I just recently got my drivers' license, and I learned that I will be getting my own car! It is a 2007 Honda Accord SE with 201,000 miles on it. To me, that's pretty impressive, but one of my friends has a '98 Camry with over 300,000 miles on it. I really like my car, and hope it will last me a long time. :spin:
So, I was wondering, what was your first car? And what did you love/hate about your car?
My first car was a 95 Dodge Neon that was $600. I think it had 116K on it when it was bought. Tbh it was a piece of junk, but I drove it everywhere (within 100 miles of home). The farthest I ever took it was Richmond, KY.
About a year later I got my second (and current) car and it was $2700. It's an 05 Neon. It's the first car that was put in my name. I've owned it for a year and a half and I've drove through 19 states, 2 provinces, and 1 estado in it. It's been an excellent car. I have had some trouble with it lately unfortunately. I just paid $800 to get it fixed and there is now some crazy vibration going on, so my mechanic is going to have to get that fixed. Unfortunately he can't get it in until next week. I think the new timing belt he put in is probably off a tooth.
As soon as it gets fixed I'm thinking about taking a 4 day trip up to Ontario. My North Dakota trip has officially been put on hold.
My first car is a 2004 Toyota Sienna LE with at least 100,000 miles on it. I'm still driving it, and I can honestly say it's a nice ride.
My first car was a 1984 Ford Tempo. Had 44K on it when I bought it, traded it in at 102K. The car was generally very reliable, but it developed an interesting quirk. Had a tune up with change of wires and distributor cap at about 80K. After that, the distributor hold down bolt would occasionally back out, which messed up the timing. Never left me stranded, but one time it happened as I was entering the Everett Turnpike heading home. Couldn't get the car above 40 mph, it was a long ride home.
1992 Pontiac Sunbird with 60,000 miles on it....before then I was driving my parents cars until I hit 18. That stupid Sunbird had rust in the door sills and I basically repainted them completely in the garage over the course of the weekend. Don't think for a second that white paint doesn't have shades because it does. lol Good news nobody really noticed since the colors didn't match inside the door sills rather than on the exterior. I got rid of that thing for a Silverado after fixing a short in the headlight which would cause the car to die with the lights on for too long.
First car I drove: 1997 Pontiac Grand AM, 18 years and only 94,000 miles!
First car I owned: 2013 Dodge Dart RallyE. Started at 14,700, now at 28,300 miles
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.
Quote from: Takumi on July 01, 2016, 11:17:45 AM
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.
I bought a 1986 Prelude new, with an automatic, which is ridiculous. I didn't weep too much when I had to sell it after about 20,000 miles so I could qualify for a mortgage.
But that was my third car. My first was a 1972 Datsun 1200, also purchased new. Cheap, and great gas mileage just in time for the energy crisis of 1973. But it could barely go 90mph, going downhill. Also tiny, with a cramped back seat, which my two sisters had to endure on family outings.
1966 Chevy C-10 pickup truck, 250 cid straight Six (leaked a lot of oil), three on the tree, AM radio, power NOTHING and a lot of rust.
First vehicle I had daily access to drive was a 1974 VW Microbus; no power anything, AM Radio, and carpeting straight from the family room floor after my dad had hardwood floors installed. I hated it, but the chicks dug it, LOL.
First car I owned: 1978 Plymouth Sapparo. I had it exactly 3 days when my girlfriend totaled it when I was teaching her to drive stick. It wasn't her fault, the light turned yellow just as we were entering the intersection and the other moron turned right in front of us.
First car I owned was a 1983 Datsun (not Nissan) Pulsar.
Folks who are old enough probably picture this (http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/curbside-classic-1983-86-nissan-pulsar-nx-staying-sharp-in-the-eighties/) when they think of a Pulsar. Mine in fact looked like this (http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-asian/curbside-classic-1983-nissan-pulsar-five-door-so-rare-i-forgot-it-existed/) - a hatchback.
The end of my ownership of it came when the insurance company classified it as a "sports car" with a higher premium, even though it was a hatchback and was not a performance car at all. It also needed struts. After owning it for approximately 6 months I sold it to an acquaintance for the same price I paid for it, minus 1/2 of the cost of the strut replacement, which he was going to have done.
