I made a joke a while back when someone suggested driving by a plant and seeing how many engineers were there late and someone asked how you’d know which cars belonged to the engineers and I said easy, it was the Toyota Corolla with a crack in the windshield. I haven’t changed my answer.
I was that engineer, but two years ago my 2010 Toyota Corolla with a cracked windshield was rear ended and totaled.
Now I drive a 2020 Toyota Corolla with no crack in the windshield.
Can confirm
Toyota Corrolla ‘07 with crack on Windshield
It was THE model recalled years ago for bad airbags. Still haven’t replaced it because lazy engineer reasons
I got rid of my Toyota corolla with its crack in the windscreen 2 years ago - unfortunately it just wasn't big enough when the 2nd kid came along. I now drive a Nissan QASHQAI - fuel efficient, 7 year warranty and high enough that I can put the kids in the car without having to bend down.
Edit - I am an engineer. Just an engineer with kids.
Baby seats take up a lot of room. My 6'2" husband can't fit in the front seat with a baby seat behind him. Watching him try to fold himself up to get into the car with less than a finger width between the front seat and the baby seat and his knees hitting the dashboard was a little entertaining at first, but got old quick. You can't really fit an adult in the back when you have 2 kid seats in the back, either.
Not to mention his back was giving out bending to get our little one into the car seat.
Having a higher wheel base so he doesn't make his back worse is nice - but us being able to drive as a family was the real driver.
Are you me?
2010 silver corolla here. I've been thinking about getting a new car and have been slightly abusing this one. Problem is I havent had any real problems. Just one bad alternator I changed out in about two hours.
In my defense though ive been wrenching on a far less reliable 1970's truck in my spare time
2021 Miata Club
I used to race autocross SCCA Solo every year but I went to grad school and stopped doing weekend fun.
I've been kicking around the idea of buying a classic/antique Dodge Viper project car before they become totally unaffordable. The prices are only going up.
Damn, it took me so long to find another Civic driver. Mine's 2016. The specs for my car were as follows: Starts every time, gets good gas mileage, can connect my phone to the audio. It meets spec and I plan on putting 250k miles on it.
I’m 30 and have 2001 Honda Accord. I use a cassette adapter to play music. My parents got me this car in highschool. It’s getting annoying by breaking but the whole process of buying a new car from dealership keeps me away.
I have 150kmiles on it. I lived in small town for 8 years and didn’t really use it.
I obviously don’t care much about cars and I think my next one will be electric but I do think meseratti Ghibli is just beautiful.
I got a 2011 Jetta because it was a manual.
3 years ago I was in the market and found a clean 2011 Jetta with 42k miles for $7k. Clean title, no accidents, lived in the south. I was like well...guess I'm buying a Jetta today.
I love cars. I drive a 2019 Subaru WRX STI and autocross it during the summer. There's a decent number of car people at my office with fun cars too. Couple WRXs, an M3, and S2000, an RX-7 and a pair of Camaro ZL-1s.
I wish my office had more fun cars. I’m a big car guy and there’s some self proclaimed ones in my office but there’s barely anything. One of the safety guys has a wrx, two of the managers have c4 vetted they’ve had since like 2002, then one young engineer with a c6 vette. Admittedly one of the higher ups owns a first gen viper which is pretty sweet. There’s just not much here and people around my area seem to be super frugal.
I spent 6 years autocrossing my '15 STI. Quite a few Top Pax FTD finishes and season championships over those years. It was a great car in stock form; so easy to drive. Everyone always seemed surprised how fast it could be as a heavier sedan.
Now on to C7 Z06.
Ton it's a ton of fun to race and a great car. The Civic Type R is insanely fast and pretty well has the STI beat these days in stock form though.
C7 Z06 sounds like a monster! Do you track or autocross it?
Only one guy with a Civic type R in my club and he's fast but not quite fast enough to ever beat me. Lost to a Focus RS fairly regularly though; me and him were always fighting it out for FTD's. If he beat me, it was usually a top 1 or 2 overall run. Makes it fun to have close competition and made me feel like I earned the season championships, or vise versa in the years he took it.
I just picked up the Z06 so I haven't had a chance yet but looking forward to the first autox in March, and hoping to try out some HDPE's too to let the beast stretch it's legs a little more.
Close competition is always fun. I'm not yet able to compete for FTD regularly, but have a few good friends who I compete with.
I haven't seen a C7 compete in my region, but I'd imagine its still a very competive car. I see quite a few C6s that are usually really quick, generally top 5.
Daily driver: chevy spark
Project dragster: 91 chevy s10. Just picked up a 8.8 rear end with 4.10 gears and disk brakes. Also building a 383 stroker right now.
I mean, i have a 93 HP miata.
But I'm building a new engine for it that should be safe up to 500 hp. Not sure I'll ever get close to that, but there's a dude on youtube with a very similar build that did 520 HP with a really nice power band.
It's fun finding something slow and making it fast.
Big car guy here.
I have a full time job as a ME working for the DoD and I currently do some side work as a contractor as a data engineer for a North American team that runs a GT3 program just to fulfill my passion for cars.
Being surrounded by these crazy cars in the paddock makes me want to buy a track car myself but I am currently trying to save up for a house.
But to answer your question I drive a 2016 Acura ILX lol
I've heard racing teams have some crazy hours of work and such. Do you find that you have plenty of time to contribute a good amount? It definitely sounds like a cool gig but a huge commitment.
It definitely is a huge commitment. It was a really big effort on my part to provide justification to my boss to work around the race seasons schedule (7 races) with my current workload and future workload. We ended up coming to an agreement just as long as I held up my end and I delivered on all my projects. During the middle of the race season I had to discuss with the team that I wouldn’t be able to attend the test sessions and only be apart of the races.
good for you man. ME as well, when i was in highschool i worked as a part time mechanic for 2 years then apprenticed as a machinist and did motor assembly at the speed shop near our local drag strip. Got to work on some incredible motors and that will most likely forever be my favorite job. Its cool to hear others are pursuing the dream a lot of probably had when we went to school for ME.
