Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! The kids were home on the 9th, and all the D family vehicles were together. That’ll be the last time this year, so let’s check in with each of our too many vehicles!
2017 Caravan: 209,000km
With two in university, there are still many good minivan days per year, moving belongings between dorms, home, and work term accommodations. Some of our friends borrow the Caravan to move their kids as well, since its cavernous interior holds much more than your average SUV. The Caravan had a pretty good year maintenance-wise, I only had to do a rear wheel bearing and front brakes.
One of the discs was SO rusted on that I resorted to cutting it off with a zip disc, what a mess. Hopefully, I’ll never have to do that again.
2013 Focus: 153,000km
The Focus had a very rough winter in notoriously cold and potholed Sudbury Ontario, and returned home at the end of August when our son’s work term ended. A quick wash and front brake job, and it was off to Ottawa with our daughter. Her quote on the Focus: “All you have to do to impress boys is drive a standard transmission.”
2007 Mustang: 163,000km
Yes, we still have the Mustang. It was intended to be a temporary measure, but one of our plans for this car was to drive east and do the Cabot Trail and we still haven’t done that. The Mustang needed a new clutch this year which lowered the pedal effort quite a bit. Usually, it’s Mrs DougD’s daily driver.
This year I did another short road trip with my father, who is now 85 years old. In this photo Dad is looking enthusiastic about Mustang travel, and about his picnic dinner in Paisley Ontario.
2015 Scion tC: 110,000km
I still haven’t written a full COAL on the Scion, although we’ve owned it for almost a year. It has been nearly trouble-free, except for a weak 2nd gear synchro. I changed the transmission oil to Red Line synthetic and that’s made the 1-2 shift happy for now. Currently, my son has it at school in Waterloo, but once the Mustang goes into winter storage we’ll take it back for Mrs DougD’s winter driver.
1963 VW Beetle: 20,777 indicated miles (but who knows what it really is?)
Still not on the road, but significant progress happened during 2023. I had the hood and trunk repainted (the match is better in person than in this photo), and just finished rebuilding my front suspension after the “rebuilt” unit I bought last year turned out to be junk.
So here I am with my orange birthday coveralls and an alarming thin spot on the back of my head, scraping old grease out of the beam tubes. I would up nearly filling that 750ml yogurt container, what a sticky mess. The beam got sandblasted, painted gloss black, new bushings and bearings, and unlike last year the suspension actually moves so I have high hopes for this rebuild.
1993 Jayco Eagle 8′
We’ve had this about 15 years, and don’t use it as much as we used to when the kids were little. Still, we got two weeks of camping in this year, and the trailer earned two new stickers from Windy Lake and Killarney Provincial Parks.
Here’s our camping setup in Killarney, a famously beautiful park (and famously difficult to get a camping reservation).
2009 Kawasaki Versys: 35,000km
But wait, there’s more! The 2009 Versys continues to be fun and reliable, requiring only an oil change this spring. I did an overnight motorcycle camping trip in June, but a longer trip continued to elude me this year.
1985 Honda 450 Nighthawk: 50,000km
I thought the solution for too many cars might be to balance it out with too many motorcycles. I’d been looking for a decent and cheap example of a Honda 450 Nighthawk, my first motorcycle as written up here. This one was 10 minutes away from home and only $800, it didn’t run but after a carb clean it started right up. Mrs. DougD has indicated some interest in trying it out, and our daughter may as well.
So that’s it for this year! Isn’t that quite enough? Sometimes my friends send me online ads for project cars, and I always reply that I’m only interested if it comes with a trunk full of free time and insurance money. If you made it all the way to the end let me know in the comments the maximum number of vehicles you’ve had on the road at one time.
Nice tour of a varied selection of vehicles. I love that Nighthawk. It looks in really nice shape. A steal for $800! A classically styled bike with a parallel twin has a lot of appeal for me.
Good to see an update of the full fleet. We’re currently at five (’66 F-100, xB, TSX, Promaster and Chevy Tracker). The Tracker now lives in Port Orford, where it gets used for local trips when we’re down here. It’s ideal for exploring the rugged coast range and is suitable for driving on the beach.
