What does your S.O. drive?

"fhrblig" (fhrblig) 05/07/2016 at 13:05 • Filed to: None

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Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my partner and I forming an LLC getting legally married. (We’ve actually been together since 2008, we just weren’t able to be married until last year.) We celebrated by not seeing each other for more than just a few minutes due to our work schedules. Tonight we’re allegedly doing something, but I don’t know what yet.

Anyway, since we’ve been together we’ve both owned 4 different cars. When we met, he had a black 2007 Suzuki SX4. About a month later I showed up to pick him up for dinner and there was a red SX4 in his space. I guess the dealer offered 0% if he traded, so he did.

It was a decent little car and he loved it. It had the 4-speed auto and AWD, and while it wasn’t completely loaded it had most of the options. I was not a fan of the automatic; it hated to be driven with any intentions of acceleration. If you goosed it enough to make it downshift, it would upshift the second you backed off the gas pedal even a millimeter. The weird thing is that in the snow, the gearing was PERFECT. This car was an absolute joy in the snow and the AWD was awesome. I imagine it would have been great on dirt roads too. It got really poor gas mileage for its size, though. It was not uncommon to see 19 mpg with city driving. The 2WD manual Ranger I had at the same time got 25-26 in the city, and over 30 highway lots of times. Anyway, his mom liked his car so much that she bought one for herself. Hers has the CVT, and after driving it I can say the CVT is a colossal improvement over the 4-speed.

Then, after the SX4 was paid off and Suzuki announced they were quitting the US market, we traded it for a 2013 Juke SV AWD.

AWD and CVT. Really, the only options it didn’t have were heated seats and leather. This was the opposite of the SX4; it was fun to drive in regular weather, not as good as the Suzuki was in the snow. The turbo and the CVT actually work well together and it was decent to drive. I know Nissan’s CVT sucks in most other applications but it’s not bad in the Juke. Good car, but boy are they cramped inside. Cargo space with the seats up is negligible. The SX4 has a small trunk and it still beats the Juke by a mile. The sloping roof means almost no headroom in the back. It wasn’t easy to get the dog in and out of the back seat either.

After I got my Optima in August, he got car fever again so at the beginning of this year he traded for this 2016 Hyundai Elantra GT.

I think we got a great deal on it, sub 15k. I know it has steelies instead of alloys but it’s still got plenty of equipment including heated seats. The 6-speed auto is good and it has decent power; I hate Eco mode though. The Eco mode in my Optima may cause a noticeable power drop but it’s still ok to drive. In this car, Eco mode reminds me of the SX4's hateful automatic. I turn Eco mode off when I drive it. I end up driving it a lot because he is not an enthusiast and doesn’t really like to drive that much.

What do the significant others of Opponauts drive, and are they enthusiasts like you?

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > fhrblig 05/07/2016 at 15:37

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My missus, partner, significant other, girlfriend, pet (colloquialism, before anybody goes fucking mental), whatever is politically correct term, drives a wonderful pair of New Balance, but I am trying to convince her to pass her driving test and drive a Skoda Felicia Pickup.

Orange Exige > fhrblig 05/07/2016 at 15:48

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Woof - a four speed in the 2000s?? I’m sure there’s more of them than I’d like to imagine but that’s just crazy.

My girlfriend drives a Prius C - bought last October after realizing how awful the rear visibility is of the normal Prius. As far as slow (really slow), boring cars go, I’m actually quite happy with her choice and am glad to have another proper hatch in the family.

She won’t drive my Mini (stage 2 clutch is not fun for most - even me sometimes) but when I drive her Prius, I turn into Grandpa Efficiency and just try to get the best gas mileage possible XD
( almost 80 mpg on a short, 4 mile trip is my record)

Svart Smart, traded in his Smart > fhrblig 05/07/2016 at 17:09

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Currently single. =( My most recent boyfriend recently traded his 1997 Honda CR-V LX for a much newer (still used) Honda Element.

fhrblig > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 05/07/2016 at 17:42

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I wish we got little car based pickups here. I miss them.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > fhrblig 05/07/2016 at 19:46

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This is what my significant other drives:

fhrblig > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee 05/07/2016 at 20:03

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Roundbadge > fhrblig 05/07/2016 at 20:14

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Gratz on the anniversary!

My gf and I have been together since 2003, living together since 2006. When we met, she drove a ‘97 Saturn SC1 and I had a ‘99 Dodge Dakota. I traded in the Dakota in 2009 for an ‘05 Malibu Maxx LS, which is now her daily (mostly). I’m now driving an ‘05 Tacoma, and we split time in the ‘15 Accord. The Saturn went to the junkyard last July with 220K miles.

The Compromiser > fhrblig 05/07/2016 at 23:02

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2016 Durango. Spoiled? Yup...

Expo2k > fhrblig 05/07/2016 at 23:08

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Her 5.0 chillin’ with my WRX. Please disregard unrelated V6Challenger.

Ferdinand Adlersflügel > fhrblig 05/08/2016 at 12:58

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Congratulations on your marriage and anniversary!

I met my boyfriend in 2010 when he drove a black 2005 Mercedes G55 Espresso Edition:

At the tail-end of 2012, he traded that for a black 2013 G63:

In 2013 he had what I categorize as his mid-life crisis and bought a 2011 Lotus Elise in red:

Instead of consulting me or even test driving it to see if he liked it, fit in it, or found it comfortable, he bought it from some dealer that shipped it to our house where I woke up, on my day off, to a man asking me to sign for a car. Now it sits in our garage most of the time because it hurts his back too much to drive it.

Now he is waiting for a 2016 Range Rover Sport Autobiography in Zanzibar Metallic:

He custom ordered it last week with rear seat entertainment and 5+2 seating. We don’t have kids and I thought we were in agreement that we weren’t having kids because our careers are so demanding, but now they’re “on the table again”. Oh.

images courtesy of Google

wiffleballtony > fhrblig 05/09/2016 at 15:48

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Pontiac G8 GT. Recently LS3 cammed and Dynotuned.