Your first car!

[tchafe1978]

No, it didn't have the dual facing rear seats. Instead, it had a locking cargo well beneath the floor of the cargo area. We couldn't use that the last few years we had it as it was rusting through.

XT1028

[PHLBOS]

No, it didn't have the dual facing rear seats. Instead, it had a locking cargo well beneath the floor of the cargo area. We couldn't use that the last few years we had it as it was rusting through.

My brother briefly had a '69 Country Squire (back in 1979) that had a similar issue.

[andrewkbrown]

My first car, a 1984 Oldsmobile Omega. $1400, I paid $700, my dad paid the other $700. I got it around the time I turned 16 in 2002. Took my driver's license road test with it. Took several trips just randomly driving in and around Cincinnati when I was 16-17 (without really telling my parents where I was going, and I had no cell phone.) Gas back around that time in 2002-2003 was $1.30-1.40/gal. Took it to college in the fall of 2004. Then when I was shopping for Christmas presents in suburban Cincinnati in December 2004, a car turned in front of me and I hit it. Duct tape held the front together to get me home 40 miles away. Still driveable, but damages exceeded the car's value. Insurance paid $1600.

[roadman]

First car was a 1991 Honda Prelude Si with an automatic. Man, it was a piece of crap. I have a different 1991 now, along with two other Preludes.

My second car was a 1988 Prelude SI with automatic, that I bought with 55K miles and traded in with 135K miles.  Mechanically, it was generally a very reliable car.  However, it had some issues.  Had an aftermarket LoJack system installed when I bought the car, and their "secret switch" installation (push the left mirror control 'down') screwed up the electrical system.  About six months after I bought the car, my speedometer would occasionally quit (usually when I was on the Interstate), which the result that the dashboard would light up like a Christmas tree and the tranny could shift no higher than second gear.  I eventually had a mechanic remove the speedo, unsolder and redo all the connections, then reseat it and button the dash back up, which solved the problem.

Then about three years after that, whatever uninvited gremlin LoJack installed with their system came back and decided to periodically cause my temperature gauge to max out for no good reason.  Was pondering how best to address the problem (my previous mechanic was no longer in business by then) when, while washing the car one day, nearly all the paint came off the left rear quarter panel in one big chunk.  My reaction to this was immediate and simple  "Time to get another car."

BTW, I've known several other people who decided to have LoJack systems installed in their mid to late 1980s vehicles and eventually had moderate to severe problems with the vehicle's electrical system as well.  In my sister's case (1985 Chevy Blazer), the gremlin eventually caused the wipers to come on when she activated the left turn signals (shades of Greg Brady's first car).  Her mechanic traced the problem to a fault in the main computer board.  As the LoJack "secret switch" in the Blazer was "hold the turn signal switch down", there was little doubt in the mechanic's mind that this eventually resulted in the failure.

[formulanone]

Don't think for a second that white paint doesn't have shades because it does.

I learned that lesson working for a car dealership who's brand had about 12 different whites and about 10 silver tones. If you chose the wrong color code (by forgetting to check the door jamb sticker, or failing to ask an assocaite), then color either looked rather dirty or as if White-Out was used by mistake.

The answer to the question is: a 1988 Honda Accord LX...

[Takumi]

First car was a 1991 Honda Prelude Si with an automatic. Man, it was a piece of crap. I have a different 1991 now, along with two other Preludes.

My second car was a 1988 Prelude SI with automatic, that I bought with 55K miles and traded in with 135K miles.  Mechanically, it was generally a very reliable car.  However, it had some issues.  Had an aftermarket LoJack system installed when I bought the car, and their "secret switch" installation (push the left mirror control 'down') screwed up the electrical system.  About six months after I bought the car, my speedometer would occasionally quit (usually when I was on the Interstate), which the result that the dashboard would light up like a Christmas tree and the tranny could shift no higher than second gear.  I eventually had a mechanic remove the speedo, unsolder and redo all the connections, then reseat it and button the dash back up, which solved the problem.