This was the first of three cars I owned in my first year of car ownership. The 2nd was a 1985 Dodge Omni, the 3rd a 1980 Pontiac Sunbird. I had the Omni for only a couple months before it met an unfortunate demise when my brother's stupid friend led police on a chase and destroyed the car when he hit a curb while going around 75 mph. The Sunbird was with me all the way through college.
1987 or so Dodge Colt Hatchback, purchased in 1992. Hated the look of the car, but it got me around.
A/C eventually went, so I got one of those little 6" fans you see on school buses and such and bolted it right into the dash.
Packed the rear with my stuff and a friend's stuff from college. Put my bowling bag on top. Slammed the hatch down. Bowling ball shattered the rear glass window!
If you drive steep inclines often, you occasionally see truckers with issues getting up those hills. That happens on occasion on the Delaware Memorial Bridge, especially westbound into Delaware (EB traffic into NJ doesn't seem to have that issue for some reason). Well, my Colt had some sort of transmission problem one day, and I was one of those people barely doing 20 mph trying to drive the upslope of the bridge!
When I needed new tires on that car, I think I paid for all 4 tires what 1 tire on my current vehicles goes for!
1969 Ford LTD (Brougham package) 4-door sedan 302 V8, 108k and had a different color hood and left-front fender (accident replacement). Paid $300 for it circa May 1982. Drove it for about 2 years during my latter high school years.
Similar to the one below except the body color of mine (sans the hood & left-front fender) was champagne gold:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.teamspeedlan.com%2Fimages%2F69ltd.jpg&hash=bcbb2f27b302b9b448426cd086e8764d26596dfc)
1977 Ford Granada two-door with a four on the floor and a pedal-operated parking brake (don't see many manuals with a pedal-operated parking brake these days–and in the Granada, the high-beams were operated by a foot switch too). Bought the car for $325 from a guy in my dad's office, sold it to my brother two years later for $400. It was a piece of junk, no AC, squealing belts, a leaky rear window, and a Bondo repair to one side of the trunk, but it ran and it was hard to drive it too fast, which is probably good for a high school kid!
The first I drove was a 1981 Dodge Aries. It had 2 doors and the 2.2L engine mated to a 4-speed manual. My parents bought it new in April 1981 and later traded it in for a new 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan in 1995.
The first one I owned was a 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser, bought new in October 2001. It had a 2.4L engine mated to the 4-speed automatic. That car served me well for over 178,000 miles until I traded it in on my current car...
A 2011 Dodge Caliber, bought new in June 2011. It has the 2.0L engine mated to a 5-speed manual. Currently, I'm at over 203,000 miles and counting.
1988 Calais (no Cutlass added to it), a gift from my parents after high school graduation; I kept it through college and the first few years of marriage.
First car I drove was a silver 2005 Dodge Stratus SXT (4-door) with the 2.4L DOHC 4-cylinder engine that had 23,000 miles. It was barely a year old when I started driving it. Man, I loved that damn car! I never had one problem with it. My only complaint was that it didn't have the optional 2.7L DOHC V6 engine, but the 2.4L wasn't too shabby, which I spruced up a little with a high flow performance air filter, Autolite Double Platinum spark plugs, and Valvoline SynPower 5W-30 motor oil (this was before I knew it takes more than that to add significant horsepower, but it was a tad peppier! :-P). The factory sound system was surprisingly good. I was living in Fremont, NC (right off of I-795, which was still signed as US-117 back then) at the time and although I never took it out of state, I drove the hell out of it. Me being in high school at the time with an interstate within biking distance from me...well, let's just say that I spent a lot of time on I-795 and 70mph was usually the least I did! :evilgrin: At the time, hardly anyone knew that the highway existed, so it was mostly empty and barely patrolled which made it easy to qualify for the Daytona 500. I also took it on one big ass loop a few times by taking I-795 from Fremont south to US-117 in Goldsboro, following that to I-40 near Faison, taking I-40 West to Benson and taking I-95 North to I-795 in Wilson and dropping back down to Fremont. Too bad I only had the car barely a year. It got totaled in August 2007 two months after I graduated high school when my cousin drove it and a deer jumped in front of him. It had 45,000 miles went it went. Every time I see a mid-2000's Dodge Stratus nowdays, I think of the one I had. :-( Good times. :cheers:
2004 VW Jetta TDI Wagon, I still drive it. It was passed on from my dad, 8 years after we bought it new. When I started driving it, it had around 80K miles, now it has over 130K. It's pretty nice and reliable, gets phenomenal gas mileage, can fit all my stuff when moving to/from college, and it can fit a cello in the trunk :nod:. Only downside that I run into nowadays is that it doesn't have much leg room in the back. It's next to impossible to fit more than 2 guys over 6'.
