What Car(s) Have You Bought More Than Once?

Figaro Figaro Figaroooo
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Lots of car consumers (carsumers™) are single-make buyers, steadfastly loyal to Toyotas or Fords or Hondas or whatever. No big deal there. Repeat model buyers are a rarer breed, but hardly uncommon. Yours truly owned not one but two Dodge Omnis (full disclosure, one was a Plymouth Horizon, but come on). My Dad was a Volkswagen guy for a good bit before going all-in on Toyotas. He started with a used Type 3 which (according to my Mom) made 2-year-old me cry because I saw it belch fire from the exhaust and I thought it was going to explode. That squareback was followed by two consecutive Beetles, but I only remember the last one–a red convertible Super with a black top. Now that was a car. Would Paul Newman lie to you?  Vw Newman

So tell us: which car models have you purchased more than once? Or enough times to extend to near-infinity, like whoever assembled that impressive fleet of Nissan Figaros in the top shot? What made you such a fan–or did you, like, just happen to end up getting two Honda Civics in a row? And FYI, it’s cool if your tale of multiple-models isn’t actually yourself but your mom, dad, brother, friend, weirdo on the outskirts of town … we’re not policing this thing.

To the comments!

 

 

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256 thoughts on “What Car(s) Have You Bought More Than Once?”

  1. I’ve owned two 1998 Saturn SL2’s, one red, one blue. I bought the first one as my first personal vehicle (not the one my parents allowed me to use in high school). I drove it for a couple years before buying my 2013 Mazda3, which is still my daily driver, new off the lot and sold the red Saturn to my parents for my sister’s use.

    The very first day she drove to school she was rear ended by a student teacher who wasn’t paying attention to traffic stopping at a crosswalk. The 45mph impact sandwiched the car between the teacher and another student in front of her. My sister was unharmed and the doors were all still functional. It wasn’t long before I bought her the 2nd blue Saturn because it handled the red one handled the accident so well, and I knew how to work on them.

    She kept it many years until she sold it two years ago. I didn’t love the automatics, but it was a good, safe, economical and reliable vehicle.

  2. Usually if I’ve had something and loved it, I’ve bought more of them as needed/wanted. Lots of Saabs over the years (20+ of them, including 4x 9000s, at least 5x 9-5s, a half dozen or more ’03-up 9-3s), some Audis (3x C5 A6es), Lexii (two LS400s) and Jaguars (2x XJ8s and an S-Type 4.2). Gaining familiarity with each car and the special tools/software usually makes me buy additional cars.

    1. Same: once you have the tools & knowledge, it’s easy to just get more of them. I enjoyed comparing the various manufacturers’ ….zeitgeist (I guess?). Like, Japanese manufacturers stacked stuff: you’ll pull 3-4 other things to get to your alternator. Mercedes will have a service tunnel, so you just need a special tool and the secret wisdom (notch in the frame for removing the starter). BMW likes to use a common fastener to hold three different items down. That kind of thing-but this kinda went out, in my observations, by the mid 90s. Much less attention paid to serviceability

  3. So here’s the story: my wife is not a car person, grew up buying base models of everything because of cost. She came home from work one day and said that we should look at this car she saw on the way home. Interesting, so I’m checking it out on the website and it’s a green Fiat 500x. Never heard of it, but 180hp AWD SUV. Ok, we’ll look, but we couldn’t do it together. She looked at it first and drove it. By the time I got to drive it she had already programmed her phone to the Uconnect.

    She licked it, I guess I’ll have to buy it. She absolutely loved it, we drove it for years. My son learned to drive it and when he got his license he kinda stole it. Funny how the phone knows exactly what you are thinking about, an ad for a 2022 Fiat 500x with the soft top shows up. Now we have 2, still not sure how that happend.

    1. Pedant mode here: 500X (the 5dr SUV) as far as I know does not come with a ‘soft top’ version. 500 (little 2dr hatch) does as the 500c

  4. 2023 Golf R
    2022 GTI S
    2020 GTI S

    2020 Colorado ZR2 Bison Duramax
    2019 Colorado ZR2

    2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk Elite
    2016 Jeep Cherokee Latitude

    1991 Chevy Cavalier RS
    1988 Chevy Cavalier

  5. Personally, two first generation VW Sciroccos and two Ford Rangers. My mom has bought four Honda Accords, if you count the Acura TL, oddly this was two in a row, a 13 year gap and two more.

