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Surfs are (still) relatively uncommon cars, though maybe not quite "rare". There are dozens of 4x4s out there - some appealing, some less so (IMO), but for me a Surf is simply the car I want.
Saw one on holiday years before I got one, loved it, knew I'd someday have one, and I did.
But it was short-lived - less than 2 years, and I've always regretted selling it.
So my main car for the past 11 years has been a 94 Corolla 1.5 petrol estate. It now has 267,000km up, and is just a bit tired, though if I spent a little cash & effort it'd surely just keep on running. It has character, and is not a common car round these parts. Not an exciting car, not a looker - just a truly great car. Nice to drive, very reliable, very economical, comfortable, and practical. I like that it attracts Chevy Chase quips from neighbours.
I've also had other cars that were dull, but I still liked them - a 1990 1.5 petrol Corona with no damping: it handled like a big American car from the 70s - wallowing for a few bouncy seconds when it came to a stop. A 1990 Lancer with vynil seats and no power steering. A 97 Cherokee that loved to slip its back end out on roundabouts if a cloud even thought about releasing a drop of water. And my first ever 4-wheel vehicle (rode bikes for the 10 years previous) was a 200TDi Discovery.
I guess I like a car that has character, or isn't that common, or has quirks. My Corolla went everywhere - literally. Including icy hills that saw soft-raoders drifting into ditches (honestly), sub-zero 400-km motorway trips where I had to stop regularly to take the ice off the wipers & pour water on the screen cos the washer nozzles were frozen, off road tracks to fishing lakes, local beaches. It feels like a go-anywhere/do-anything car. I've done runs to dumps with it loaded up, carried a Honda 125 in it, slept in it, waded to over axle-depth in it (after a Disco 2 bottled out of negotating the flood. Not fool-hardy - it was my daily commute, and I knew every pot-hole on the road, and knew from the various posts & fences nearby that the water depth was "do-able", even in a relatively low, petrol-engined car).
I think that's what I like in a car - it can do anything. I call on my car to do anything & everything, and I like that my car appears to be a car that can do that.
And it goes without saying that a Surf is certainly more of a "go-anywhere, do-anything" car than a Corolla estate.
My current Mazda 323 Familia simply doesn't give me that feeling. Fine car, just not special.
Mark
Saw one on holiday years before I got one, loved it, knew I'd someday have one, and I did.
But it was short-lived - less than 2 years, and I've always regretted selling it.
So my main car for the past 11 years has been a 94 Corolla 1.5 petrol estate. It now has 267,000km up, and is just a bit tired, though if I spent a little cash & effort it'd surely just keep on running. It has character, and is not a common car round these parts. Not an exciting car, not a looker - just a truly great car. Nice to drive, very reliable, very economical, comfortable, and practical. I like that it attracts Chevy Chase quips from neighbours.
I've also had other cars that were dull, but I still liked them - a 1990 1.5 petrol Corona with no damping: it handled like a big American car from the 70s - wallowing for a few bouncy seconds when it came to a stop. A 1990 Lancer with vynil seats and no power steering. A 97 Cherokee that loved to slip its back end out on roundabouts if a cloud even thought about releasing a drop of water. And my first ever 4-wheel vehicle (rode bikes for the 10 years previous) was a 200TDi Discovery.
I guess I like a car that has character, or isn't that common, or has quirks. My Corolla went everywhere - literally. Including icy hills that saw soft-raoders drifting into ditches (honestly), sub-zero 400-km motorway trips where I had to stop regularly to take the ice off the wipers & pour water on the screen cos the washer nozzles were frozen, off road tracks to fishing lakes, local beaches. It feels like a go-anywhere/do-anything car. I've done runs to dumps with it loaded up, carried a Honda 125 in it, slept in it, waded to over axle-depth in it (after a Disco 2 bottled out of negotating the flood. Not fool-hardy - it was my daily commute, and I knew every pot-hole on the road, and knew from the various posts & fences nearby that the water depth was "do-able", even in a relatively low, petrol-engined car).
I think that's what I like in a car - it can do anything. I call on my car to do anything & everything, and I like that my car appears to be a car that can do that.
And it goes without saying that a Surf is certainly more of a "go-anywhere, do-anything" car than a Corolla estate.
My current Mazda 323 Familia simply doesn't give me that feeling. Fine car, just not special.
Mark
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......Cheers.....Mick
. hardest part is finding the faults. 
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