First car was a 1998 Dodge Neon that was leased new, then later turned into a purchase when I started putting way too much mileage on it.
There are four cars in my history which have partial claims on "first" status.
1991 Plymouth Voyager SE
First vehicle legally driven, first solo driven (400+ miles driving alone at 16 on one trip), though still the family minivan. Spartan, and with enough squeaks, rattles, and broken bits that it felt like a disposable transportation appliance past its prime. Automotive freedom nonetheless.
1990 Subaru Legacy LS wagon
Originally my dad's winter car (and therefore my summer car); later inherited completely. A rally wagon in comparison with the Voyager and a joy to drive–the perfect combination of fun, practicality, quirkiness, youth, and maturity for an off-center teenager.
1990 Dodge Spirit ES
First car intended for my use. The monochromed "eurosport" version of a warmed over K sedan for the old ladies and Ed Rooneys of the world. Credit to Chrysler, though: after ten years of building K cars, they had the formula down pat, and the car shrugged off all of the abuse I gleefully heaped upon it.
1991 Mazda Protegé DX
First car bought with my own wages (but titled to my father for insurance purposes). As stripped as any Japanese car in 1991 but solid, tidy, and a hoot to drive with go-kart like dynamics. Driven for about a year but ultimately killed by unbelievable amounts of undercarriage rust (though none on the body) that killed many under car components.
The first car that I ever drove regularly was a 2002 Oldsmobile Bravada, which cost $6000 when it was purchased back in 2012, with 115,000 miles. I owned half, and my mother owned the other half. But, she did the purchasing, so her name was on the reg.
The first car that I ever bought was a 2015 Golf TDI (completely self-financed by my 19-year-old self), though, eventually, I think VW is going to buy it back from me, so I'm enjoying it while I can ;-).
My first car was a 2001 Ford Focus I bought in 2004. That car was a lemon I had no end of problems it was destroyed in an accident in 2012 by a 19 year old driving a big pickup truck going way too fast. Then I had a 2005 Ford Taurus it was a good car I really liked it but after owning it for just 3 years the engine when out at just 98,700 miles. Now I have a 2011 Ford Fusion I have no problems since owning it for the last 9 months.
First car in 1992 was a 1983 Buick Lesabre. Built like a boat. 307 Oldsmobile engine had squirrel power, and got 10 MPG. Very roomy though. Got it with about 62,000 and put about that much on it before I sold it to a church group (guys name was Jesus, pronounced like His name). Bought a '97 Chevy Malibu next, and learned never to buy a first year model (steering made a loud grinding sound within 10,000 mi). Moved on to a '99 Lumina, then an '01 Impala, and an '05 Impala before I did something that I would be considered a Benedict Arnold for in my family (had relatives on both sides that worked for GM), and bought an '08 Ford Edge, which I drive currently.
My first car was an '87 (give or take a year) Chevy Nova (essentially a rebranded Toyota from the joint venture days). No cruise, no air, crank windows. I bought it from my grandmother, who had put very few miles on it. Back in the day I took long roadtrips nearly every weekend and I put more than 300,000 miles on it. I was religious about changing the oil regularly and never had any major problem with the car. Replacing the tires and the exhaust system once, and I think I had to replace a CV joint once, were the only major expenses I had.
Have had a Saturn and a Jeep Cherokee since, both of which were disappointing. Then I had a 2007 Honda CR-V on which I put 174,000 miles with no problems, and I'm sure it would have kept going a lot longer were it not for the deer I hit on I-96 at 3:00am Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. (Sigh.) I've since taken over my wife's 2016 CR-V.
First car I had as my daily driver was a 1997 Jeep Wrangler I drove from sophomore year of high school (2003) through my freshman year of college (2007). That vehicle was amazing - my older brother still has it. Just a 4-cylinder, manual transmission, soft top Jeep. It was great.