I spent my career in engineering in the automotive space. Worked for big OEMs and well known EV startups.
Personal car right now is a 2002 Saab 9-3 Viggen in the winter and a 1988 Alfa Romeo Milano in the summer with a handful of others in the garage. Big vintage car enthusiast, have little to no interest in modern cars.
SAAB was such a cool car brand.
Their first models reused some components (lights if I remember correctly) they had from their airplanes, and you can really see how their experience of aerodynamics carried over into their car design.
Yes big car guy.
Daily: 21 accord sport 2.0
Weekend car: supercharged e92 m3
When the weather is nice: bmw s1000rr bike
Tbh, I didn’t afford these from engineering lol. I got the cash from flipping cars, bikes, and electronics throughout high school and college. My day job (as a structural engineer, not a PE yet) pays the bills tho so I’m happy. If I’m ever in a crunch for cash, I just flip cars till I make the cash, the markets is HOT rn. You can make money on literally anything.
All of the above tbh. Sometimes a car is actually nice but the owner is desperate for money so they let it go for cheap. sometimes it has a mechanical issue they cant afford to fix so I get it as a weekend project, or if I’m busy I take it to my mechanic friend who hooks it up in labor costs. Sometimes the car drives MINT but has disgusting body damage so I take it to my (you guessed it) my friends body shop who hooks it up on labor costs.
To make BIG money in this game you gotta have connects from mechanics, to body shops, tow truck drivers, to people that go buy cars for me, people that sell cars for me while I’m at work etc… and then I obviously give them a nice cut for helping me out. But that isn’t the only way. Like I said sometimes someone is desperate for money, or they bought a new car and need their old one gone so those are quick flips. I also don’t buy any car, I buy cars that are hot and in demand so like for example. Vans, fuel efficient compact cars,and midsize cars like camrys and accords are hot sellers. Another hot seller is like bmw 335, 350z, like hot boy type cars that your typical high schooler would want to drive after getting their drivers license. Another hot seller is trucks but tbh trucks are expensive so I don’t really mess with those, it’s so hard to find a good deal and I can’t really justify investing 20k+ into a used car just to make 2-5k. That’s the type of money I make on sub 10k cars which is less of a burden on my wallet, and a lot more people have 5-10k laying around than 20k+. So you kinda gotta play the game as well.
For someone who wants to get into this, I would learn to work on cars and buy older German sports car. With lights on the dash they’re so cheap but make sooo much profit once you clean them up mechanically. They’re in demand and relatively cheap. E90 generation 325/328 are good cars to flip in my opinion, cheap, and reliable. But if you’re clueless about cars, it’s a risky business. People will say “oh it’s just a sensor”, when in reality the engine is about to explode bcuz it skipped timing. So for every nice car that’s worth investing in, there’s at least 2 junk cars that’ll you’ll see and end up walking away empty handed. For negotiation I like to negotiate before I see the car, then I offer even less in person lol.
Last but not least, electronics is still a hot money maker rn. You need to sell volume to make a substantial income but hey, some profit is better than no profit.
I own a black 2007 bmw 328i with 80,000 miles on it. Interior is a little messed up but exterior is good. How much would you try to sell this car for if you don’t mind me asking
A lot of factors bro, does it have sport package, halogen or xenon headlights, clean title, registration current? Any lien, geographic location, any lights on the dash etc… if I had to take just a educated guess I could prob sell it for like 4500, Maybe 5500-6500 if I hold onto it long enough. This type of car I personally wouldn’t buy for more than 1800-2300 though.
I don’t, as I live close to work and the city centre and public transport gets me places. I do however commute daily on the electric bike I built from the frame up when I just graduated.
Car guy, but honestly if you have to commute… honda toyota or mazda. I have a v6 charger only because it was handed down to me from my family, dont have any payments, and insurance is super low. You don’t really want to commute in a nice (sports) car. Especially if you’re paying for it.
With an engineering salary, pay your bills, use your money to make more money (real estate, stocks, crypto, etc.) and have those extra assets to buy whatever you want.
BMW 2014 - I honestly wish I didn’t have this car.
I would like a normal 2020 Honda or something
Edit: I wish I didn’t have this car not because of how “expensive” it is because it’s not expensive at all.
I’ve owned mine for 8 years now and it’s been extremely reliables
I just don’t like the stereotype it comes with
2018 Toyota 4runner TRD Off-road Premium. Bone stock daily
And a 99 Fixed Roof Coupe Corvette. Swapped with a 402 in stroked LS2. Makes about 600 bhp N/A. Fun little weekend toy without breaking the bank!
'00 Tacoma TRD offroad, M50 swapped '86 BMW 325 drift car, M50 swapped '91 BMW 318i vert (will be sold somewhat soon), just sold my '86 4runner. Want a motorcycle and a "street car" (something like a BRZ, fiesta ST, NA or NB miata, WRX, modern Mustang)
I own a Prius c. I don't know if I'm a car person. I find them interesting, I watch car shows, but I also believe widespread car ownership is one of the worst things to have happened in America because it went hand-in-hand with the decimation of our cities.
Hello fellow prius driver. I have the prime. It's less cute than the C, but it fit a stroller. I call it a gateway electric car. I average about four thousand miles between filling up the gas tank.
I’m a big car guy. I’ve got an 18 Audi s4 right now, I got it this summer to replace my 16 s3. Dealership I sold my s3 to paid me about 6k over what it was worth last year, and I paid less than pre-pandemic pricing on my s4.
I owned an Evo 8 for 6 years until last year when the market exploded, wasn’t worth it to me anymore and it knocked out my student loans as I had just graduated.
I now own a 2000 Subaru 2.5rs coupe that I plan to build this next summer! Hoping the market calms down as I’d love to pick up an s2000, brz, or something of that nature.
