Tell me about your crappy first car!

[DeeBye]

I think it's a right of passage for a person to have a really crappy car as their very first car. If you had rich parents that bought you a brand new Mercedes or BMW as your first car, this is not the thread for you. I don't want to hear about it and I dislike you.

My first car was a used (a crappy first car must always be used, and heavily so) 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit. I'm not sure how many kilometers it had on it because the odometer was broken, but it was stuck on about 350k. I have no idea how long the odometer had been broken.

My Rabbit was a 2-door with a 4-speed manual transmission. It had a wooden steering wheel, and a wooden gear shift knob. I drove it for 5 days before I learned that I had to press the gear shift down towards the floorboards and move it to the left and up for reverse. There was no owner's manual, so I just figured that it had no reverse gear. It was riddled with rust, but it had a sunroof.

I paid $800 for my crappy VW Rabbit, and I drove it for about 2 years. I have some great memories of it. I recall that $12 was all it took to totally fill it with gas (in Canada at the time, this was very good). I remember sleeping in the cramped backseat once or twice when I wasn't fit to drive home after a party. My parking brake didn't work very well, and my driveway was very steep, so I had to place a large rock behind my front tire so that it didn't roll out into the road when I parked it. I miss my "parking rock".

[LavCat]

My first car was a used (a crappy first car must always be used, and heavily so) 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit.

If you feel that way you can ignore me. My first car (I have only ever had two vehicles) was a brand new purple and white 1970 Plymouth Satellite. The cost was about $4000. Great engine. The breaks did not work, the rear lights did not work. The steering sometimes failed. It would go very fast.

[kandrathe]

If you feel that way you can ignore me. My first car (I have only ever had two vehicles) was a brand new purple and white 1970 Plymouth Satellite. The cost was about $4000. Great engine. The breaks did not work, the rear lights did not work. The steering sometimes failed. It would go very fast.

I had one of those, #4 or #5 I think... It was used though. It was a great car, until I got t-boned by a red light runner, then I put the engine into a Chrysler Cordoba, with red Corinthian Leather seats. Up until I graduated from college, I never had a new car, only fixer upper ones mostly used up needing a little TLC to keep running. I've only had a few "new" cars. I tend to opt now for slightly used, about a year old, and with < 15K miles on them.

#1 195? pink Buick - it never left the farm -- I used it to learn how to drive, but it was never street worthy.
#2 1968 powder blue Ford country squire station wagon -- the family truckster hand me down. It's redeeming quality was that it had a 390 HP engine, and would do top speed at something ridiculously illegal (~135, don't ask me how I know that).
#3 was a 4-door sedan, 196? Nash Rambler my uncle was getting rid of. It still had a wonky suspension such that if you took a cloverleaf at just the right speed you'd end up spinning 180 on dry pavement.

#6 was a 196? Ford pickup that was still entirely steel, it weighed a ton, and I went through brake pads like Altoids. I earned it from an old widow women in the neighborhood who needed her garage re-roofed.

[Zarathustra]

Mine was a black 1988.5 Ford Escort EXP. Yes, apparently that .5 was important! I got it for $1700 and drove that 4-speed automatic as if it were a Mustang.

This was the sport model of the Escort, a hatchback with no back seat. Still, it was common for friends to be sitting in the back as we went wherever. The interior was light grey and the driver's side door had a number of burn marks from the previous owner smoking in the vehicle. Luckily, there was no telltale smell. I don't recall how many miles it had when I bought it, but I do know I drove that little car into the ground.

As I said, it was an automatic... But for some reason I always drove with my hand on the gearshift as if it were a stick. I'm not entirely sure why. Since then, though, every car I've had has been a manual.

[LochnarITB]

Plymouth Satellite

My second was a $750 '72 Satellite. Beautiful blue with no rust. 318 engine that was bulletproof but had decent performance with some tweaking. Drove it until I was at serious risk of falling through the rusted out floor while driving down the highway. Would love to have a Cuda or another Satellite with a blueprinted 318 (just to be different from all those 340/360/Hemis).

First was a $200 '68 Olds Delmont 88 (that's correct, not a Delta). Primer gray. "Stereo" was an AM/FM mono radio connected to a pair of aftermarket speakers (soon to be replaced by a power amp/head unit/3 way speaker setup worth 3-4 times the price of the car ). 455 2 barrel carb engine with a buttload of torque, enough to melt the tires to the rims if I had too much fun (although I was known to try ). Drove it until I finally blew the heads and seized the engine and someone hauled it away.

Third (and last) was a red '85 Honda CRX, purchased new. Great little go kart. Drove it until the floor rusted away and the back bumper literally fell off (one side was held up with a jumper cable wrapped around it for a long time). The same day I bought it, leafing through a magazine brought in with the mail, I saw my first ad for the CRX-Si and felt just a bit of a cringe. Much love for my slightly gimped little hot rod anyway!