The first vehicle I ever held title to and had as a daily driver was a 1990 Dodge Colt I had my sophomore and junior years of college (2007-2008). My little sister got her license so I had to give the Jeep to her since she needed it to get to high school, so I was on the hook for getting my own car. I bought the Colt for $600 and sold it two years later for $800. It was a great car, for the money. Just a very basic 4-cylinder 4-speed manual Colt that didn't even have power steering or a functional odometer (Carfax indicated it had 246,000 miles on it at some point a couple years before I bought it, which seemed right given the wear on the driver's seat and steering wheel. The odometer had been rolled back to 93,000 by somebody). The inside was well worn, and it had a little body damage but the thing ran like a beast, and gave me no problems for two years. My uncle passed away and I inherited his 2002 Jeep Liberty after my sophomore year (which I still have as a second car), but I kept the Colt until the end of my junior year when I moved from Tacoma WA to Wyoming anyway.
My current primary car, a 2015 VW Golf, is the first new car I've ever bought.
In terms of vehicles I've owned/daily driven:
1997 Jeep Wrangler (2003-2007) - parents' car, technically
1976 Subaru (2006-2006) - bought it as a joke for $200 with a bunch of friends with the intent to destroy it. I drew the short straw and got the title.
1990 Dodge Colt (2007-2008)
2002 Jeep Liberty (2007-Present)
1997 Ford Escort (2011-2012)
2001 Honda Accord (2013-2015)
2015 VW Golf (2015-Present)
I mostly learned to drive on a 2004(?) Nissan Sentra (it may have been from the 2005 model year), but this was my father's car.
The first car I owned was a 2009 Ford Focus... purchased new a full three years after I got my license. Prior to that I did not own a car and led a lifestyle dependent mostly on my feet and the subway for transportation.
First car I drove regularly was a 2006 Mazda3. Stick shift. Looked cool, but it was a bear in the snow. First car I owned is a 2014 Honda Civic that I bought 5 months ago. Wonderful little car.
1971 Chevy Nova, with a 4.1L straight-six and 3-speed automatic. No carpet, just vinyl floor covering. Had to add grounding straps since I would get shocked every time I touched the door locks or any part of the door for that matter. A good pothole or dip would reveal a busted motor mount that would send the crank-attached fan right into the radiator - thus allowing me to learn how to solder radiator holes closed. Didn't matter - it was mine and it was freedom.
The Nova was traded to my uncle for a 1966 Ford Galaxie with a 352 V8. Thing was a beast, could fit 7 inside and another 3 in the trunk. (It was supposed to be a trade for a 197? Buick Opel GT, but that car would die on left-hand turns and I passed on it.)
From there:
1974 Ford Maverick
1984 Chevy Chevette - my first new car and first loan.
1987 Ford Ranger
1989 Hyundai Sonata
1979 Ford Thunderbird
1993 Geo Storm
(The Storm became my wife's car, and I went on with a number of crappy cheap cars - 80's Chevy Malibu, Olds Cutlass Ciera, Ford Aerostar, Chevy Suburban...)
1995 Plymouth Grand Voyager (made it to 198000 miles)
1998 Dodge Stratus (hence my screen name and the best car I'd ever owned - made it to 203000 miles)
1999 Dodge Grand Caravan (152000 miles)
1995 Jeep Cherokee Country (now my son's girlfriend's car)
2002 Dodge Caravan (Canada-spec, reimported into the US - bought for $994 with 397000 miles and lasted 3 years before throwing a rod at 432000 miles)
2000 Olds Intrigue (passed to me by my retiring father-in-law - 203000 miles)
My current cars are:
2006 Chrysler Town & Country Touring (130000 miles)
2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser (~197000 miles - the odo reads 93000, but service records state otherwise)
Holy crap, the two people in America that miss their Dodge Stratus are both in this thread!
Quote from: corco on July 01, 2016, 09:22:51 PM
My current primary car, a 2015 VW Golf, is the first new car I've ever bought.
TSI or TDI?
Quote from: corco on July 02, 2016, 12:30:49 AM
Holy crap, the two people in America that miss their Dodge Stratus are both in this thread!
Hell, I'm even more surprised that there's somebody else other than me! Now, I don't miss it to the point that I would turn down that new Dodge Charger I test drove back in 2009 (I wish I could've brought that sumbitch home) in favor of another Stratus. I'm not THAT big a fan. :-D
So, just wondering, how many people lost their first car due to it being totaled?
That's what happened to my wife's car, a Sebring Convertible (not the universally disliked current model). Avoided a deer....hit a telephone pole instead. She's an animal lover, so it was probably a good thing. Besides, that deer could've gone thru the soft top, so the pole was probably the better option to hit!