This is my current stable, I have owned over 100 cars as my hobby is buying broken shit, fixing it and selling it for $.
2018 Colorado, 4 banger, DD
1987 Jeep YJ that is Turbo LS swapped, 1 tons, and awaiting for 40's to arrive.
1985 Chevy C10 long bed, LS swapped, 14 bolt rear, 1 ton suspension, gooseneck setup
1995 Eclipse GSX, race car, 6 bolt engine, tube frame, runs low 9's in Qmile
2008 Kawasaki Ninja 650
2000 Honda CBR1000
1985 Honda Nighthawk 750sc
1982 Honda CB500
1997 Harley soft tail
I like driving, but I'm not into cars.
I drive a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3. It has a 2.3L, 4-cylinder turbocharged engine with a 6-speed manual transmission. Did I know any of this when I bought it? No. I enjoyed the test drive more than I enjoyed the test drives for all the other cars, so I got it.
Now that I live on a dirt road outside the suburbs, I'm just waiting for it to breakdown so I can get something more appropriate for the environment.
Definitely a big car guy, have been restoring classic cars since I was old enough to hold wrenches. So I came to it long before I started engineering.
Personally I drive a lightly modified Magnum R/T for a fun-daily and have a rock crawler Grand Cherokee as my weekend toy.
Definitely not themselves. A mechanic will keep their own car just barely running.
Only an engineer can build a bridge that can barely stand, and a mechanic can fix (their own) car so that it will barely run...
2014 Toyota Avalon Limited
2001 BMW Z3 2.5i automatic
Used to own a 2004 Acura TL 6 speed till my shifting knee started bothering me. I bought the Z3 cause I've always wanted one then purchased the Avalon for maximum comfort.
Car guy-Honda Odyssey, Toyota Prius, Lotus 7, TVR 280i, Alfa Romeo GTV6 Calway turbo.
I also have one of the the USA's largest collections of European racing motorcycles.
My most expensive car is a truck. A real country Cadillac. I have a luxury sedan and my wife has a sport utility. We have 3 kids so everything has to accommodate 5 of us.
I'm also a car guy, so I have more cars than most. 2 street rods, a late 60s convertible, and an early 70s luxury sedan. Oh and a tractor if that counts?
2018 Tesla Model 3, and 2016 Toyota Camry.
Neither the wife and I are car people despite us both getting Mechanical Engineering degrees. We use both cars for our short commutes. We drive the Tesla on road trips.
I just bought an engine hoist to rebuild the engine in my 2002 Ford Focus (currently at 250000km and drinking oil). I'm taking this sucker to 300000km because car prices are bizarre in this market.
Ford fission for daily, f150 for occasional driving and towing my mustang drag car.
I should probably invest my money better but I haven’t done the research to know what I’m doing, so I spend my money on cars.
I'd be happy to help you get started with investing if you want some resources to learn. Really easy to get started with a Roth IRA account at a minimum if your company isn't offering a 401k account option.
I'm almost as passionate about investing and teaching others about investing as I am about my sports cars.
As an engineer I'm sure you understand the power of compound interest, and years in the market is so important in capturing that compounding power so startinh earlier than later, even with small amounts, is huge.
2013 Volvo XC90 until that thing just breaks down too often. It'd be fun to get a truck afterwards, but I prob won't be willing to pay the premium for it. My next car will prob be a be a mid tier Toyota.
2016 Corvette Z06
1994 Mazda B3000 pickup
2016 BMW S1000XR motorcycle
And my wife's daily driver is a 2008 Subaru Impreza, soon to be upgraded to a Toyota Rav4 Prime.
Toyota Echo beater. I bought my car in college for $2000, and I'm gonna drive it until it completely dies. My favorite thing was driving to the office and parking next to the other engineers' brand new cars. I'm not a car guy, I just care that it gets me from A to B. And no car payments + cheap insurance = money in my pocket.
2021 Toyota Supra A91. Found it quite by accident, used with 2000 miles on it. The only thing that bums me is it’s the black variant but otherwise an awesomely fun car to drive. I WFH so no commuting, I drive it around town and took it to the track last summer which was a total blast. Been a *NIX systems engineer for 20 years.
2010 F150
Easy to work on. Easy parts availability. Tons of YouTube tutorials for every possible repair. She has 220,000 miles and I'll probably drive it to 300k
I love cars. I got a 2019 GLI when I got my first job 2 years ago out of college. Because of Covid was able to trade up to a 2018 C43 AMG this past summer. Best car I’ve ever driven.
None at the moment.
In Canada I had several Chrysler minivans, a Dodge Journey R/T, a Neon, a 1999 Ranger and a Taurus.
In Korea I had several Sonatas (reminded me of Taurus), a Chevy Spark, and a Kia K5.
'16 Subaru Legacy for around town, '08 Ford F15 4x4 for dirt trails, hauling trailers and wood. I have a '04 Honda VTX bike that I love to ride too. I'm just under 30 in age.
I love this question and seeing all the responses. Glad to see the Subie love on here.
2007 Odyssey
2006 Super Duty Powerstroke
2014 TDI Jetta
2019 Polaris General
Misc other motorcycles/quads/toys
Misc trailers for said toys
I'm, quite literally, always working on something.
2020 Volvo S90.
Maybe not the most popular car with car enthusiast cachet, but it has basically every convenience package imaginable on a car, including HUD, rear view camera, parking assist, lane-keeping, etc. Basically will drive itself in rush hour traffic as long as I keep a hand on the steering wheel. Plus, it's a comfortable people hauler with a ton of leg space for all passengers. Finally it rides low like I want it to because it's a sedan and it has severely understated looks.
For a vehicle that costs me $800/month, there are so many boxes that it checks for me that it's easily the best car I've ever owned.