Five is a bit much for two old folks, but they all get used according to their talents. Stephanie is off in CA with the TSX, and she loves it as a road tripper.
I thought for many years about getting back into the saddle of a bike, but I’ve just never pulled the trigger, and probably won’t ever, although I would like to take one out for a spin to remind myself what it’s like. My last bike was in…1973, 50 years ago.
The Fleet is in! Thanks for a look into your life. May you all enjoy many years together. May you celebrate Dad’s one hundredth with him in fifteen years. He looks terrific. We have neighbors in our hamlet who all own smaller vehicles because there are now six adults in the family and six cars to fit into the driveway. Mom and Dad moved to Florida, which means that only once in a while do we see the driveway filled with only family cars. Limousines not welcome!
Love that little Beetle.
The comment about driving the Cabot Trail reminded me of how much I’d like to get out to the Maritimes someday. It’s been a long time and I really would like to see Newfoundland a place I’ve missed out in two previous trips. Looks like Thanksgiving was as nice there as here in the Calgary area. We had summer weather with temps to match. As a result, there were a lot of classic cars on the road.
I would also like to make a tour of the maritimes. We have been once but did not make it to Newfoundland or Nova Scotia. Everyone I know who has toured Newfoundland has loved it.
A nice overall message here, I too am well pleased to see your father is doing well and spending time with you .
Good eclectic selection of vehicles too, it’s never too many unless you don’t like it .
I hope your Tracker gives as good service as my son’s 2001 does, I just found and purchased N.O.S. GM OEM headlights and HELLA bulbs for his, the headlights composite lenses are opaque and he only wanted to buy the cheapest possible bulbs…….
The VW is looking good ! .
I hope you get some miles on it ere long, did you buy the reamer for the king pins ? .
I need to find one affordably for my ’59, the rest of the beam is still rust free and in VGC .
I also like the Honda, sounds like you got s really good deal by buying it when dead .
I hope you and yours carefully try out Motocycling, it’s very fun and good for your brains but s also extremely dangerous .
I used Motocycles to tech my then young son many useful life lessons .
-Nate
Happy belated thanksgiving. The gathering of family and fleet at Thanksgiving was always a family tradition for us, much more so than at Christmas when travelling on BC Highways, flying anywhere or ferry travel are unpleasant at best and impossible at worst.
Our little retirement house limits us to 2 vehicles now that I’ve retired and don’t have access to a shop or a place to stash an “extra” vehicle anymore, but I’m starting to like the idea of a small motorcycle….
Love the Mustang. Currently our fleet consists of a ’93 Ranger, an 03 Explorer, and a ’13 Patriot. If I ever get ahold of some money I will find me a Mustang.
Happy Thanksgiving! My vehicle count is back up to six, and that’s after I purged three old Jaguars from my life, just a bit over a year ago! There are two “family” vehicles, my ’07 F150 work truck and ’17 Ford Flex. The truck will be a keeper, the Flex, maybe not, but it’s a great road trip vehicle. Then there are my hobby cars, in order of seniority; ’96 Mustang GT convertible with my ownership going on 14 years. A ’06 Mustang GT convertible joined the ’96 over a year ago. Then my curiosity lead to the purchase of an ’05 Lincoln Navigator, as a birthday gift to myself, last year. I gotta admit, I love driving that thing! I drove it on my trip to the Oregon coast last Summer. My newest addition is the low mileage for it’s age, (82.000) ’97 Buick Riviera. I’ve really been surprised by the supercharged V6 and smooth drivetrain. It’s good to have a real Personal Luxury Car again.
I know that I’ve got too many cars, and being retired I don’t put many miles on them in day to day use. Unfortunately, it’s easier to buy and accumulate lower priced, older cars like this than it is to sell them. I’m sure that inertia also plays a part, but I like them all.
