First Car

[cryano]

In 1996 I bought my first car for $3,100 cash that I had worked to earn...a black 1990 Nissan Sentra.
My stepdad had me withdraw the $3100 in cash to pay for the vehicle, rather than writing a check to ‘feel the value’ of buying my first vehicle.

Now Im looking at buying my daughter’s first car. Sports take so much time from kids today that it is nearly impossible for them to work enough to pay for their own vehicle. I’m probably going to buy her car - tell her keep her grades high, and play sports year round...knowing that she probably won’t value the vehicle ah ‘her own’ the way my stepdad did for me.

Anyway...what was your first car - year of car and year received it?

 

[I FAN U]

1973 Olds Cutlass Supreme, exactly like this one. I got it in '77. Don't recall the price. Loved that car...

 

[Hank Reardon]

1975 Honda Civic, bought used in 1980. Probably paid about $2000 for it. Four speed. I'd never driven a manual transmission but the guy who sold the car to me gave me a 10 minute lesson. Drove the thing across town by myself and stalled it at every stop.

To your other point, I've bought cars for both my daughters in the last three years. Targeted about $7000-$8000. That's the cheapest spot you can get a car that not too old or high mileage. One is at BSU and the other at IU. And yeah I paid for them. No way they can raise that sort of money for a car while in school.

 

[Sope Creek]

In 1996 I bought my first car for $3,100 cash that I had worked to earn...a black 1990 Nissan Sentra.
My stepdad had me withdraw the $3100 in cash to pay for the vehicle, rather than writing a check to ‘feel the value’ of buying my first vehicle.

Now Im looking at buying my daughter’s first car. Sports take so much time from kids today that it is nearly impossible for them to work enough to pay for their own vehicle. I’m probably going to buy her car - tell her keep her grades high, and play sports year round...knowing that she probably won’t value the vehicle ah ‘her own’ the way my stepdad did for me.

Anyway...what was your first car - year of car and year received it?

This will sound crazy at first, but you might want to consider getting your daughter a basic version of a pickup truck - 2 seater (to reduce the number of kids that can be in the vehicle with her) and a stick shift transmission. Being able to drive a stick shift vehicle is a life skill that can really come in handy at times when your kid won't even realize it's a difference-maker. I bought a small stick shift 2004 Tacoma pick up for SopeJr#1 when he was a junior in high school and SopeJr#2 inherited it when #1 went to college . . . they both got jobs that other kids couldn't think about because they knew how to drive a stick shift, plus when they got the chance to drive a friend's dad's sports car they actually were prepared to do so . . .

. . . MrsSope learned to drive a stick shift for her first car, and drove stick-shift sports cars until we had kids, so it's not a gender thing . . .

. . . . plus a truck can be really handy for ol' dad when making trips to those big box retail hardware stores or other home improvement runs . . . not to mention that she'll be able to haul whatever gear her sports activities require . . . .

 

[Sope Creek]

In 1996 I bought my first car for $3,100 cash that I had worked to earn...a black 1990 Nissan Sentra.
My stepdad had me withdraw the $3100 in cash to pay for the vehicle, rather than writing a check to ‘feel the value’ of buying my first vehicle.

Now Im looking at buying my daughter’s first car. Sports take so much time from kids today that it is nearly impossible for them to work enough to pay for their own vehicle. I’m probably going to buy her car - tell her keep her grades high, and play sports year round...knowing that she probably won’t value the vehicle ah ‘her own’ the way my stepdad did for me.

Anyway...what was your first car - year of car and year received it?

BTW, we just sold GrannySope's final car, a 2006 Buick Lucerne CX-L a week ago. Had 57,100 miles on it and was in very good condition. She'd bought it new and essentially drove it to the grocery store for years in a small town . . . now that she's almost 94 and has moved into an independent living community (with bus service) in the ATL metro area, her auto insurance has quadrupled, so she can't justify driving any more.

You shoulda posted this thread 10 days ago and we'd have sold it to you for $5,000. Kelley blue book private party sale value on that beast is between $5,500 and $7,500, with an average at $6,670.

Oh well . . . .

 

[bshields]

Mine was a 66 Chevy caprice. Got it in probably ‘87. Was a friend of my parents that had like 30,000 on it because they typically used their newer cars. But when I went to college I inherited my dad’s ‘84 Camry.