  6. For me, I bought used Focus Wagons back to back (a 2005 and a 2007). Rust killed the 2005 and an old lady smashing into the back of it killed the 2007.

    I’ve also had two Ford Escorts in the past… a 1991 4 door hatchback and an 1995 Escort Wagon that were both killed by rust.

    All of these were manuals. And they were all good/cheap daily drivers.

  7. Black 1989 Acura Integra.

    Bought one not long after college graduation after the ‘82 Civic died. First weekend I had it, drove back out to college to visit some friends. Out to the local bar for an hour or two when the bartender shouts, “Anyone got a black Acura? Your cars been tapped.”

    My car wasn’t tapped, my car was totaled. Drunk kid driving mom’s minivan totaled my car, an old Datsun, and even a Volvo. He took off. Was later pulled over for driving an undrivable car. Good thing to: I’d transferred the insurance from the civic, but hadn’t added collision coverage yet: What could happen?!?

    A month later after getting the insurance check (good thing they found the kid) I bought a second 1989 black Acura Integra!

    2. My first new car was a blue 93 integra. It died in a small offset head on. I got a seatbelt bruise. The other driver in a newer Kia spent months in the hospital. Bought a green 96 Integra.

  8. Finally registered just so I can answer this one. There are two, being theAMC Eagle, and the XJ Cherokee. My first car was an ’86, silver over maroon, and got an 84 which I drove around a little bit wound up using as a parts car. Also had a Concord, which I’ll count as half an Eagle. Two Cherokees, ’92 and 2000. All contain variations of the best engine ever, which besides being goddamn near indestructible, are supremely easy to work on. The Eagle will forever be for me the best car ever. I learned to drive in the ’86, brought my first born home from the hospital in it, drove it cross country several times over mountains and through a couple (shallow) rivers, in all weather. Sadly it had to go on the last car trip I got to take with my dad before he died. The transfer case (the weak link in that drive train) started to crap out somewhere in North Dakota which made us reconsider our original plan to drive to Alaska from home near Chicago. Instead we went to Glacier and Yellowstone. Got back as far as Madison and it gave up the ghost completely. Wound up selling it to a junkyard and using the money for bus tickets the rest of the way back. Odometer had over 250,000 miles at that time and previous to that the only major issues beyond standard wear and tear (suspension, crappy original timing set, etc) were the cylinder head needing replaced. Some day I’ll get another Eagle.

    1. Hell yeah, my brother has had like 30 cars, 2 of them Eagles (1 SX/4 and other sedan w/trunk) and they are awesome…lately I’ve been thinking about how GOOD the hatchbacks look…especially now next to new, plastic, greyscale cars that all look the same

  9. Curiously I was also an VW guy before going full Toyota.

    But before that I had the 2.4 Fiat Marea twice in my life. And twice I had engines rebuild.

  10. I have owned:

    -Five 1984-1985 Ford LTDs (hence my handle), including three of the rare LX models.
    -Two Dodge Omni GLHs. One was a project I abandoned in favor of buying a completed car.
    -Two BMW E30 race cars, but one was wrecked and became an engine donor for the other.
    -Two Mazda 3s, one of which I just bought last week. The new-to-me 2015 is going to replace the 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 I’ve had for 11 years. And before that I had a Protege 5 hatchback which is the predecessor to the 3.

  11. I’ve owned 3 BMW 3 series. Two 325s and a 330.

    First was an E36, chopped then in for an E46 when I had to do a longer commute. A bunch of other cars, then back to an E90 after a painful rangerover experience.

    All were brilliant in their own way.

  12. I’m on my 3rd 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT 5-spd. Here’s the story of the first two (mainly the second one). I sold it last fall and bought my “Forever Fiero” this spring, specifically so I could attend the Fiero 40th Anniversary THIS WEEKEND in Pontiac, MI, one hour from me.
    https://youtu.be/KQFQvGeOuhM

    And here’s my post from yesterday’s event at M1 Concourse at the Fiero 40th! I saw the owners of both my former Fieros there.

    https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02Kj4W9Uv9vnTNnf8zMPRDg9fmBNWpDthJv3Ub89FXWJi3u38bmE2DAAwyxZxXDUNsl&id=514737694&mibextid=Nif5oz

  13. I’ve owned over 100 Porsche 356s, about a dozen Deutsch-Bonnets (6 HBR5s and 6 LeMans Spyders), 5 Matra D’Jets and 5 NSU Wankel Spiders and 3 NSU Ro80s. I’ve only had 2 Autech Zagato Stelvio AZ1s…

  14. Saabs 3X, 1986 900S, 1997 900 Turbo, 2003 9-3. Loved them all. But when Saab went away, I looked for what I thought was the closest in spirit and bought a 2013 Audi allroad – still have it and am now an Audi fan.