Quote from: corco on July 02, 2016, 12:30:49 AM
Holy crap, the two people in America that miss their Dodge Stratus are both in this thread!
:-D
https://youtu.be/P2uUDkMYtrQ
My first car was a 2002 Ford Taurus :bigass:
Well, this is my parents' car (duh). First car I've ever been in. I believe it was gone at around 103k for a new 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. I don't really remember much about the technical details since I was only a year old when it was traded for the Dodge.
CORRECTION: It was a Grand Caravan.
1973 Dodge Dart, demo model with V-8 engine that eventually destroyed the front end.
Growing up, my parents cycled through every beat up sub-$400 clunker they could get their hands on. Between the two of them, they often had 3 cars parked on our street because one was guaranteed not to start on a given morning. I spent much of my childhood sitting in Pep Boys waiting rooms and on the side of the road. Some lasted only a few months at a time - I think our Vega lasted about a month. If there was a notorious 60s/70s era American car out there, we probably had it at one point.
Keeping with this tradition, my first car at age 17 was an '81 Chevy Citation with about 150K miles for - you guessed it - $400. The rack and pinion was in bad shape, and the wheel often locked up as I was trying to make right turns (good times). My friends and I beat the Hell out of it, and it was off to the junkyard in two years (where almost all of our cars went when we were done with them). Regardless, it was a great car and we had a lot of fun in it.
My second car was a brown '79 Pinto wagon. Fortunately, the gas tank rear-end collision explosion problem was solved by that model, so that was one less concern. It was 0-60 in 2 minutes and I got soaked by a puddle from the hole in the floor (thanks Mom for the cookie sheet to cover it), but it was another car that I had a lot of fun with and lasted the first year or so into my career after college. The boss once asked "Don't we pay you enough?" when looking out at it in the parking lot.
After that went to the junkyard, I finally had enough and wanted something reliable. My brother had a Corolla that lasted forever, and I tried to jump on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, I was off to a false start with an '85 Corolla that was not cared for well. Everything went wrong and it was gone in less than a year.
Finally, I made the big jump and bought a brand new '99 Corolla and it was all good things since then. My wife has since gotten the hand-me-downs, and it has been a brand new Camry and a brand new Rav4 since then. No more used cars for me, and Toyota will probably continue to get my business. We still keep the cars as long as possible, but we take good care of them.
I don't own it yet, but I'll be inheriting my mom's 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe when she buys her next car. It'll spend a lot of time parked at home, though, but I hope to go and do some serious clinching in the coming summers.
My first car I rode in? Either a 1998 Subaru Outback or a freshly bought 2000 Ford Explorer (when we refer to it now, we call it the Clunker or the Guzzler), but my parents probably don't remember enough detail to say for sure. In all likelihood, it was the Explorer (more room).
As for the first one I'll own? I can't say. I am getting my learner's permit later this summer, though, so it will most likely be my mom's 2008 Chevy HHR LS, as we will be taking our aforementioned road trip in it.
Shit. First car we rode in? My parents had a '72 Volvo, I think a 165 sedan, when I was born, and I assume that was it because their other car was my father's Fiat! But then, in Copperas Cove in 1973 I could have sat on Dad's lap at one week old and nobody would have cared.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on July 02, 2016, 07:53:50 AM
So, just wondering, how many people lost their first car due to it being totaled?
Not I, but how many people lost their first car due to it being
stolen?
My first car was a 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix Brougham. Fully loaded with the V-8.
What I loved about it: (1) Although it was well over a decade old when I got it, it looked practically good as new on the outside. (2) It had the front bench seat, which is definitely the optimal seating arrangement for an automatic-transmission car, since it makes it easy for the driver to slide out the passenger side when parked on the side of a busy street or when parked awkwardly close to another car on the left. (3) It had the kind of "loose" steering that made fast hand-over-hand action practically effortless, so it was great for the kind of precise action one needs for complex parking maneuvers and sharp turns. (4) Obviously, it was really powerful. (5) It looked like a beautifully detailed work of art, and it even still had the hood ornament.