Technically, we only have three cars, as in registered in our name. But all five family cars were originally purchased by us and used by us for 80-100K miles before getting handed down. Unfortunately our kids are far enough away that both of them have never been back home together, though the two remote cars have each been back individually. Be careful about your daughter’s comment about knowing how to drive a manual attracts boys. Next thing you know she’ll be teaching her friends, perhaps to the detriment of clutch life. Though our New Beetle, now legally owned by her, is still on its original clutch at about 120K despite us learning (well after the fact) that it was a training car for several kids in high school.
Edit: thanks for the tip on the cutting wheel for disk removal. I had to use my biggest long handled sledge to remove a front rotor on the New Beetle about 8 years ago. I knew it was getting replaced but it still felt wrong to attack a precision part with a very BFH.
A belated happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
I loved your daughter’s comment about impressing the boys – it looks like Mrs. DougD is able to impress the boys too. 🙂 I am, in fact, impressed by the number of clutch pedals in that driveway. It would not surprise me if your driveway is a local champion in that regard.
Amen on the minivan with kids going to school in distant places – there is really nothing that works better for that job. I probably no longer require one, but am still enjoying the one we have while we have it.
Yes, Doug’s daughter’s comment was priceless. I plan on sharing that with my own daughter – I gave took her out on her first driving lesson earlier this year in mother-in-law’s manual Jeep Wrangler, and I was impressed at how well she got the hang of it on her first try. Overall, she’s nervous about learning to drive (which I find odd because she rides horses, which I find terrifying), but she loves being able to say that she drove a stick shift.
Neat update. Canadian Thanksgiving is new one on me, but enjoy!
And your Dad is 85 years by the look of it.
That’s a great selection. There isn’t a truck either which both impresses and mystifies me. There are 6 at my house for two of us which seems ridiculous especially since I commute by bicycle. But the university thing with kids means sometimes they need something to drive or take. Used vehicles at a reasonable price have disappeared here making it tough for young people.
Love the “lil ole , blue, V dub”!!
Won’t it be nice to have that Bug back on the road? 🙂 I’m at 10 registered, driving cars for two licensed drivers, but everyone here knows that I’m not quite right.
Aaron ;
I see nothing wrong with that you’re doing…..
-Nate
Aaron: some of us here would say “Better than right!”
Keep on CCing! 😉
This is impressive – and you likely have more manuals that the rest of your neighbo(u?)rhood combined. The Dodge having the only automatic must present a culture shock of sorts when you get in.
Your dad looks phenomenal.
After selling the Galaxie last year, we are still at three. However, the ’91 Dodge pickup is losing coolant – and not on the ground – so I’m seeing more need to do something different.
What happens in the winter when all four D’s need wheels?
Our son won’t need wheels in Waterloo, he lives just off campus and can walk to class. One of his roomies has a car for grocery runs and Waterloo has pretty good public transit.
Thanks for the update – I’m glad you still have the Mustang. Also it’s great to see that you all are using the trailer. My wife and I often talk about getting a trailer, but so far we haven’t pulled the trigger. It’s also helpful for a multi-car family like yours to have a wide, flat drive, instead of the narrow meandering mess that our house has.
You seem to be getting your money’s worth in terms of driveway utilization there, a fine selection of vehicles from around the globe for varied uses and capabilities.
I *think* the most we’ve ever had is five, several times and composed of entirely different vehicles in each instance, including relatively recently but also as far back as 20 years ago. Currently we are at four, but a fifth and perhaps a sixth are potentially out there…
Excellent writeup. That Caravan has done 30,000 kms a year, which is great reliable service. I don’t recall you ever having had major issues with it.
Love me that little bug. If/when you get it back on the road, it would be great to see a short video of you rowing the gears on the open road!
Enjoyable read Doug. I hope you and your family enjoyed Thanksgiving, it’s a great time for family and turkey! You have quite the fleet of vehicles, and none are too young. We only have four and two of them are hobby cars. We both just updated our daily drivers in the last year, so vehicle maintenance has eased up a bit at our place.