  16. Nissan Titans.

    They’ve both been incredibly expensive for upkeep compared to past f150s that I’ve owned but I just can’t get away from the motor, a little bit of work and it’s a pretty fun truck.

    My current is a 08, 4 door with long box and topper, ecu tune, etc.

    It’s the worst gas mileage of any vehicle I’ve ever owned, but will get around anything in your way on the highway when you stomp on it.

    Fun, but painful.

  17. Squarebodies and GMT400s. I’ve had 4 squares (2 ‘86s, an ‘87, and a ‘79), and 3 GMT400s (an ‘88, ‘96, ‘99). I’m in the market for the right CCSB K2500 or CCLB K3500, if one pops up.

  18. I’ve owned four ’59 Fords but those consisted of two different body styles of four-door sedan (Custom 300 vs. Galaxie), one Country Sedan four-door wagon, and one Skyliner, so I wouldn’t call any of them the same model as the others. I still have the Skyliner.

    Other than that I’ve owned two ’65 Galaxie 500 two-door hardtops, two ’65 Thunderbird hardtops, two VW Type 1 sedans, and three SAAB 96 sedans (of which I still have one). I currently own one Volvo 66 GL sedan and one wagon and, last as well as least, two examples of the KV Mini 1.

    1. Come to think of it, I can add that the only specific, individual car I’ve purchased more than once is a 1969 Volvo 144 that I bought, then sold to a friend, then bought back about a year later, then passed along to a family member who still has it. I’m pretty sure it’s not for sale at this point.

  20. Boxster and Flex. 2 of each.

    Porsche Boxster – Black over tan 2003. It was totaled avoiding a truck dropping its load in front of my car on the highway. Was told the car saved my life. Went through a couple of other sports cars afterwards, including an S2000, but eventually the 3rd car in my garage became a 2014 Boxster in Racing Yellow over tan.

    Ford Flex SEL- White 2014 – totaled by a Chrysler 300 who ran a red turn signal and crossed directly in front of me at the intersection. Neither the car nor I did well after that. Car was totaled, me slightly less so with permanent issues for the rest of my life. But at least I wasn’t totaled. Great highway cruiser for my 130mi RT daily commute. Fit all my giant scale RC planes with ease. Replaced it with a 2015 Bronze Fire SEL nicknamed “Root Beer”.

    These were the only 2 cars I’ve ever had an accident with or were totaled out of 30 plus cars in 45 yrs of driving, and both were replaced by the same make/model. Maybe it’s a guilt thing. Or maybe… because they were both awesome in their own ways.

  22. I’m ready for the ridicule:
    Dodge Caliber
    I’ve owned 3.
    1st crashed (not my fault), bought another (crash was my fault), bought a 3rd. Then traded for a Toyota.

    2. No ridicule here-just…awe, I guess?
      You’re either a masochist or a committed enthusiast. I don’t kink-shame(people
      like what they like), and I’ve been enthusiastic for years about vehicles that were objectively very questionable.

  23. I’ve had a bunch of cars, but the Chevy Nova has been the only model I’ve had two of, both 1975 SS in blue, one a drag race car, the other a superficially matching street car. I’ve also had projects with parts cars, but I’m not counting those.

  24. My two cars are both Subaru Legacy wagons with manual transmissions, a 1996 and a 2003. I also helped my parents get and fix up a 2005 Legacy Outback LL Bean (though I am more a fan of the earlier Legacys, 2004 and older). One of my old neighbors has had 3 Gen 2 Legacy wagons parked in his driveway for ages, with adjacent neighbors also having Gen 2 Legacy/Legacy Outback wagons in their driveways.

    My girlfriend and I both had and loved our red ’93 or ’94 Subaru Loyale manual transmission wagons.

    Growing up, my parents had Volvo 145 and 265 wagons, which were different generations of the same wagon body.

  25. I’m a serial same model buyer. I’ve had four Toyota MR2s (currently own three, two MK1s and a Roadster). But I have previously owned five Suzuki Ignis Sports, admittedly a couple were spread out to family members.

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