Then about three years after that, whatever uninvited gremlin LoJack installed with their system came back and decided to periodically cause my temperature gauge to max out for no good reason.  Was pondering how best to address the problem (my previous mechanic was no longer in business by then) when, while washing the car one day, nearly all the paint came off the left rear quarter panel in one big chunk.  My reaction to this was immediate and simple  "Time to get another car."

BTW, I've known several other people who decided to have LoJack systems installed in their mid to late 1980s vehicles and eventually had moderate to severe problems with the vehicle's electrical system as well.  In my sister's case (1985 Chevy Blazer), the gremlin eventually caused the wipers to come on when she activated the left turn signals (shades of Greg Brady's first car).  Her mechanic traced the problem to a fault in the main computer board.  As the LoJack "secret switch" in the Blazer was "hold the turn signal switch down", there was little doubt in the mechanic's mind that this eventually resulted in the failure.

My first '91 had an aftermarket security system installed as well, by a previous owner. It wasn't done well, and the lights would flash randomly. I eventually unhooked it. It had other numerous issues, electrical and mechanical, but the engine and transmission were still stout. I eventually gave it to my dad, when he bought a pair of '91s, one a red automatic that needed a transmission and the other a black 5-speed that needed an engine. He eventually traded them to me when he didn't want them anymore, for a car I didn't want anymore. I sold the red one to fund an engine swap in one of my other cars. The black one is registered as an antique and I drive it every once in awhile. It isn't fast, but it's lots of fun in its natural habitat.

[roadman]

Like that black Si.  Do you have a 'number of miles driver per year' restriction on your Antique plates?

[Takumi]

Thanks. There's no mileage limit, but the application says it can't be driven daily and you have to certify that you use a different car for your daily commute.

[8.Lug]

1986 Cavalier convertible in 1997.

[catch22]

My first car, a 1966 English Ford Cortina Mark I Series 2 that I bought from my mom for $400 in 1971.  It had a 1.5 liter engine that put out a whopping 60 horsepower. That, coupled with a very slushy automatic transmission, made for 0-to-60 MPH timings measured in weeks, not seconds. It did not like to start when it was hot, cold, or wet.  Anything electrical was subject to failure for no apparent reason whatsoever at the most inconvenient times. I finally decided to replace it with something more reliable, so I bought a shiny new 1972 Pinto to replace it. (Insert ironic cackling laughter here.)

On the positive side, it got about 30 MPG around town, 35 on trips.  Also, the dealer gave me $400 for it when I traded it in.

[Max Rockatansky]

My first car, a 1966 English Ford Cortina Mark I Series 2 that I bought from my mom for $400 in 1971.  It had a 1.5 liter engine that put out a whopping 60 horsepower. That, coupled with a very slushy automatic transmission, made for 0-to-60 MPH timings measured in weeks, not seconds. It did not like to start when it was hot, cold, or wet.  Anything electrical was subject to failure for no apparent reason whatsoever at the most inconvenient times. I finally decided to replace it with something more reliable, so I bought a shiny new 1972 Pinto to replace it. (Insert ironic cackling laughter here.)

On the positive side, it got about 30 MPG around town, 35 on trips.  Also, the dealer gave me $400 for it when I traded it in.

Imagine having that stateside these days, nobody would know what the hell it was.  I had to do a double take when I saw the Michigan plate on the front.

[jwolfer]

First car I had was a hand-me-down from my single career woman great aunt who lived in NYC, it was a shit brown 1971 Ford mustang commuter car, not sports car at all. She gave it to me and my brother to share, he is 14 months younger. It only had 20k miles in 1987, sat most of the time at my great grandparents house in West Orange NJ because it sat, dry rot on hoses and tires... i never like the car even when I was a kid, but I did not say no to a free car.

When my brother started driving instead of fighting about car, i bought a 1981 Datsun 310 for $600 from a friends aunt. I liked that car a lot, 4 speed, shit brown as well

[Rothman]

My first car was a 1981 Honda Civic, obtained by my parents for free in 1992.  Engine mounts were so out of whack that the fan belt rubbed against the engine casing and had to be replaced every so often.

[billtm]

My first car was a 1981 Honda Civic, obtained by my parents for free in 1992.  Engine mounts were so out of whack that the fan belt rubbed against the engine casing and had to be replaced every so often.