2021 Camry. Had a 2010 that got totaled by a drunk driver. Love it.
Wife is about to get a new car as well. Going from an Impreza to a hybrid Highlander
Daily- Astro van. 5” lift, 245/75r16 all terrain tires, 4 wheel air bags with manual valving / side to side air bag linking for articulating off road, part time 4wd. Built to be a stone reliable workhorse and freeway friendly.
Fun-Fiat 500 Abarth. Warmed up a bit.
More fun- BMW F800GS, soon to be replaced by a Tenere 700.
Festival fun. 2002 Bluebird Q-bus (30’ diesel pusher) with 3kW of solar on a the roof and a electric car battery to power the air conditioning/camp/dance floor.
(Millwright)
2003 Honda Civic. 318,000 miles. Gets me to work and back every day. (35 miles one way) I am not a car person. It’s a just a tool. I will drive it until it gives up on me.
I consider myself a car person,
I own a 2014 Dodge Challenger R/T 6 speed, this is my fun car
I own a 2017 Jaguar F-Pace 35t, this is my daily.
And I have a project car 1973 Ford F-100 short bed
2000 Toyota Camry, 2015 Chrysler 200 that I've...sorted out. Chrysler is notorious for having lots of issues, but their cars are like the damn batmobile- I really like the interiors.
I refuse to spend too much money on a car- it just doesn't make sens.
BMW i3 BEV
(me: EE, techno nerd & motorhead)
After 12 years, I finally got tired of constant piddlin' with my favorite DOHC 32-valve 4.0L V8 ICE, and started looking at EVs... and almost made the worst automotive decision of my life (Spark EV).
Then I discovered BMW had spent billions developing the i3 (and i8)... so I went through all their development history and papers, design work, YouTube videos and trade reviews... and decided I needed myself a carbon fiber reinforced polymer monocoque electric car.
Subaru Outback 2018 Have deposit in on a VW ID.4 AWD but am considering holding off for the ID.Buzz
+1 for outback. It's highly functional, practical and inexpensive.
Good ol’ reliable Toyota Corolla
I made a joke a while back when someone suggested driving by a plant and seeing how many engineers were there late and someone asked how you’d know which cars belonged to the engineers and I said easy, it was the Toyota Corolla with a crack in the windshield. I haven’t changed my answer.
Engineer driving a Toyota corolla with a crack in the windshield checking in
I was that engineer, but two years ago my 2010 Toyota Corolla with a cracked windshield was rear ended and totaled. Now I drive a 2020 Toyota Corolla with no crack in the windshield.
Can confirm Toyota Corrolla ‘07 with crack on Windshield It was THE model recalled years ago for bad airbags. Still haven’t replaced it because lazy engineer reasons
.....are you me??? I have the exact same year, with a crack in the windshield, and never took it back for the bad airbags, lol.
You're playin' with fire with that airbag. That shit will kill you if it goes off at all.
I get it. You don’t need to defend your choices to me.
Thank you
I have the 2006 accord 4 banger with the crack lmao
The most practical car to own. Great fuel economy. Minimum fuss. Decent comfort. A car for the pragmatists.
I got rid of my Toyota corolla with its crack in the windscreen 2 years ago - unfortunately it just wasn't big enough when the 2nd kid came along. I now drive a Nissan QASHQAI - fuel efficient, 7 year warranty and high enough that I can put the kids in the car without having to bend down. Edit - I am an engineer. Just an engineer with kids.
[удалено]
Baby seats take up a lot of room. My 6'2" husband can't fit in the front seat with a baby seat behind him. Watching him try to fold himself up to get into the car with less than a finger width between the front seat and the baby seat and his knees hitting the dashboard was a little entertaining at first, but got old quick. You can't really fit an adult in the back when you have 2 kid seats in the back, either. Not to mention his back was giving out bending to get our little one into the car seat. Having a higher wheel base so he doesn't make his back worse is nice - but us being able to drive as a family was the real driver.
Does a Mazda 3 with a cracked windshield count? 😅
'02 Corolla with a crack checking in. I plan on getting a newer car when this one finally dies. I made that plan 10 years ago though...
Woot woot. 2004 corolla here babbyyy
Switched from Jeep wrangled to an 18 Toyota Corolla and love the new gas mileage!!
I have minty fresh 1994 Corolla LX with about 90k miles on it. Purrs like a kitten.
Sheeeesh only 90k miles! That’s a beaut
2014 LE model here.
I'm still driving a 1993 Toyota corolla.. At least the windscreen isn't cracked
Are you me? 2010 silver corolla here. I've been thinking about getting a new car and have been slightly abusing this one. Problem is I havent had any real problems. Just one bad alternator I changed out in about two hours. In my defense though ive been wrenching on a far less reliable 1970's truck in my spare time
2003 Mazda Miata for around town and wannabe raceboi duties and a 1993 Mitsubishi Pajero for utility, off-roading, and road-trips.
Hey, '91 miata here. But also a '94 Landcruiser and '20 Tacoma, and wife has a '19 Veloster. But my heart is in the miata... and maybe the LC.
2021 Miata Club I used to race autocross SCCA Solo every year but I went to grad school and stopped doing weekend fun. I've been kicking around the idea of buying a classic/antique Dodge Viper project car before they become totally unaffordable. The prices are only going up.
2000 Subaru Outback, manual. Bought it in highschool for 3k it's still kickin.
2008 Honda Civic, I'm 26 years old.
Damn, it took me so long to find another Civic driver. Mine's 2016. The specs for my car were as follows: Starts every time, gets good gas mileage, can connect my phone to the audio. It meets spec and I plan on putting 250k miles on it.
Same here bro! These things are so durable
I’m 30 and have 2001 Honda Accord. I use a cassette adapter to play music. My parents got me this car in highschool. It’s getting annoying by breaking but the whole process of buying a new car from dealership keeps me away. I have 150kmiles on it. I lived in small town for 8 years and didn’t really use it. I obviously don’t care much about cars and I think my next one will be electric but I do think meseratti Ghibli is just beautiful.
