I’m 40 years old and I have always been a car buff.  I guess it’s just because I get bored of things easily.  I thought it would be a great time to just think back and remember the cars I’ve had, and make a brief comment about each…

I started driving when I was 16.  I actually took my driving test in my mom’s car at the time which was a 1981 Mercury XR-7 Cougar.  This thing was a BOAT.  It had to be the largest car I had ever driven.  It was powerful, no doubt.

Then my mom and dad bought a 1987 Chevy Celebrity.  It wasn’t a bad car.  For it’s time, it drove pretty nice.  It was less of a boat.  I can’t remember ever having problems with it.  It was quite the hot looking family sedan in it’s time.  Haha…

Then, I had saved up and bought my first car.  I worked like a nutjob in high school.  I had two jobs and worked almost 40 hours a week when I was only 16 years old.  My next car was a 1989 Nissan Sentra.  I had bought it used, and this car was nothing but trouble. It spent more time in the shop than it did on the road.  This experience turned me negative towards Nissan, and I had never owned another one since.

I had that crappy Nissan for a year, and I traded it in on a 1990 Honda Civic Hatchback.  This car to this day was the absolute most amazing car I owned.  It used to get 55 MPG and this was in 1990.  What the hell is wrong with cars today?  Now they need batteries to get 50 MPG, but I had a Civic that got 55 MPG back in 1990.  Granted, it was a manual, and not very powerful.  This car was a workhorse.  Never spend a day in the shop, and I took it well over 100,000 miles.  What’s CRAZY is this car appears to still have a value of $1300, over 22 years later.

I had managed to rack up over 100,000 miles in two years.  I was quite the driver.  I did have a 100 mile commute for work at the time.  In 1992, I bought the Hyundai Scoupe.  It wasn’t a bad car.  Hyundai was new to the states at the time.  I can remember the base price being about $9000, which was great for the time.  It did me well.  I took this beauty out to about 70,000 miles, when I traded it.

Then came the 1994 Pontiac Grand Am GT.  This was a huge improvement for me.  I had a pretty good job for being a 22 year old man.  The car did have it’s share of problems.  It had an issue with the engine where only 4 of the 6 cylinders would work, and they would just turn off at random, making the car extremely sluggish, and it would shake.  It was to the point where people from GM came to look at the car.  They could never fix it.  Needless to say, they helped me to trade it in for a different Pontiac.

So then came the 1995 Pontiac Grand Am GT again.  This time I got a white one.  This car too came with a bunch of problems.  The most notable was when the car just shut itself off and wouldn’t start up again.  That was from an electrical wire that was rubbing against the body of the car, until it reached the point where it had just rubbed right through.  After they fixed that, the car was reliable.  I had it for two years, and managed to put about 60,000 miles on it.

So then, I tried out the 1997 Honda Passport.  Unfortunately, this vehicle was a re-branded Isuzu Rodeo.  This vehicle was the absolute WORST vehicle I ever owned.  It had problems from day one.  I would be driving 60 MPH and the engine would just shut off.  Then it would come back on maybe 15 seconds later.  This would happen at all different times.  I’m lucky this car didn’t kill me.

I went from the Passport to the 1998 Toyota 4Runner.  The 4Runner was really a great vehicle.  After a period of awful vehicles, This vehicle brought me reliability that I really appreciated.  It never gave me a problem, and I kept it for a number of years.  I put about 100,000 miles on this vehicle, and it never gave me a day of grief…  Except the rear window, which was automatic.  Every so often it would go down, usually on the day of a snow storm, and I could never figure out why.

So things were stepping up, business was doing great and I liked cars even more and more.  I bought a 2000 Acura RL.  This car was a joy always.  I think it was really a decked out Honda Accord, but it had incredible fit and finish.  A great stereo, and it was comfortable.  I never regret owning this car as it was always a joy.

I also decided to buy a 2001 Toyota Camry.  I didn’t need it, but business was good and I wanted another car.  I was bored with the Acura, but it was such a reliable car that I decided it would be fine to have a second car just for something to drive when I was feeling like driving something different.