Was it cheaper to replace the fan belts repeatedly than to replace the engine mounts once?

[Max Rockatansky]

My first car was a 1981 Honda Civic, obtained by my parents for free in 1992.  Engine mounts were so out of whack that the fan belt rubbed against the engine casing and had to be replaced every so often.

Was it cheaper to replace the fan belts repeatedly than to replace the engine mounts once?

Replacing the mounts would mean pulling the engine out.  That's going to crank up the shop labor hours mighty quick.

[formulanone]

My first car was a 1981 Honda Civic, obtained by my parents for free in 1992.  Engine mounts were so out of whack that the fan belt rubbed against the engine casing and had to be replaced every so often.

Was it cheaper to replace the fan belts repeatedly than to replace the engine mounts once?

Replacing the mounts would mean pulling the engine out.  That's going to crank up the shop labor hours mighty quick.

Depends on the vehicle and if the shop has a brace to support the engine during the repairs. Some models can get 2-3 mounts replaced in about an hour or two (Camrys tend to eat them up), and some vehicles like the PT Cruiser involve about half a day for a lower mount. Shop time runs the gamut on those items, and it also depends how far off the labor time guide techs wish to stray.

Yeah, my third-gen Accord needed them; in retrospect, it had more pressing problems or issues.

[coatimundi]

Luckily never captured on film, but a 94 Chevy Beretta Z26. The "26" was for the age when you got your inevitable mullet to where you always wanted it and were able to finally do that down payment on the double-wide.
It was a hand-me-down from my sister, who took the worst care of it you could imagine. She never changed the oil and it would sit for long periods in a hot parking lot. The hood cable broke, the shift cable broke, the parking brake broke, a hole in the radiator developed early on, a hole in the muffler was repaired later, the compressor never worked (tough summers in Houston, but it was fine in the winters) and - the killer - the ABS system died. I probably put more into that car in repairs than a similar car would have cost initially.
I should add that I only had the car for about 14 months before buying my rugged, dependable 97 Sentra.

And, to the car's credit, the clutch, tranny and engine were never issues. But there's definitely a reason you never see them on the road now.

But in the days of $1 gas, I used to drive that thing everywhere.

[Max Rockatansky]

Luckily never captured on film, but a 94 Chevy Beretta Z26. The "26" was for the age when you got your inevitable mullet to where you always wanted it and were able to finally do that down payment on the double-wide.
It was a hand-me-down from my sister, who took the worst care of it you could imagine. She never changed the oil and it would sit for long periods in a hot parking lot. The hood cable broke, the shift cable broke, the parking brake broke, a hole in the radiator developed early on, a hole in the muffler was repaired later, the compressor never worked (tough summers in Houston, but it was fine in the winters) and - the killer - the ABS system died. I probably put more into that car in repairs than a similar car would have cost initially.
I should add that I only had the car for about 14 months before buying my rugged, dependable 97 Sentra.

And, to the car's credit, the clutch, tranny and engine were never issues. But there's definitely a reason you never see them on the road now.

But in the days of $1 gas, I used to drive that thing everywhere.

Funny, that's exactly the car I was looking for when it became really apparent the parentals weren't going to let me have a G-Body.  The Sunbird I ended up with had the same 3.1L V6 albeit I want to say something like 20 less horsepower.

[Rothman]

My first car was a 1981 Honda Civic, obtained by my parents for free in 1992.  Engine mounts were so out of whack that the fan belt rubbed against the engine casing and had to be replaced every so often.

Was it cheaper to replace the fan belts repeatedly than to replace the engine mounts once?

Back then, absolutely, especially with how long I actually had the car (a couple of years).  Headed off to Russia and left the car behind to my younger brother.  I think the car ended up in the junkyard shortly thereafter.