What would I buy for my next car? I think I would be leaning toward the Honda CR-Z (or a 318 Cuda ).





P.S. Just thought to myself, "I wonder what Pete's answer will be. I bet he had a few interesting vehicles along the way."

[Tal]

My first car was a 1969 Camaro that never made street worthy. We found parts of the engine had been taped on with electrical tape. I sold it for more than I bought it for and bought a 1981 Camaro that I adored and miss to this day. I painted it Corvette Blue and dropped a 1978 350 police intercept motor in it. It was totalled and my heart was broken. :/

[TheDragoon]

My first car was a 1982 Jeep Grand Wagoneer that I shared with my mom while I was in high school. That car got ~8 miles per gallon, the A/C system didn't work and it tended to fog up like mad when the weather got cold.

Midway through college I moved to off-campus housing and picked up a 1992 Cutlass Ciera that was very workable. It was a major upgrade in fuel economy (it got ~18 mpg) right at the time that gas prices started spiking up, sharply. I ended up driving this one all through college and for the first couple years at my job. I ended up having to have the transmission rebuilt but other than that, I had very few problems with it other than, again, the A/C system didn't work. When I bought my new car, this one got passed down to one of my brothers. He has had a heck of a time with it, since then, as it has had electrical problems, door and window problems, you name it, he's probably had it. I guess I got rid of it at just the right time!

Now I drive a 2007 Hyundai Azera. This car has been everything all of the previous cars were not. I definitely got to know what I did and didn't want in a car through my first two cars and then bought this one to give me all of the things I wanted. I love the car and probably wouldn't trade it for anything. My only complaint about it is the lack of an iPod jack, which I may have to remedy at some point in the not-too-distant future.

[Kevin]

A 1989 Geo Metro that I got over spring break in 1996 (so end of my 3rd year in college). Including the gas I used to add another 80K miles to it that car pulled $4,500 out of my pockets. That's purchase price, repairs, maintenance, gas, oil, the old buick hood that became the passenger side floorboard, everything. It died in 2003 when the frame cracked by both front wheels. The weight limit of that vehicle was exceeded all the time. It's little 3 cylinder engine had 998 CC stamped on it. I got a speeding ticket for going 84 in a 70 zone in it once. I drove it like an older semi, I'd pick up speed down hills so that I would still hold it at the top of the next. I averaged 44 MPG for the time I had it. There were several 400 mile trips where it got over 50. Though towards the end it was down in the high 30's several times.

That blue 5 door, 5 speed manual, Mighty Metro was a surprisingly good car. It handled snow better than expected, it actually held speed better than expected, it got great gas mileage (and when I was in an area where you could get gas for $0.72 a gallon I could fill it up for less than $10). I knew of course if I ever got in an accident I was dead because there was just nothing to the frame, but it was a good little car.

[Bun-Bun]

Mine was a 1975 Super Beetle that I drove like a madman. It went through Houston floods and Austin snowstorms before it was totaled by a Channel 8 newsvan outside Houston. I moved up to a 1984 Dodge Daytona, which was black and had a HUGE glass hatchback - a bad move in the Texas summers.

[LavCat]

Drove it until I finally blew the heads and seized the engine and someone hauled it away.

Hmm. My second (and last) vehicle was a 1985 turbocharged, intercooled Jeep Wagoneer Diesel. It was not a crappy car by any means (according to the government sticker inside it was classed as a truck). Gave me close to 40 mpg. I drove it till 1991 when one night half way home from work the engine seized and someone hauled it away.

And I'm now off to go grocery shopping, on foot.

[Ashock]

1979 Chevy Impala that I got from my father when it was about 7 years old.

A freaking tank with an awesome 0-30 accelaration.

Used to leave it unlocked with windows open at night and no one touched it. Left it open a few times in Bed Sti in Brooklyn during the day, and it also never got touched, and in that neighborhood, things got touched. It had dents all over it and holes on the hood from when I tried to open the hood after it got smashed up a bit.

I used to move cars a bit when I parallel parked with it, so as to make space for it to fit into an otherwise too small a space. Then I'd need to do the same when I had to leave. They did not mind... I think. As most cars in Brooklyn in those days were big, metal and American, there was usually no damage to any of the participants......

Died when a brand new 1990 Toyota Corrolla made a U-turn into it from a parking space, as I was driving in the left lane.

I hit the steering wheel with my head a bit and had a small headache for a few days. The car had 2 huge dents, one from the initial hit in the middle and the other from when the Corolla bounced off of it and hit it's tail end on the rebound.

I was able to drive off even with those grave wounds to my favorite (and only) steed. I drove it for another month, but as it needed to have water poured into the radiator after every 2 miles or so on a freeway, I had to shoot it. Got $900 from the cretin's insurance company for the value of my car, as it was a total loss.

For those who are keeping score, the driver of the Corolla had to be taken out on a stretcher, and his pathetic mule turned into an accordion.

