I saw this at Chris’s over 3 weeks ago. Since then samuel has done it. Before actually making the list, I expected it to be longer. I think I must have been counting some twice. I include motorcycles in this list because I bought them primarily for transportation rather than leisure.

- 1981 Kawasaki 440 LTD – I bought this from a guy who went to school with one of my older brothers in 1985. I had been acquainted with him since grade 6, but, knew all of his siblings better than him. Him and 2 of his buddies had all bought bikes at the same time. One of them had an accident and this bike had sit in his fathers garage for 2 years before I bought it. We had to tow it with a car and drop the clutch (several times) to get it to start. This bike was incredibly good on gas, consistently getting over 80 CDN MPG. It wasn’t a great winter vehicle though. By the spring of ’89 Andrea and I were engaged and I discovered that she was afraid of motorcycles. So, it didn’t see alot of use after that. Sometime in the mid 90′s I gave it to my nephew.

- 1980 Ford Econoline short wheel base 3/4 ton van – I bought this in late 1986. It had almost 200K km on it when I bought it from the local telco. It had a couple extra spring leaves on each side on the rear axle because at the time the telco’s service guys had at least 1500 lbs of equipment and supplies that they carried around with them, so it looked jacked up. It was hard on gas and brutally cold in the winter, but it was a good running vehicle. During the first few months I had the sentra below, I hardly used the van. My brothers did use it. The transmission died because the transmission fluid got way to low (I’ve always assumed due to a leak).

- 1983 Datsun Nissan Sentra – I bought this from my brother in 1989. If I remember correctly, his wife bought it new. It got better gas mileage than most of the hybrids on the market today. In a way, it was a free car because it and its running costs were less than the gas I had been putting in the Ford van. If I could buy a new one of these today, I’d do it in a second. After driving it for about 2 years, I sold it to a second brother who later sold it to a third brother. (Just to keep that straight, the car went through 4 brothers). We all thought it was a great vehicle. It had over 300K km (185K miles) on it before it was totalled in an intersection in Fredericton.

- 1990 Nissan Kingcab – This is the only new vehicle I bought in my life. Andrea and I put almost 300K km on this as well. Other than the gas mileage not being as good as the sentra, I liked this truck every bit as much as the sentra. I sold it about 14 years after I bought it.

- 1984 Cavalier (technically Andrea’s but when she was given it, she didn’t have a driver’s licence) Andrea’s grandfather gave her her first car in 1993. He was getting a newer one and wanted her to have something to get her license with. The thing I remember the most about his car was that her grandfather never drove it more than 70 km/h and for the first few weeks it shook violently when the automatic transmission tried to shift into overdrive. We saw this one all the way to the junk yard.

- 1984 Volvo 740 – I regret buying this in 1997. I didn’t know that it was the European model until I started getting work done on it. So, getting parts for it was harder & more expensive (alternator – $600). When it was working, it was a nice car. It had had a fair amount of work done on it by a questionable backyard mechanic. I wouldn’t use this one to gauge the brand. I’ve known quite a few people who owned volvos and swore by them.

- 1989 Cavalier wagon – I bought this at a federal government surplus auction in 1998. It need some work at the start. But, I liked this cavalier quite a bit better than the 1984 version. We sold this to friends of ours at a very low price because they were in need.

- 1992 Chev Beauville van – When Emma came along we needed a vehicle that could carry at least 6 people. In early 2001, we were shopping for used mini vans and found this. For its age, it had really low miles and had only had one owner who only drove it in the summer. It cost about 30-40% less than comparable minivans. We sold it this year. It’s gas mileage was quite a bit better than the Ford van (due to a smaller engine) and except for fuel costs we did really well with this Chev.

- 1995 Yamaha 535 Virago – In 2003, I wanted to get a second vehicle because Andrea does alot more driving in the summer. This was a nice compromise on economy and enjoyment. If I’d driven the van the extra miles required to share the van and take me where I drove the bike, the gas cost alone would have comfortably paid for the bike. I sold it in 2005 for $300 less than what I paid for it.

- 2001 Ford Focus – I bought this last year and went for a newer vehicle because I knew I’d be travelling across the province twice a week for an indefinite period of time. I think we have put about 80K km on this since we bought it. Unless we have an accident, I expect we will see close to 300K km on this one too. I think the Focus may be a redesign/remodel of a European car. We are planning on buying a second vehicle next year and a Focus is on the possibility list.