As for buying a car for my daughter, we bought her a ‘98 Nissan Altima for like $2200, knowing she’d likelt bang it up. She’s going to be a senior in college, so she’s had it 5 years and it’s still going strong, but beat up a little. Still makes the 400 mile drive home from college.

 

[Joe_Hoopsier]

This will sound crazy at first, but you might want to consider getting your daughter a basic version of a pickup truck - 2 seater (to reduce the number of kids that can be in the vehicle with her) and a stick shift transmission. Being able to drive a stick shift vehicle is a life skill that can really come in handy at times when your kid won't even realize it's a difference-maker. I bought a small stick shift 2004 Tacoma pick up for SopeJr#1 when he was a junior in high school and SopeJr#2 inherited it when #1 went to college . . . they both got jobs that other kids couldn't think about because they knew how to drive a stick shift, plus when they got the chance to drive a friend's dad's sports car they actually were prepared to do so . . .

. . . MrsSope learned to drive a stick shift for her first car, and drove stick-shift sports cars until we had kids, so it's not a gender thing . . .

. . . . plus a truck can be really handy for ol' dad when making trips to those big box retail hardware stores or other home improvement runs . . . not to mention that she'll be able to haul whatever gear her sports activities require . . . .

LOL, when the youngest daughter got her license, I insisted (haha) that she learn to drive my stick shift Jeep (a cool ride BTW). She pushed back and dearest Mommy of the baby agreed that making her do that was cruel and unusual punishment. So, shen ever learned, I've learned to pick my battles when it comes to the "Baby".
Fast forward a couple years, the baby has crashed her vehicle that I bought her for the 3rd time (mostly due to heroine). I refused to fix it again so she asked to borrow my automatic truck. I said no, but the Jeep is right there. She got a ride with her drug mule....

This was part hard ass, part the truck has only liability insurance while the Jeep has full coverage.

Teach'um with a stick or some cases a club!...... (partial metaphor)

 

[UncleMark]

1962 Chevy Impala, bought when I was 16 in 1971 for $300. My mom financed me -- I had to repay her over the next couple years, something like $40/mo. Crashed it a couple times. Learned how to do paint & body work.

 

[MtPeter04]

My first car was a stick shift 2001 yellow Jeep Wrangler without ABS or AC. Learned quickly how to modulate the brakes in that car. I grew up in Michigan and vividly recall going down a hill one morning while going into school when a car slammed the brakes in front of me on a snowy road. Thankfully i threw the car into second gear and stopped just feet before I hit the car in front of me. If I hadn't done that, i would've slid right into it and caused an accident.

 

[reabhnt]

61 chevy impala, had driven trucks and farm tractors, growing up. Made my kids drive a manual transmission before they could have their own car.

 

[iubud]

In 1996 I bought my first car for $3,100 cash that I had worked to earn...a black 1990 Nissan Sentra.
My stepdad had me withdraw the $3100 in cash to pay for the vehicle, rather than writing a check to ‘feel the value’ of buying my first vehicle.

Now Im looking at buying my daughter’s first car. Sports take so much time from kids today that it is nearly impossible for them to work enough to pay for their own vehicle. I’m probably going to buy her car - tell her keep her grades high, and play sports year round...knowing that she probably won’t value the vehicle ah ‘her own’ the way my stepdad did for me.

Anyway...what was your first car - year of car and year received it?

My first car was the family VW Beetle my parents bought new. It was a '65 model and they had retired it and saved it for me in 1980. I spent the summer before I turned 16 getting it ready. I painted it a medium blue metallic and installed white spoke Dune Buggy wheels and tires. I put a Cadillac blue crushed velvet interior in it just before I got my license.

I installed an engine built for a sand drag rail dune buggy. My dad's high school friend owned a foreign car repair shop and his sons raced for his shop. That engine was loud and I loved the way it shook the car when it idled. It was fast for a VW.

I miss that car and still have dreams I am driving it.

 

[hookyIU1990]

'74 2 door Ford LTD. It had a 400 cubic inch engine and I would routinely bury the speedo (that went to 120) on country roads coming and going to school or in an attempt to beat curfew and be there when the coach called the house. I should be dead along with most of my friends who were crapping their pants, but too afraid to tell me to slow down.

 

[MyTeamIsOnTheFloor]

First car I drove as "mine" was a hand-me-down 2-door, 1966 Ford Falcon coupe, white, no ac, AM radio, hand-roll windows, straight 6. Got it in 74.

In 76, I bought a '69 AMC Rebel for $350. