I saw a really clean '99...almost brought a tear to my eye..

[Ludichris]

My girlfriend and I were down at this river we like to hang out at, and this '98 or '99 plum purple SLE rolls by, and I couldn't stop staring at it. It was so clean from front to back, had a nice clean rumble to it too. My girlfriend probably thinks I talk about Bonnies too much (which I probably do), but man oh man, even though I'm in my first post '00, I've had three other Bonnies ('92-'97), and I still have a soft spot in my heart for the older body style. The guy then parked and looked like he was just enjoying the nice day in his nice car so I didn't bother him to talk about his car, but it was clean. It's nice to see those still.

[FIND]

Yeah... I really wish I had taken the time to find an older Bonneville.... Just my family is always whining at me about how I should buy newer cars because I would have less repairs and blah blah blah, spend less money fixing them, they would be better for the kids and on and on.

I'll be honest, my 92 SSE was a more pleasing car to own, and felt roomier. My 92 Explorer is my favorite SUV I have ever owned, and I've owned TONS of early 90s Escorts. I won't say I hate my 02 SLE, or that I dislike it. I actually quite like the styling, but it just doesn't do it for me the way some other cars do, and really nothing much newer than the early 90s does. I had a 96 Grand Prix many MANY years ago. That was a pretty nice car to own, and I had a 98 Contour that could be fun. But aside from those, I have never had a car newer than 94 that I could sit in and think of how much I love the car.

Once again, not that I hate mine... Just odd that people can't understand the love for an older car... Half the cars that people collect these days are cars that were at one time, 10-20 years old and everyone looked down on. I have watched a lot of cars go from uncool used junk to amazing collectible. I guess the lesson here is drive what you like when it's cool, then when it becomes uncool, keep driving it until it becomes cool again.

[ga93sle]

People think I'm crazy, but if I ran across my old SLE right now, I would straight up trade my GP for it. Freaking loved that car and would give almost anythnig to have it back. I'll have another one one day.

[FIND]

I don't think you are crazy... if I had the time, and didn't need to have a car for a few weeks, and the price was right... I would probably sell off my Bonneville right now and either buy an older one, or get a couple new axles and replace the blown engine in my Explorer with a 4 cylinder cummins. I might do that yet this summer.

[Boreas]

The most difficult thing about owning a car of that vintage - rust. *dang* the rustbelt! I almost cried when I saw how rusted up my rocker panels were when I looked underneath the plastic.

[Madcarpenter]

The most difficult thing about owning a car of that vintage - rust. *dang* the rustbelt! I almost cried when I saw how rusted up my rocker panels were when I looked underneath the plastic.

If you can find a way to drive or ship one back East, there are still many nice, rust free 92-99 Bonnevilles being driven daily, running around out West (and probably down South, too).

Check out Craigslist 'By Owner' car ads in Seattle, Portland, SF, LA, Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston...

NO ROAD SALT USED in these cities, but clear coat peel where it's really hot in the Summer...

My wife and I grew up in New York state, and moved to western Oregon 20+ years ago. I nearly had whiplash looking at all the pristine classic cars tooling around out here the first Summer we lived here, lol. We do have more cracked windshields and rutted roads here though... (from gravel and studded tires in winter.)

[ga93sle]

Down south has a lot of nice rust free ones, too. Almost all of them in fact. Only problem down there, where I'm from at least, is people run into stuff a lot. Regardless, though, clear coat peel and a few dents are a lot easier to fix than rust.

[Saturn Simon]

Just odd that people can't understand the love for an older car... Half the cars that people collect these days are cars that were at one time, 10-20 years old and everyone looked down on. I have watched a lot of cars go from uncool used junk to amazing collectible. I guess the lesson here is drive what you like when it's cool, then when it becomes uncool, keep driving it until it becomes cool again.

My sentiments exactly. Can't beat older cars!