[sparker]

First car:  1961 Chevy Bel Air sedan; bought when my dad's company sold off their old fleet cars.  Bought it for $225; it had 94K miles on it (and little if any maintenance besides shoving oil & water into it as needed).  This was at the beginning of my sophomore year at UCRiverside, so most of the next few months were spent locally and driving home to Glendale every other weekend.  But I decided to take it on a school ski trip to Tahoe over the Christmas break; I got drafted into ferrying 3 other members of the ski club with me (one of them was a good friend).  Lets just say I took that car to its limit (small-block 283 V8 with a "slip-n-slide" [Powerglide] 2-speed auto).  Picked up the last passenger in Sherman Oaks about 10 a.m.; got to my uncle's house in Sacramento (off Marconi & Fulton) at 4:15 p.m. -- including a "brunch" break in Tulare.  This was pre-I-5; all on 99 in valley fog!  I figured that if they couldn't see me they couldn't catch me (typical 19-year-old logic).  Next morning the inevitable happened -- blew a hole in a piston on US 50 between Folsom and Placerville.  Nursed it over the pass, parked it in the hotel garage, and dumped as much STP as I could scarf from the local Pep Boys into it to try and lessen the compression loss (still had 7 fully-functioning pistons left).

After a few days of skiing & partying (not necessarily in that priority!), headed back over the hill with a slightly different group of folks; I'd always planned on visiting some friends who had moved to Santa Cruz.  Car acted OK if a little reticent all the way down the hill and over to Berkeley, where I dropped off all but 2 of my passengers.  Decided to take the San Mateo Bridge across the bay, since the next dropoff was in Belmont.  Wouldn't you know it -- got a massive loss of compression halfway across the bridge (just before the high-rise section), and got stuck for about 20 minutes, blocking one of the 2 westbound lanes (just thankful I remembered to stock some flares) until I got it rolling again.  Touched down at a gas station in Foster City, where the passengers called their families to come and get them.  Called my friends in Santa Cruz; one of them worked in Sunnyvale and knew of a decent mechanic at a Shell station in Mountain View.  So I once again nursed the car (it was well after dark by this time) down the peninsula to this garage; where I curled up in the back seat until it opened the next morning.  Had a nice Santa Cruz visit while the piston was replaced (my dad was none too thrilled with letting me use his Shell card to effect the repairs).  But it got done, and I was on my way (and about 2 days late for the start of classes).  What I didn't know was there was another piston on the other side of the block poised to go as well.  Got almost home to Grand Terrace, where I was living at the time -- another loss of compression in Fontana.  Again, nursed it back to G.T, mostly on Valley Blvd.  Clearly, I needed to replace that engine!  My dad, who had a towing hitch on his company El Camino, came out the following weekend and we towed the car back to Glendale.  Originally, he was going to just go to Sears and get a "short block" 283, with new pistons, to replace the ever-blowing piece.  But his neighbors across the street (or, more accurately their car-crazy older sons) convinced us to take the car to a hot-rod shop in Glendale owned by friends of theirs (actually, I'd gone to high school with a couple of the shop owners' kids).  So we did just that.  Not wanting to spend too much money, we asked about options.  They had a pristine Chevy 327 full block that they had salvaged from a rear-ender that they could sell us cheaply, but the shop owner said that as supplied (with a 4-barrel Holley) I'd be getting really shitty mileage, especially around town.  Alternative:  an Edelbrock head with three 2-barrel Weber carbs set up in progressive mode -- slow speeds, only 2 barrels functioning, with more cutting in until all 6 were working at full speed & throttle.  I opted (with my dad rolling his eyes, of course) for that selection.  So a few days later I essentially had a "hot rod" in sheeps' clothing.  Got more tales to tell about this vehicle, but will save for New Car, Part Deux down the road a bit.   

[AnchorGuy319]

My first car was 1966 red American Rambler black convertible when I was 16 years old in 1983.

[wphiii]

I didn't own a car until I was nearly 26. My parents had always been a two-car household even though they only really needed one, so whatever I couldn't do via transit I could always just use one of their cars. Once my dad's mid-90s Buick finally jumped the shark for good in 2012, I made the plunge for myself and bought a 2013 Hyundai Elantra new, no frills, metallic blue (ahem, "Indigo Night"). Love the car; four years later I'm only up to about 65,000 miles on it but 90% of that is long-distance so I'm hoping to get a good decade and change out of her.