Good times... good times.....

[Concillian]

I used my parent's 1968 Ford F250 in high school. It usually had a full size camper on it (the kind with a kitchen and queen size mattress).

The shocks were SHOT, and if you gently rocked the wheel side to side, you could get the whole thing oscillating back and forth driving down the road. With a couple of teenagers in the bed over the cab, we'd call it 'sailing'.

I believe it reliably got 8 MPG.

[kandrathe]

I used my parent's 1968 Ford F250 in high school. It usually had a full size camper on it (the kind with a kitchen and queen size mattress).

And I thought it was cool that the seats on my Nash Rambler would fold down flat making the front and rear seats into a double bed.

But you had... a WHOLE kitchen!!!

[DeeBye]

I really like my current car. My old 1987 Toyota Camry died in the spring (man I loved that car), and I found a 2003 Oldsmobile Alero Coupe at a dealer. It's in great shape. No rust, no dents, very clean interior, and the Carfax report showed only one owner and no collisions. It had under 100,000 kilometers and is fully loaded with power windows, locks, sunroof, AC, tinted windows, alloy wheels, and a really nice factory stereo.

The dealer wanted $3,000, but he settled for $2,800. I wasn't looking for something that sporty, but it was under my budget and was in way better shape than any other car I had looked at. I was honestly just looking for a very simple 2-door hatchback or a small pickup truck, but I couldn't find anything I liked that fit my budget.



The blue car behind my Alero is my wife's responsible and economical 2008 Suzuki Swift. It's not as fun to drive, but it gets great milage and wins at parking in tiny places.

[LavCat]

The blue car behind my Alero is my wife's responsible and economical 2008 Suzuki Swift. It's not as fun to drive, but it gets great milage and wins at parking in tiny places.

Where is the snow in the picture? And am I correct that the silver car next to yours is missing its windshield? Normally in this country they break the side windows.

[NiteFox]

My first car was actually pretty good; an old Proton MPi (Or Saga in non-UK markets) that I inherited from my grandfather. Despite being a slab of solid metal weighing several tons, it had pretty good mileage and handling. Being a slab of solid metal weighing several tons it managed to shrug off a few blows in my first two years of driving that would have severely damaged lesser cars before unfortunately being written off in a full on wall smash during a particularly freak snowstorm; fine, sunny weather as I left university in the afternoon descending into three inches of snow before I had driven four miles.

But I guess that wasn't strictly my "first" car according to the rules. I used the insurance money (Some £750) to buy an old three-door Volkswagen Polo that was a year younger than my old MPi but about six years older in features. Four-speed gearbox, windows that were difficult to wind down (Or had to be wedged shut on the passenger side), broken passenger-side lock, and getting the fuel cap off to fill the thing up was a difficult experience. The thing was hard to drive and had a turning circle about four feet wider than the old MPi despite being about two feet shorter and I had to consult my diary every time I wanted to brake. Even had to buy my own car radio.

I still have that radio somewhere.

[ShadowHM]

Thanks for starting this one, DeeBye! It has been fun reading.

I am particularly impressed at how all the posters thus far have been able to identify exactly the manufacturer and make of their cars and even the year!

My first car was a used Toyota. It had four doors and decent gas mileage, but that is all I recall. I bought it when I got my first post-university job. I drove it for about 4 years. It died when I got rear-ended one Hallowe'en in the early '80's when I stopped at a cross-walk for Darth Vader and the driver behind me didn't.

[eppie]

I got my first car 2 years ago (well the first I actually paid for (together with my wife). Before that we had a Fiat Punto and Renault Clio that we got from my wife's family for different reasons.

Our current one is a Volvo V50 (few years old). It can also run on ethanol eventhough we never tried this.

Probably pretty small and light cars compared to all of yours but of course here fuel actually costs money.

[kandrathe]

Probably pretty small and light cars compared to all of yours but of course here fuel actually costs money.

It costs money here too. We just can drive 2.25 times farther for the same money. Your V50 must get about 7.1 KPL in the city? I might have to come over there to pick up a used '09 Fiesta ECOnetic and ship it back here. They don't sell them here. 65 mpg (or 23 kpl)!

[shoju]

I was born the same year my first car rolled off the assembly line.



1979 Dodge Aspen Station Wagon "Woody"

I paid $450 for the car when I was 15, and had to get the car running so that I could drive it.
It had a 225 Slant 6, Vynil interior, and I drove the hell out of that thing. Mine was the same color as pictured.

In the 18 months that I drove the car before it died on me, I put somewhere around 30k miles on it. I drove it to school. I drove all my friends home from school. I drove to work. I drove to friends houses. I drove 70 miles to Columbus (and then back) on the weekends. Having a station wagon in the 90's when gas was cheap (I believe I was paying ~$.83 - $.89 a gallon) makes a kid pretty popular