I can’t say I haven’t resorted to some similar tactics over the years to tackle rust parts, although most of the time a BFH and some penetrating oil gets a rusted rotors off quickly – just don’t hit the wheel studs. It’s been many years since I have owned or worked on a modern American branded car, other than my Dad’s Vette – working in service at domestic dealership will do that to you. So, I can’t believe Chrysler doesn’t put threaded holes on the hubs of the brake rotors like the Japanese cars have for years. Thread in a couple of bolts and even the most rusted rotor comes off with relative ease. As for rotor rust, that’s not too bad, but I am in a harsher part of the province than you. I will attach a pic of a the backside of the de-laminating aftermarket rear brake rotor from my truck after 4 years of winters (it looks odd because it has a large rotor hat for the parking brake). It’s not for the faint of heart!
The VW looks great! It’s definitely the favorite of your fleet. I should do an update on my old cars too, I have just been crazy busy and haven’t had the time to write.
Your dad liking the road trips in the Mustang convertible reminds me of my dad with is Corvette Convertible. He is a bit younger, being in his later 70s, but he still loves to road trip his Vette. I have done a few trips with him and it is a fantastic road trip car. He wants to do one more cross Canada trek with it before he gets too old. I’d also like to take it the Vette Museum in Bowling Green. My siblings all think he’s getting too old for a fun car, but he is not ready to give it up yet and I agree. And in 10 years of ownership, it’s required literally zero repairs beyond a leaking windshield. So other than oil changes and a coolant flush, it’s pretty low maintenance.
Only 4 here, so I am quite impressed by your fleet. And even more impressed at you ability and inclination to do your own work on many of them to keep them on the road.
Happy Thanksgiving!
My list looks pretty short in comparison, but there are only two of us. 2018 Subaru Forester, 2012 Fiat 500 Lounge, and 1967 Citroën 2CV. I don’t do anything serious on the new cars. On the Fiat I have repaired the wiring to the tailgate and both door handles. I do all the maintenance on the Citroën, but other than oil changes and greasing the suspension it does not need much. If it is not raining it is our DD for the summer months.
It is fun to see the photo from Paisley. It is the first town south of us, so we often drive through it. It is about a 20 minute drive.
Nice ‘Fleet Week’ review, Doug! We’re a little farther down the path than you, but I do remember the days of having six or seven (running) vehicles in the driveway, and three or more inop in the barn. Glad to be down to only having two on insurance these days.
Our vehicular tastes overlap quite a bit as we’ve discussed. Besides the VW(s) and ChryCo minivans, you may remember I had seriously contemplated a tC before rolling with a ’15 Honda Fit. Back in the day, I had also considered a Nighthawk before purchasing my ’86 Suzuki GS550 ES.
Love the Beetle, I need to get one someday. They used to be everywhere, now I never see them, not even at the local car shows. I can still hear them as if the 70s was yesterday.
I’ve had the ’65 Chrysler for 21 years now and in that time a series of 5 daily drivers, so mostly just 2 cars, with several short periods with 3 as things came and went. On the other hand, I am the only driver in the household, so 3 per capita seems a little excessive.
Right now in the fleet of ready to roll at a moements notice is
22 Escape PHEV
15 MKZ Hybrid
09 E-150
06 F-250
04 Thunderbird
03 Marauder (Black)
03 Marauder (Blue)
03 Mountaineer
02 F-150
In my wife’s name but driven by our daughter and her mother
13 C-Max
13 C-Max Energi
That’s an impressive and eclectic fleet! I never owned more than two vehicles, anything man-powered excluded. Currently I drive two cars, but I own only one. En de groeten aan mijnheer De G. senior!
Nice, I also have an old Beetle for a summer car (a 1966) & the Queen has a 2012 Mustang Convertible. The Mustang is a 6 cyl auto, but the way she drives it, I’d be scared to put her in a GT.
2017 or 2007 Mustang? I was reading your old posts.
2007, fixed that. I don’t know how many times I read it and didn’t notice the error. Thanks.
Wow! So Jimmy Carter’s your dad.
Memes really are real, afterall