
Put about 130k on it. Ditched in '08. A lot of little things had to be fixed, plus the pass side motor mount about 4-5 times, and it ate a quart of oil every 1k. But for the money it was a great car, no major problems, despite my real lack of maintenance, great gas mileage.

Funny I haven't seen a Saturn on the road in a long time. I suspect Cash for Clunkers got 'em all.
Or, they all ran out of oil....
 
I'll tell you how its gonna turn out... I'm going to ignore both of you :D:lol:

Another one I forgot.
'97 Saturn SL2.
Bought it in '99, our first "real" car.
Put about 130k on it. Ditched in '08. A lot of little things had to be fixed, plus the pass side motor mount about 4-5 times, and it ate a quart of oil every 1k. But for the money it was a great car, no major problems, despite my real lack of maintenance, great gas mileage.

Funny I haven't seen a Saturn on the road in a long time. I suspect Cash for Clunkers got 'em all.
Or, they all ran out of oil....

The wife had an SL2 when we first met. That thing survived 3 major wrecks, and kept on going. First, DW got run off I-40, went into the woods but missed all the trees. Once I had a full-size truck back into the side of it when I was driving thru a parking lot....took out 2 fenders, 2 doors. He paid out of pocket...insisted on paying full repair bill, but I would have taken NADA book and walked away happy. Last one, Renee got whacked when she turned left...as an F350 passed her from behind against a double yellow line. That was a total....and he paid cash NADA retail, about 2200 bucks at that time. Still drove OK....sold it to the neighbor for a hunnert bucks (and I felt like I was ripping him off). His daughter drove it for a long time.

If I remember right, that's the car you have to drop the a-arm to change out the alternator. Or pull the motor.
 
2014 2.7L Taco.

Everybody hates on the 4-cylinder, but I’ve driven mine to NY, RI, CT, TX, FL, LA, IL, etc... what a great truck.

It’s not a coincidence that all the pilot car guys run a 4-cylinder Tacoma
 
2014 2.7L Taco.

Everybody hates on the 4-cylinder, but I’ve driven mine to NY, RI, CT, TX, FL, LA, IL, etc... what a great truck.

It’s not a coincidence that all the pilot car guys run a 4-cylinder Tacoma

The old 22re is considered a bullit proof engine, and I can vouch for what kind of abuse they can take.

I have never owned a 3rz, but have heard they are just as tough.....
 
Yep I’m sitting at 102k miles on a 2014; it sees the highway a lot. Non-interference and some guys are getting close to 300k on the stock chain.
 
The wife had an SL2 when we first met. That thing survived 3 major wrecks, and kept on going. First, DW got run off I-40, went into the woods but missed all the trees. Once I had a full-size truck back into the side of it when I was driving thru a parking lot....took out 2 fenders, 2 doors. He paid out of pocket...insisted on paying full repair bill, but I would have taken NADA book and walked away happy. Last one, Renee got whacked when she turned left...as an F350 passed her from behind against a double yellow line. That was a total....and he paid cash NADA retail, about 2200 bucks at that time. Still drove OK....sold it to the neighbor for a hunnert bucks (and I felt like I was ripping him off). His daughter drove it for a long time.

If I remember right, that's the car you have to drop the a-arm to change out the alternator. Or pull the motor.
My wife whacked somebody from the side changing lanes w/o looking (doh) in '08.
It was December, cold, and the plastic fender shattered into about 5 different pieces. Luckily I collected them from the scene.
Insurance guy said it was a total loss. I took the money and bought it back for like $200.
Literally glued the fender pieces together and covered seams on the underside w/ duct tape. Held fine!

Sold it to our niece for like $200. she totaled it a few months later.
 
The interior ceiling felt lining was dotted with a bunch of brown stains in the back, like somebody exploded in there. Could never figure that out.

(then 10 years later, I had a soda can explode in a hot car and had an idea...)

My previous F250 you could see faint stains in the headliner where it had been cleaned of something. After I'd had it a year or so, I finally put down the sunvisor (never use them), and stains were pretty dark under there...figured a coke exploded. Later on, pulled the dash to swap out the radio. Dried up blood in the cracks. No signs at all of truck ever being wrecked. Figure somebody ended it in the cab.
 
Which reminds me....had an '81 cutlass. Didn't keep it long. Guy that bought it from me, his kid offed himself in it about a year later. 12ga in the mouth. Buckshot went thru his brains and thru the roof.
 
Mom sent me a pic of dad and the old beater doing what it does. If it ever finally dies, I’ve got big dreams of full widths, minimal to no lift, 35s and liberal use of a sawzall.

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I meant to get a picture of where he cleaned a ditch out with it yesterday. Somebody in a Jeep wouldn't move out of the center of the road so he pulled over to let them pass and slid in the ditch. he said he backed it up as far as he could,dropped it in low, and let it eat till it shot him back on the road :rockon:
 
Had a 98 rodeo that thing was tough as hell, up until I rolled it going down a backroad one night
 
i have to say that the 91 ford exploder i bought from someone on here has proven to
be very reliable. i replaced the rusted out rockers on both sides but still haven't repaired
the rust at the bottom of both front fenders. it's my winter beater and cranks up even after setting
months at a time--doesn't use much oil and with new tars it goes well in the snow. hot
heat and cold air.
only 91 i have ever seen with a straight drive.
 
1983 AMC Spirit, the first automobile I purchased with my own $$$-- Drove the wheels off that thing. 1991-1992 Used to leave the shop in Hickory at 330 on Friday take off to Camp Lejeune - wow I'd make enough gas money for my trip by hauling jarheads to and from courthouse bay. I'd pick up my guy and have 3 more in the back of that thing.
 
i have to say that the 91 ford exploder i bought from someone on here has proven to
be very reliable. i replaced the rusted out rockers on both sides but still haven't repaired
the rust at the bottom of both front fenders. it's my winter beater and cranks up even after setting
months at a time--doesn't use much oil and with new tars it goes well in the snow. hot
heat and cold air.
only 91 i have ever seen with a straight drive.
I have a 94 4 dr with the 5spd in it. It's the best I've ever had. It was my work horse till the electrical gremlins got the best of me and it sits idle waiting for its final resting place.

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk
 
My 98 S-10 LS. Bought from a friends wife in 2002 for 4200 w 42K. It now has close to 210K on the 4.3 and rear end. The trans crapped out @ 180k and was rebuilt. It still gets 20+ mpg. Got rid of the red coolant many years ago along w a new water pump and the known coolant intake leak was fixed. A new/used throttle body and and new fuel pump; alternator, starter as needed. It has hauled a lot of firewood over the years. The AC quit a decade or more ago and I never fixed it.

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