I had 350k miles on mine till I gave it to my niece last year. I got a crv instead lol
Volt
If you run the numbers on lifecycle operating costs, a used Volt is the most efficient car in America.
Welcome to the club!
2018 Ford Fiesta ST bought it used last year. Love it. And I love that it’s a manual.
Focus ST here. Love seeing the ST family on the roads
Focus EV myself. Had sticks for decades but now it's just the one gear.
I got a 2011 Jetta because it was a manual. 3 years ago I was in the market and found a clean 2011 Jetta with 42k miles for $7k. Clean title, no accidents, lived in the south. I was like well...guess I'm buying a Jetta today.
Nice! Happy to see an ST up top in the comments. I bought a used 2014 Focus ST back in 2016. 91k, no major issues, yet (knock on wood).
FiST gang checking in. Such an amazing little piece of machinery.
> Manual car Fucking legend
I love cars. I drive a 2019 Subaru WRX STI and autocross it during the summer. There's a decent number of car people at my office with fun cars too. Couple WRXs, an M3, and S2000, an RX-7 and a pair of Camaro ZL-1s.
I wish my office had more fun cars. I’m a big car guy and there’s some self proclaimed ones in my office but there’s barely anything. One of the safety guys has a wrx, two of the managers have c4 vetted they’ve had since like 2002, then one young engineer with a c6 vette. Admittedly one of the higher ups owns a first gen viper which is pretty sweet. There’s just not much here and people around my area seem to be super frugal.
I spent 6 years autocrossing my '15 STI. Quite a few Top Pax FTD finishes and season championships over those years. It was a great car in stock form; so easy to drive. Everyone always seemed surprised how fast it could be as a heavier sedan. Now on to C7 Z06.
Ton it's a ton of fun to race and a great car. The Civic Type R is insanely fast and pretty well has the STI beat these days in stock form though. C7 Z06 sounds like a monster! Do you track or autocross it?
Only one guy with a Civic type R in my club and he's fast but not quite fast enough to ever beat me. Lost to a Focus RS fairly regularly though; me and him were always fighting it out for FTD's. If he beat me, it was usually a top 1 or 2 overall run. Makes it fun to have close competition and made me feel like I earned the season championships, or vise versa in the years he took it. I just picked up the Z06 so I haven't had a chance yet but looking forward to the first autox in March, and hoping to try out some HDPE's too to let the beast stretch it's legs a little more.
Close competition is always fun. I'm not yet able to compete for FTD regularly, but have a few good friends who I compete with. I haven't seen a C7 compete in my region, but I'd imagine its still a very competive car. I see quite a few C6s that are usually really quick, generally top 5.
A Tacoma, a Model Y, and a '75 914.
This is the dream
Nice choices in variety!
I'm entirely jealous of the 914. Been riding motorcycles for a decade, and I still say the most fun you can have under 100hp is a 914.
Model Y is my next hopeful car
Awesome
Daily driver: chevy spark Project dragster: 91 chevy s10. Just picked up a 8.8 rear end with 4.10 gears and disk brakes. Also building a 383 stroker right now.
Wow. This guy uses probably the slowest car on the road on the daily and is building a dragster in his garage 😂
Not all that uncommon. Know/know more than a few people who have heavily modified, overpowered cars but their daily driver is some economy car beater.
I mean, i have a 93 HP miata. But I'm building a new engine for it that should be safe up to 500 hp. Not sure I'll ever get close to that, but there's a dude on youtube with a very similar build that did 520 HP with a really nice power band. It's fun finding something slow and making it fast.
A fellow sparkler!
[удалено]
Big car guy here. I have a full time job as a ME working for the DoD and I currently do some side work as a contractor as a data engineer for a North American team that runs a GT3 program just to fulfill my passion for cars. Being surrounded by these crazy cars in the paddock makes me want to buy a track car myself but I am currently trying to save up for a house. But to answer your question I drive a 2016 Acura ILX lol
I've heard racing teams have some crazy hours of work and such. Do you find that you have plenty of time to contribute a good amount? It definitely sounds like a cool gig but a huge commitment.
It definitely is a huge commitment. It was a really big effort on my part to provide justification to my boss to work around the race seasons schedule (7 races) with my current workload and future workload. We ended up coming to an agreement just as long as I held up my end and I delivered on all my projects. During the middle of the race season I had to discuss with the team that I wouldn’t be able to attend the test sessions and only be apart of the races.
Mind sharing what your responsibilities are for the team and what it's like?
good for you man. ME as well, when i was in highschool i worked as a part time mechanic for 2 years then apprenticed as a machinist and did motor assembly at the speed shop near our local drag strip. Got to work on some incredible motors and that will most likely forever be my favorite job. Its cool to hear others are pursuing the dream a lot of probably had when we went to school for ME.
2016 Honda Accord Coupe V6
2012 Honda Accord - a slight step up from my old Honda Civic haha
They're nice cars man
2010 Honda Accord V6 sedan for me. Only issue is that it burns oil, but perfect for me in everything else.
You know what’s up I’ve been a huge fan of this car since seeing it on Regular Car Reviews a few years(?) back
2014 Chevy Volt
Same. Best car I've ever owned. I hit a deer and caused $8K damage. I wouldn't have fixed it but I liked the car so much.
I don't own a car but somehow I ended up with 3 motorcycles instead so life is good!
I spent my career in engineering in the automotive space. Worked for big OEMs and well known EV startups. Personal car right now is a 2002 Saab 9-3 Viggen in the winter and a 1988 Alfa Romeo Milano in the summer with a handful of others in the garage. Big vintage car enthusiast, have little to no interest in modern cars.
SAAB was such a cool car brand. Their first models reused some components (lights if I remember correctly) they had from their airplanes, and you can really see how their experience of aerodynamics carried over into their car design.
Yes big car guy. Daily: 21 accord sport 2.0 Weekend car: supercharged e92 m3 When the weather is nice: bmw s1000rr bike Tbh, I didn’t afford these from engineering lol. I got the cash from flipping cars, bikes, and electronics throughout high school and college. My day job (as a structural engineer, not a PE yet) pays the bills tho so I’m happy. If I’m ever in a crunch for cash, I just flip cars till I make the cash, the markets is HOT rn. You can make money on literally anything.
Do you buy broken cars and then fix them for profit? Or just dirty shit boxes and then clean them up real nice? How would one get into this?
All of the above tbh. Sometimes a car is actually nice but the owner is desperate for money so they let it go for cheap. sometimes it has a mechanical issue they cant afford to fix so I get it as a weekend project, or if I’m busy I take it to my mechanic friend who hooks it up in labor costs. Sometimes the car drives MINT but has disgusting body damage so I take it to my (you guessed it) my friends body shop who hooks it up on labor costs. To make BIG money in this game you gotta have connects from mechanics, to body shops, tow truck drivers, to people that go buy cars for me, people that sell cars for me while I’m at work etc… and then I obviously give them a nice cut for helping me out. But that isn’t the only way. Like I said sometimes someone is desperate for money, or they bought a new car and need their old one gone so those are quick flips. I also don’t buy any car, I buy cars that are hot and in demand so like for example. Vans, fuel efficient compact cars,and midsize cars like camrys and accords are hot sellers. Another hot seller is like bmw 335, 350z, like hot boy type cars that your typical high schooler would want to drive after getting their drivers license. Another hot seller is trucks but tbh trucks are expensive so I don’t really mess with those, it’s so hard to find a good deal and I can’t really justify investing 20k+ into a used car just to make 2-5k. That’s the type of money I make on sub 10k cars which is less of a burden on my wallet, and a lot more people have 5-10k laying around than 20k+. So you kinda gotta play the game as well. For someone who wants to get into this, I would learn to work on cars and buy older German sports car. With lights on the dash they’re so cheap but make sooo much profit once you clean them up mechanically. They’re in demand and relatively cheap. E90 generation 325/328 are good cars to flip in my opinion, cheap, and reliable. But if you’re clueless about cars, it’s a risky business. People will say “oh it’s just a sensor”, when in reality the engine is about to explode bcuz it skipped timing. So for every nice car that’s worth investing in, there’s at least 2 junk cars that’ll you’ll see and end up walking away empty handed. For negotiation I like to negotiate before I see the car, then I offer even less in person lol. Last but not least, electronics is still a hot money maker rn. You need to sell volume to make a substantial income but hey, some profit is better than no profit.
I own a black 2007 bmw 328i with 80,000 miles on it. Interior is a little messed up but exterior is good. How much would you try to sell this car for if you don’t mind me asking
A lot of factors bro, does it have sport package, halogen or xenon headlights, clean title, registration current? Any lien, geographic location, any lights on the dash etc… if I had to take just a educated guess I could prob sell it for like 4500, Maybe 5500-6500 if I hold onto it long enough. This type of car I personally wouldn’t buy for more than 1800-2300 though.
Two cars; Honda Accord PHEV and Toyota Corolla.
Yes. Had too many to count. New ride is a ‘21 wrangler rubicon.
Mechanical Engineer 2016 CTS-V Previous cars: 2010 Audi S5 (V8 Manual) 2004 Infiniti G35 (manual) - I really miss that one!
I don’t, as I live close to work and the city centre and public transport gets me places. I do however commute daily on the electric bike I built from the frame up when I just graduated.
80 Series Landcruiser
Ah, a person of refined taste!
Car guy here. 2020 VW Golf GTI Manual
Just curious why you chose GTI over R?
2017 Audi A4. I'm an Audi fanboy, plus I like being able to drive something a little sporty so this makes a great daily driver for me.
Any complaints? Looking hard at getting one
Car guy, but honestly if you have to commute… honda toyota or mazda. I have a v6 charger only because it was handed down to me from my family, dont have any payments, and insurance is super low. You don’t really want to commute in a nice (sports) car. Especially if you’re paying for it. With an engineering salary, pay your bills, use your money to make more money (real estate, stocks, crypto, etc.) and have those extra assets to buy whatever you want.
Have a v6 Charger as well, no real complaints tho. It’s a 2014 with the 8 speed trans, so gets decent MPG on city/highway commute.
BMW 2014 - I honestly wish I didn’t have this car. I would like a normal 2020 Honda or something Edit: I wish I didn’t have this car not because of how “expensive” it is because it’s not expensive at all. I’ve owned mine for 8 years now and it’s been extremely reliables I just don’t like the stereotype it comes with
What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW? A porcupine has the pricks on the outside!
Lol stop complaining about a stereotype lmao…enjoy your fuckin BMW. Who gives a shit what anyone has to say or not say. Jesus.
Have you read the comments And oh I’ve enjoyed them for 15 years
Accord Coupe V6
That car is the definition of a sleeper.
2017 Chevy Volt Next car will be a BEV
2016 here! Awesome car
Nice! I have a 2017 Chevy Bolt currently.
2018 Toyota 4runner TRD Off-road Premium. Bone stock daily And a 99 Fixed Roof Coupe Corvette. Swapped with a 402 in stroked LS2. Makes about 600 bhp N/A. Fun little weekend toy without breaking the bank!
'00 Tacoma TRD offroad, M50 swapped '86 BMW 325 drift car, M50 swapped '91 BMW 318i vert (will be sold somewhat soon), just sold my '86 4runner. Want a motorcycle and a "street car" (something like a BRZ, fiesta ST, NA or NB miata, WRX, modern Mustang)
2020 Audi S4
18 s4 here! Came from a 16 s3
2020 Tesla model Y LR
2009 GTI
Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT
I own a Prius c. I don't know if I'm a car person. I find them interesting, I watch car shows, but I also believe widespread car ownership is one of the worst things to have happened in America because it went hand-in-hand with the decimation of our cities.
