I probably should be asking what you’re wrenching on or how your summer plans are going here in an Autopian Asks, but I’ve got more important business: I want to use these posts to help spread real knowledge about car history and dispel the miserable (often AI generated) misinformation and outright crap that’s out there in tiresome clickbait slideshows.
Today, I want to hear what open-minded enthusiasts have to say about hidden gems and unfairly maligned bargains in the car world. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired of hearing about how the BMW 2002 was the greatest thing ever produced since the first wheel. I’m well aware that the Miata is “always the answer,” and if you’re more old school, you’ll give the Datsun 240Z automotive sainthood. Hey, our family owned a rusting S30 Z-car for a decade, so I already know the undeniably good things about it. What I want to know about are great cars that didn’t quite get the day in the sun that they deserved. I’m talking about cars that you could get a dozen of for the price of a perfect-condition painfully overvalued old Acura Integra Type R. Here are just a few to get you going.
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The Lexus LS400 might have received endless accolades when it was introduced in 1990, but many enthusiast magazines preferred the more sporting nature and unique styling of Nissan’s rival Infiniti Q45 instead.
This thing easily out-accelerated the Lexus and handled sharper; the LS400 channeled a mix of Cadillac and Mercedes but Infiniti wasn’t having any of that. The Q45 even featured a version with the first active suspension system sold in the United States to make it respond even more quickly. Wow, my old W126 420SEL looks like it’s about to roll over below!
Maybe it was the strange television and print ads that showed trees and rocks instead of cars that alienated potential buyers. Perhaps people wanted a fake Benz grille on their car instead of the cool cloisonne Hulk Hogan belt buckle up front (which I flat-out love and Jason proudly displays an example of in his basement “museum”). Whatever the reason, the Q45 didn’t even come close to getting the sales and recognition it should have, but it deserves your attention today.
Later big V8 Infinitis like the second-generation Q were the same story as well; the somewhat frumpy when new looks are actually ageing better than I thought they would:
Honestly, even the smaller boxy-looking M45 you totally forgot about are worthy sport sedan entries that the market unfairly ignored.
Not that Lexus wasn’t without hidden, underappreciated gems. Early stickshift IS models seem to fall in that category (or the automatic-only SportCross wagon), but a true masterpiece might have been the new-for-1992 SC coupes, particularly the super-rare manual transmission-equipped SC300s.
I liked the mechanicals of the fourth-generation Supra but never warmed to the looks, even before it got overexposed in the Fast & Furious movie franchise; too bulbous and over-the-top for my tastes. The sculpted-in-clay (literally) SC300 solved that; it featured a 2JZ-GE drivetrain similar to Toyota’s GT but in spirit sort of traded Vin Diesel for Daniel Craig; it’s like a Supra in an Armani suit, with a far more polished interior and better ride/handling compromise.
The public didn’t seem to agree, though, as only 3,883 five-speed SC300s found buyers. It always looks delightfully incongruous seeing a manual shifter in the traditional leather-and-Yamaha-violin-sourced-wood interior.
Sure, maybe I’d rather have an early-nineties BMW 850i like the one I see near my house. Sadly, like the vast majority of them, that local example has sat on four flat tires with a bed of leaves under the chassis for years, so if I want an actual functioning car and not driveway “decoration,” that Lexus seems like a great far more usable forgotten alternative choice.
You Autopians have to be bristling at the seams with examples of cars that shoulda-been-hits that are now dark-horse outstanding values. Let’s hear them!
pontiac 6000 STE AWD, those are kinda sick! if only theyd sold them as a wagon and in any serious quantities, then subaru would’ve been blown outta the water with the slow loyale/leones and their manually operated 4wd systems
1995 Chrysler Sebring LX Coupe, not the V6/4speed auto version but the 2.0 4cylinder/5speed version with the 7grand redline. Double wishbone front suspension, handled pretty well stock and since the chassis/suspension was a stretched Mitsubishi Eclipse, fairly easy to modify for more performance. Before they decontented the LX for the 97-99 model years, it was a pretty good value and I thought looked much better styling wise than the same chassis Dodge Avenger. I bought a 95 LX new and owned it until 2007, great fun to run it up to the 7grand redline and get 30+ miles to the gallon cruising on the highway and have fun on twisting roads.
Honestly, most of these cars are forgotten for a reason. The best stuff is still rememembed and valuable because it drives well. There are exceptions, but a lot of the stuff people are posting are old shitboxes that stopped being made for a reason.
A lot of these definitely aren’t forgotten either. G35’s and Lexus GSF’s are both pretty damn popular, at least in norcal. RX-8’s have a loyal following as well. By that metric, my personal picks are the E55 AMG W211 and the 996.2 GT3.
Chrysler 300s. They’re timeless looking and very good vehicles. I’m at 176K and drives perfect. Total repairs to days $5500, mostly suspension.
The M45 may have been good to drive, but I always thought it looked ugly as sin.
Also… I think the Ford C-Max is a hidden gem. Not many seem to know about them.
It’s a hybrid/plug-in hybrid that is almost as efficient as a Prius, but you can buy them used for way less than a Prius.