What I didn't like about it: (1) It was supposed to run on regular unleaded, but it didn't perform well until I started feeding it super (mid-grade). (2) The gas mileage was pretty good compared to a full-size car from the 1970s or a large SUV, but it wasn't great compared to a smaller, more modest car, or later mid-size cars with comparable performance. (3) I got it at around 100,000 miles, and it took a good amount of $$$ to get a lot of things working. (4) The driver's seat looked nice and plush, but it felt just a slight bit uncomfortable when driving long distances. Front bench seats weren't perfected until they came out with the one in a late-90s Buick Century I've driven. (5) It was easy to steal. If it wasn't for
that, I would have definitely tried to keep it running as long as possible, and, with some luck, I'd still be driving it with over 200,000 miles on it.
Quote from: jakeroot on July 02, 2016, 02:16:43 AM
Quote from: corco on July 01, 2016, 09:22:51 PM
My current primary car, a 2015 VW Golf, is the first new car I've ever bought.
TSI or TDI?
TSI, 2-door, 5-speed manual
"My" first (and current) car is a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500. It really belongs to my dad but he has a Honda Civic that he uses as his daily driver, thus I get to use the Dodge as if it were mine. It has ~199,175 miles on it and its been through a lot with my family over the years. My dad crashed it into a stop sign once and it bore the damaged bumper for probably close to ten years until a few months ago when it was replaced with a black bumper from a junkyard truck. The truck is dark green so you can't really tell the difference at first glance, not that it matters because the vehicle has spent nearly its whole life in the southern Arizona sun, and the paint shows it. One time many years ago my entire family was stranded when the rear end of the truck became stuck on a large boulder somewhere near Crown King, AZ as the sun was beginning to set. We had to call my grandfather to come out and get us unstuck, otherwise we would've been stranded out there all night. At one point a couple years ago, it wouldn't go in reverse, and at the time repairing it would've taken too much time and would've been too costly because my dad was taking me and my sister on a long-planned hunting trip north of the Grand Canyon. Long story short, my parents traded our 2005 Chrysler town and country for a 2010 dodge Ram which my mom now uses in lieu of her van. The truck has since been repaired and hasn't had any major problems since, though it shows its age inside and out. When you go to open the glove compartment, the whole thing falls out. The panel under the steering wheel fell out one day and I'm not sure what my dad did with it after that. The cupholder in the dash vibrated out on a washboardy dirt road one day, and I haven't seen it since. The front grille is currently being held on with twisted wires. The windshield has looked like a jigsaw puzzle for years and I'm surprised that I've never been pulled over for it. Most of the dashboard is missing because one day my brother was beating on it too hard to one of his favorite songs and broke the plastic. But it runs well and that's all that really matters with a vehicle of this age. My dad and I just recently replaced the ball joints and put new tires on the front, and man, it rides so much better now. A couple days ago we replaced the power steering pressure hose because that had been leaking for quite a while and made an ungodly mess inside the engine compartment. It holds lots of sentimental value to me, after all its been through with my family. I plan on recording myself wearing a party hat and blowing a noisemaker as the odometer rolls over to 200,000 just for laughs. :sombrero:
First car regularly driven - dad's Datsun B210
First car legally owned was by marriage, a Jeep Wrangler. Traded when repairs got to be too frequent.
First car I participated in buying was a 1998 Honda Civic, a terrific car, until some jackass ran a red light at full speed and T-boned it when it was just 4 years old.
Quote from: pumpkineater2 on July 03, 2016, 02:43:29 AM
"My" first (and current) car is a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500.
At one point a couple years ago, it wouldn't go in reverse
The infamous Dodge transmission strikes again! The 46RE automatic transmissions (used in Dodges and Jeeps with the 5.2L and 5.9L engines) were one of the biggest pieces of trash Chrysler ever made. My uncle had a 1997 Dodge Ram that he bought brand new with the 5.9L engine and the transmission was the only problem he ever had. I have yet to meet anybody else with a Ram that had those transmissions that didn't have problems. The transmissions were every bit as weak as the engines were tough.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on July 02, 2016, 07:53:50 AM
So, just wondering, how many people lost their first car due to it being totaled?
Lost my second car to a truck that ran a red light.
The first car I rode in was a 2nd Gen. Nissan Altima GXE. I don't really have that many memories of the car. My parents sold it in the summer of 2007, and then bought the Accord. All I really remember was following US highways in my Rand McNally and reading the Consumer Reports annual auto issue in the backseat on long roadtrips.