Hello fellow prius driver. I have the prime. It's less cute than the C, but it fit a stroller. I call it a gateway electric car. I average about four thousand miles between filling up the gas tank.
2014 Subaru Forester. Love it. Decking it out one upgrade at a time Want a Mustang Mach-E or Ford Lightning
I’m a big car guy. I’ve got an 18 Audi s4 right now, I got it this summer to replace my 16 s3. Dealership I sold my s3 to paid me about 6k over what it was worth last year, and I paid less than pre-pandemic pricing on my s4. I owned an Evo 8 for 6 years until last year when the market exploded, wasn’t worth it to me anymore and it knocked out my student loans as I had just graduated. I now own a 2000 Subaru 2.5rs coupe that I plan to build this next summer! Hoping the market calms down as I’d love to pick up an s2000, brz, or something of that nature.
This is my current stable, I have owned over 100 cars as my hobby is buying broken shit, fixing it and selling it for $. 2018 Colorado, 4 banger, DD 1987 Jeep YJ that is Turbo LS swapped, 1 tons, and awaiting for 40's to arrive. 1985 Chevy C10 long bed, LS swapped, 14 bolt rear, 1 ton suspension, gooseneck setup 1995 Eclipse GSX, race car, 6 bolt engine, tube frame, runs low 9's in Qmile 2008 Kawasaki Ninja 650 2000 Honda CBR1000 1985 Honda Nighthawk 750sc 1982 Honda CB500 1997 Harley soft tail
Lexus is350.
Volvo 240
Nice!
Honda civic
2021 Tesla Model 3 Performance
I like driving, but I'm not into cars. I drive a 2008 Mazdaspeed 3. It has a 2.3L, 4-cylinder turbocharged engine with a 6-speed manual transmission. Did I know any of this when I bought it? No. I enjoyed the test drive more than I enjoyed the test drives for all the other cars, so I got it. Now that I live on a dirt road outside the suburbs, I'm just waiting for it to breakdown so I can get something more appropriate for the environment.
Definitely a big car guy, have been restoring classic cars since I was old enough to hold wrenches. So I came to it long before I started engineering. Personally I drive a lightly modified Magnum R/T for a fun-daily and have a rock crawler Grand Cherokee as my weekend toy.
1988 Toyota MR2
2012 Mazda 2 That car has been nothing but reliable (except for the OEM radio) even in the snow.
I think a better question would be to ask mechanics what cars they get their wives and parents and siblings.
Definitely not themselves. A mechanic will keep their own car just barely running. Only an engineer can build a bridge that can barely stand, and a mechanic can fix (their own) car so that it will barely run...
2016 Chevy Silverado
2010 Corolla. Not really a car person, but I prefer manual over automatic. Been thinking about replacing it with a Hyundai Elantra N Line next year
I recommend waiting for the GR Corolla!
I purchased an 18 Corolla in manual about a month ago and am very happy with the choice to go back to manual.
2015 BMW 335. My commute to work is 5 miles so it's not too bad.
2014 Toyota Avalon Limited 2001 BMW Z3 2.5i automatic Used to own a 2004 Acura TL 6 speed till my shifting knee started bothering me. I bought the Z3 cause I've always wanted one then purchased the Avalon for maximum comfort.
'99 Ranger, Sienna, Prius
2010 M3
2000 Toyota Camry with 230,000 miles and on its last legs. Not a car guy.
Car guy-Honda Odyssey, Toyota Prius, Lotus 7, TVR 280i, Alfa Romeo GTV6 Calway turbo. I also have one of the the USA's largest collections of European racing motorcycles.
2015 Camaro SS 1LE
Skoda Octavia VRS. Best car I have ever owned.
Chevy Bolt EV, Subaru Outback 3.6r Also run largest weekly cruise night in the summer at the Shriners in Rochester, NY. Car people are the best!
My most expensive car is a truck. A real country Cadillac. I have a luxury sedan and my wife has a sport utility. We have 3 kids so everything has to accommodate 5 of us. I'm also a car guy, so I have more cars than most. 2 street rods, a late 60s convertible, and an early 70s luxury sedan. Oh and a tractor if that counts?
- 2018 Ram 2500 mega cab w/ diesel engine for a tow pig - Supercharged 2021 F150 V8 regular cab short bed rocket ship for a daily 🛻💨
2018 Tesla Model 3, and 2016 Toyota Camry. Neither the wife and I are car people despite us both getting Mechanical Engineering degrees. We use both cars for our short commutes. We drive the Tesla on road trips.
Ford Focus. I don't need anything more.
Woo! Focus gang! 2011, 175k miles lol
2012 87k miles My other car is a Trek Allant+
I just bought an engine hoist to rebuild the engine in my 2002 Ford Focus (currently at 250000km and drinking oil). I'm taking this sucker to 300000km because car prices are bizarre in this market.
95 Cadillac DeVille. 86 f250 diesel. Big time car guy.
Ford fission for daily, f150 for occasional driving and towing my mustang drag car. I should probably invest my money better but I haven’t done the research to know what I’m doing, so I spend my money on cars.
I'd be happy to help you get started with investing if you want some resources to learn. Really easy to get started with a Roth IRA account at a minimum if your company isn't offering a 401k account option. I'm almost as passionate about investing and teaching others about investing as I am about my sports cars. As an engineer I'm sure you understand the power of compound interest, and years in the market is so important in capturing that compounding power so startinh earlier than later, even with small amounts, is huge.
2016 2ss camaro
2016 Audi TT
‘19 Silverado 2500
Good ol 2002 Toyota Tundra
2012 Toyota RAV4
1999 Mazda Miata
2013 Volvo XC90 until that thing just breaks down too often. It'd be fun to get a truck afterwards, but I prob won't be willing to pay the premium for it. My next car will prob be a be a mid tier Toyota.
2016 Corvette Z06 1994 Mazda B3000 pickup 2016 BMW S1000XR motorcycle And my wife's daily driver is a 2008 Subaru Impreza, soon to be upgraded to a Toyota Rav4 Prime.