And by 2016, Ford worked out all the bugs… mainly a better/more reliable sat-nav system and improvements in the HF35 hybrid transmission durability (which early on had some issues with a prematurely failed internal bearing)
I had one as a delivery vehicle, and bought it because it was 1/2 the price of comparable Prius, plus it’s bigger inside, sits up higher and is much peppier. Downside is I got about 35 mpg, which is around 10 mpg lower than a Prius, and significantly lower than Ford’s initial MPG estimate (they just used the same rating as the Fusion, with which it shares a drivetrain on the hybrid models.)
People would ask what kind of car I was driving so they would see when I pulled up, and I gave up on telling them C-max as no one had heard of it, I just told them grey hatchback.
It was totaled the day after Thanksgiving at 275k miles, and I had just replaced the transmission (ring gear exploded) and bought a PHEV Escape as it’s replacement. The Escape gets better mileage (40 on just hybrid, and I average 50 now plugging it in once a day for a full charge.) But they really drive almost the same, I felt at home 1 mile into the test drive. The Escape does have a softer suspension, so it rides a bit smoother.
How much did the transmission replacement cost?
My 2017 C-Max has just under 140,000km/87000 miles on it. In my case I suspect rust will kill it before the powertrain has a major failure.
I got a 100k mile transmission for $2300, trans fluid and a couple of gaskets I needed was like another $100. I changed the transmission myself. Don’t let anyone BS you about this being hard because it’s a hybrid. You just unplug everything, then do the standard front wheel drive engine removal stuff (driveshafts, exhaust manifold, fuel and water lines, and the ac compressor,) remove the front bumper, the radiator/ac condensor/fans and the whole engine/transmission package slides out the front easy peasy. Then you detach remove the transmission and replace.
I had this opportunity to look inside the transmission (I wanted to see what failed.) I kinda attribute the ring gear failure to the really stiff front suspension that causes the ABS/traction control to kick in a lot on small bumps, which means that it gets a lot of shock loading to the wheels where power is suddenly removed then applied. The car was driving along fine, I heard a loud bang, and then it stopped responding to the throttle even though you could hear the engine trying.
I will say that inside the transmission is quite the marvel of simplicity. There is just the 2 electric motors, a planetary gear and couple of big gears. Looks more like a manual transmission inside than an automatic. No clutches to wear out, and no chain to stretch. Ford really screwed up with the bearings.
I’ll also note that the one I replaced was the 2nd transmission in the car as I ran the VIN that was printed on it, it was from a 2016 Fusion. I have to assume the original trans was a bad 2013 one that the bearings failed. However, even considering this trans failure the C-max was the cheapest to operate delivery vehicle I’ve ever owned. It was pretty much just oil and tire changes. I think I changed one coil pack, and I had a heater hose leak that was difficult to find. Of course, no alternator, no starter, I was still on the same brake pads as when I bought it (at 116k miles) and I have no reason to believe they weren’t the original ones.
Lastly, I’ll say the C-Max appear to be quite safe. I T-boned someone who pulled out in front of me at 35 mph. After the initial shock, I realized I had basically no injuries other than a slight scratch on my arm from the airbag. I was able to drive the car home 30 miles after the accident. The Camry I hit had to be towed away, and 3 of the 4 occupants left in by ambulance. If it hadn’t had so many miles, I probably would have been able to fix it for the amount they gave me, but due to the high miles I barely got enough to cover the transmission I had bought.
Great to know that swapping the transmission isn’t much different than swapping any other FWD transmission.
Yeah I watched a teardown video on the C-Max HF35 transmission before and it’s a solid design… with the only flaw being some main bearing issues in the earlier ones that was apparently completely fixed by late 2016.
Thanks!
Fourth-generation Preludes. I don’t understand their black-sheep status, probably because the styling looks great to me but apparently not to many others. They’re lighter and better-balanced than the fifth gen, and OBD 1 offers ease of tuning.
2009-2011 RX-8 R3. Way better ride than an S2000 IMHO and you can get a fairly low mileage one for just over $10K. Mazda fixed a lot of the issues with the Renesis rotary with the introduction of the Series II in 2009. Unfortunately the damage to the engine’s reputation was cemented by then and not many series II RX-8s were sold.
Only issue is that these aren’t really forgotten lol, I’d say they are still pretty popular.
They are pretty rare, only 7-8,000 of them were sold in total. I bought my 2011 new and have enjoyed 13 years of trouble-free driving. Closing in on 120,000 miles on it.
I bought my 2010 R3 with only 23K miles on it and it now has 62K and is running as strong as when I bought it. Key to rotary longevity is maintenance. Do regular 3-5K mile oil changes, 30K mile ignition components overhaul, and 60K mile coolant changes and it should run for many miles. Treat it like a Corolla and it will not last long at all.
2018 Volkswagen Passat GT. 3850 made, I own #309.
3.6l 280hp VR6 engine
lowered 0.6″
6 speed DSG from GTI
Black/Gray seats
rear spoiler.
235/40R19 tires
I put a Borla exhaust on mine. Below 3K, nice burbles, above 3K it sounds like a Wookie with the whining growl
6-speed v6 honda accord coupe. Totally undervalued and not as popular as it should be. I own one though.