If we're talking first car rode in...it was likely my Mom's new 1975 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. My Dad a 1969 Camaro at the time and highly doubt he would have allowed that to go down....but then again that thing was pretty beat up by the mid-80s, so who knows? Regardless I don't recall the color of the Vista Cruiser in question but it would have looked like this:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/%2775_Oldsmobile_Vista_Cruiser_%28Auto_classique_VAQ_Beaconsfield_%2713%29.JPG/1024px-%2775_Oldsmobile_Vista_Cruiser_%28Auto_classique_VAQ_Beaconsfield_%2713%29.JPG)
I want to say it was either yellow or green but it DID have that fake wood paneling. Little did we know that our dens would soon be overtaken by the same treatment....the 70s and 80s were truly dark times for style or taste.
First car I've driven was a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. First car I've owned I still drive, mainly because I bought it 6 months ago - my 2013 Honda Civic. I could not recommend a Civic enough for anyone who wants a car that gets it done and gets it done well.
First car I ever drove when I first got my license was my parents 1980 Ford Country Squire station wagon, white and complete with the fake wood grain paneling. That thing was a boat, and did I ever get some grief from my friends over it, but it sure hauled a lot of those friends around at once.
The first car I owned was a 1991 Ford Escort, bought between my first and second years of college. Paid cash with money I had saved. It was a great first car, very economical for a college student, yet could haul a lot with the hatchback. Very basic, 5-speed, no A/C, no power windows, only an AM/FM, though I did swap that out for a nice CD stereo system after a year. Favorite thing about it was the 5-speed, made it that much more fun to drive. It finally said good bye when our family was growing and my wife couldn't drive it, so we got something to accommodate both those needs. I still have a longing for another stick someday, but my wife refuses.
Quote from: tchafe1978 on July 06, 2016, 10:55:53 AM
First car I ever drove when I first got my license was my parents 1980 Ford Country Squire station wagon, white and complete with the fake wood grain paneling. That thing was a boat, and did I ever get some grief from my friends over it, but it sure hauled a lot of those friends around at once.
Did it have the optional dual-facing rear seats (making it an 8-seater)? If you thought the '80 Country Squire was a boat; park it next to a '78 or earlier model.
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
Quote from: tchafe1978 on July 06, 2016, 01:29:39 PM
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.
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.
Quote from: Takumi on July 01, 2016, 11:17:45 AM
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.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 01, 2016, 10:52:47 AMDon'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...
(https://c3.staticflickr.com/4/3447/3394205370_a10d8b240f_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/6aWc1f)
Quote from: roadman on July 13, 2016, 01:12:46 PM
Quote from: Takumi on July 01, 2016, 11:17:45 AM
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.
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--XZWH_QSk--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/p0pk0jhby8eqtnwti5uc.jpg)
Like that black Si. Do you have a 'number of miles driver per year' restriction on your Antique plates?
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.
1986 Cavalier convertible in 1997.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthemunicipality.us%2FCAVI.JPG&hash=fab122ffa1cbadab9e6d6191aeeca15364a1d7ef)
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.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi448.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fqq203%2Fyimitz%2Fcortina_zpsmintctl0.jpg&hash=8d889a71caba1c8447070d07608ea1f8ce45e5a6) (http://s448.photobucket.com/user/yimitz/media/cortina_zpsmintctl0.jpg.html)
Quote from: catch22 on July 16, 2016, 10:02:55 AM
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.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi448.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fqq203%2Fyimitz%2Fcortina_zpsmintctl0.jpg&hash=8d889a71caba1c8447070d07608ea1f8ce45e5a6) (http://s448.photobucket.com/user/yimitz/media/cortina_zpsmintctl0.jpg.html)
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.
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
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.
Quote from: Rothman on July 21, 2016, 10:43:46 AM
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? :confused:
Quote from: billtm on July 22, 2016, 08:38:03 PM
Quote from: Rothman on July 21, 2016, 10:43:46 AM
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? :confused:
Replacing the mounts would mean pulling the engine out. That's going to crank up the shop labor hours mighty quick.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 22, 2016, 08:41:55 PM
Quote from: billtm on July 22, 2016, 08:38:03 PM
Quote from: Rothman on July 21, 2016, 10:43:46 AM
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? :confused:
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.
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.
Quote from: coatimundi on July 24, 2016, 04:28:17 PM
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.
Quote from: billtm on July 22, 2016, 08:38:03 PM
Quote from: Rothman on July 21, 2016, 10:43:46 AM
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? :confused:
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.
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.
My first car was 1966 red American Rambler black convertible when I was 16 years old in 1983.
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.