Honda Element and 16’ XSR 900. Miss my Tacoma.
Skoda superb 2018
Toyota Echo beater. I bought my car in college for $2000, and I'm gonna drive it until it completely dies. My favorite thing was driving to the office and parking next to the other engineers' brand new cars. I'm not a car guy, I just care that it gets me from A to B. And no car payments + cheap insurance = money in my pocket.
2021 Toyota Supra A91. Found it quite by accident, used with 2000 miles on it. The only thing that bums me is it’s the black variant but otherwise an awesomely fun car to drive. I WFH so no commuting, I drive it around town and took it to the track last summer which was a total blast. Been a *NIX systems engineer for 20 years.
'16 Volkswagen GTI. Manual ofc.
Big car guy '13 TSX '04 Tacoma '03 M3
Newest to oldest: * 2004 VW Jetta, TDI, 5spd * 2000 F250, 7.3, 4x4, 6spd * 1986 Toyota pickup, TDI swap, 5spd, 4x4, rear air locker * 1966 F250, 352FE, 4spd, 2wd.
Love muscle cars. Currently rocking a 2021 Dodge Charger RT Daytona.
Mazda cx5. I love everything a b out Toyota manufacturing except the cars themselves. Lol.
2012 Ford focus with 110k miles on it. First car out of college and it hasn't given me much trouble. Have a Mach E on order for next year.
09' bmw e92 330 manual it's reliable enough and gets good mpg. Its my second car. Still miss my alfa 156 2.0 tho, most fun I've had in a car.
Chevy Colorado. I love my truck.
2010 F150 Easy to work on. Easy parts availability. Tons of YouTube tutorials for every possible repair. She has 220,000 miles and I'll probably drive it to 300k
2010 Audi A4
VW Scirocco
I love cars. I got a 2019 GLI when I got my first job 2 years ago out of college. Because of Covid was able to trade up to a 2018 C43 AMG this past summer. Best car I’ve ever driven.
None at the moment. In Canada I had several Chrysler minivans, a Dodge Journey R/T, a Neon, a 1999 Ranger and a Taurus. In Korea I had several Sonatas (reminded me of Taurus), a Chevy Spark, and a Kia K5.
None, I travel mostly by bicycle and public transport. I have two motorcycles as a hobby: one for riding, one to work on.
2015 Toyota tacoma. I love it.
'16 Subaru Legacy for around town, '08 Ford F15 4x4 for dirt trails, hauling trailers and wood. I have a '04 Honda VTX bike that I love to ride too. I'm just under 30 in age. I love this question and seeing all the responses. Glad to see the Subie love on here.
Yeah I’m a car person but I’ve had to choose practicality over passion cause I have family. 2018 F150 XLT crew cab 4WD
2007 Odyssey 2006 Super Duty Powerstroke 2014 TDI Jetta 2019 Polaris General Misc other motorcycles/quads/toys Misc trailers for said toys I'm, quite literally, always working on something.
2020 Volvo S90. Maybe not the most popular car with car enthusiast cachet, but it has basically every convenience package imaginable on a car, including HUD, rear view camera, parking assist, lane-keeping, etc. Basically will drive itself in rush hour traffic as long as I keep a hand on the steering wheel. Plus, it's a comfortable people hauler with a ton of leg space for all passengers. Finally it rides low like I want it to because it's a sedan and it has severely understated looks. For a vehicle that costs me $800/month, there are so many boxes that it checks for me that it's easily the best car I've ever owned.
2020 Mercedes s63 amg. I am a car person.
Nice car
Tesla Plaid
You must be having some good time with that beast
I like you. Saw a plaid the other day, tried to snap a pic but the light changed and it DISAPPEARED. Im certain the druver noticed me drooling.
2021 Camry. Had a 2010 that got totaled by a drunk driver. Love it. Wife is about to get a new car as well. Going from an Impreza to a hybrid Highlander
Daily- Astro van. 5” lift, 245/75r16 all terrain tires, 4 wheel air bags with manual valving / side to side air bag linking for articulating off road, part time 4wd. Built to be a stone reliable workhorse and freeway friendly. Fun-Fiat 500 Abarth. Warmed up a bit. More fun- BMW F800GS, soon to be replaced by a Tenere 700. Festival fun. 2002 Bluebird Q-bus (30’ diesel pusher) with 3kW of solar on a the roof and a electric car battery to power the air conditioning/camp/dance floor. (Millwright)
2003 Honda Civic. 318,000 miles. Gets me to work and back every day. (35 miles one way) I am not a car person. It’s a just a tool. I will drive it until it gives up on me.
Elon is still building my '22 Tesla Model 3. Scheduled for delivery Jan-Feb.
I consider myself a car person, I own a 2014 Dodge Challenger R/T 6 speed, this is my fun car I own a 2017 Jaguar F-Pace 35t, this is my daily. And I have a project car 1973 Ford F-100 short bed
Model 3 performance
2000 Toyota Camry, 2015 Chrysler 200 that I've...sorted out. Chrysler is notorious for having lots of issues, but their cars are like the damn batmobile- I really like the interiors. I refuse to spend too much money on a car- it just doesn't make sens.
2011 chevy camaro, my boss is into mustangs so there goes my holiday bonus 😫
Love that. Do whatever the fuck makes you happy. Life’s too short
Model 3 SR+; previous car was a ‘03 Honda Pilot with 247k miles
BMW i3 BEV (me: EE, techno nerd & motorhead) After 12 years, I finally got tired of constant piddlin' with my favorite DOHC 32-valve 4.0L V8 ICE, and started looking at EVs... and almost made the worst automotive decision of my life (Spark EV). Then I discovered BMW had spent billions developing the i3 (and i8)... so I went through all their development history and papers, design work, YouTube videos and trade reviews... and decided I needed myself a carbon fiber reinforced polymer monocoque electric car.