So then came the 2002 Subaru Legacy Outback Sedan GT.  Again this car was a joy.  I loved owning it.  It was truly a pleasure.  It got good gas mileage, it was powerful.  It was comfortable.  This car solidified my belief that Subaru was an awesome car manufacturer.  I loved it so much, I traded my 2002 in on a 2004.

I was getting bored with the Acura, and I decided I needed a change.  I decided to buy the 2003 Ford Excursion.  I wanted something different.  I was going through a young middle aged crisis, and I wanted to be an ass.  After years of enjoying reliability from foreign car manufacturers, I decided to go American again.  I bought a Diesel.  Thank GOD I bought the diesel.  It got 12 MPG vs the 8 MPG gasoline version. This was the closest thing to a bus you could possibly own.  It didn’t fit in standard parking garages, and was virtually impossible to park.

I loved owning the road, but I hated filling the 50 gallon tank on the Excursion, so I downsized it to a 2005 Ford Explorer.  There was nothing exciting about this vehicle at all.  It was reliable, it drove fine.   I didn’t love it or hate it.  I kept it for about 2 years.

I felt I wanted a bigger vehicle again.  So I traded the Explorer on a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe.  It wasn’t a bad vehicle.  I didn’t hate it.  It was big, it had a smooth ride, it was comfortable.  Acceleration was kind of disappointing for such a big vehicle with such a big engine, but it was fine.

So then I decided I wanted something with a lot of power, so I bought a 2006 Lincoln LS.  I always liked this car.  It was fast and fun.  At the time I was still working on and off in PA, and this car made no sense in PA.  It was rear wheel drive, and impossible to drive in the snow.  I shipped it via car carrier to my FL house, and I used it in FL for awhile.

I was getting discouraged with always driving this big Tahoe around so I decided to get a Honda Civic.  I bought the 2009 Honda Civic.  It was a great car.  I actually preferred driving it over the Tahoe.  It was powerful, had great gas mileage.  Overall, it was a dream car.  I would highly recommend it, and I would positively buy one again.

I then bought a 2009 Honda Accord, because I loved the Civic so much.  I bought it in a manual.  It was well built, and fun to drive.  It was just a “car”.  I got bored with it fast, even faster than the Civic, but it was a great car, and I would always recommend it.

I really liked the quality, and the fit and finish on the Lincoln LS, so I decided to buy a 2009 Lincoln MKX.  I really enjoyed this mini SUV.  It was powerful and it had a very comfortable interior.  It was apparent that Ford’s quality was improving.  I kept it for awhile.

I traded the MKX on the 2010 Lincoln MKS.  I loved this car even more than the MKX.  It was comfortable, powerful and overall just fun to drive.  Knowing I was going through a mid life crisis of cars, I leased this one for 2 years knowing I would not want it after 2 years 🙂

Having had such great experiences with Ford’s, I decided to try a 2010 Ford Mustang GT Convertible.  I had traded my 2006 Lincoln LS on this baby.  I really did keep the LS for quite a long time, given my history of not keeping cars for very long.  The Mustang was fun, and I loved it, but I had started to work for 3dcart near Sunrise, FL, and I was living in West Palm Beach, FL.  This drive was about an hour long, and the Mustang was a really “FUN” car, and not a great commuting vehicle.

So here I am, in 2012 with my Ford Taurus SHO.  After my long run of great cars with the Ford Motor Company, I stayed true to Ford, and honestly, I will buy another Ford when it comes time to trade my SHO.  The Taurus SHO is the best car I’ve ever owned.  I love it still. I bought it in 2011, and I’ve had it for about 15 months, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  Its a great car.

So what inspired this article?  As you probably know, I am the Chief Marketing Officer at 3dcart, and I recently had a conversation with one of my favorite customers, Neal.  Neal is a huge car buff as well.  In fact, he has a great online shop for corvette merchandise called Corvette Mods.  I have to admit that the C6 Corvette is pretty hot, and I’ve thought about it, but as you can see, I’m a Ford fan.  It’s always fun to talk to Neal about Corvettes, but he’ll never change my mind.  Years of Ford quality and experience, and I’m just going to be a Ford guy til the end.

Believe it or not, there are actually a few more “company” vehicles I’ve had the pleasure of owning that I haven’t mentioned here…  🙂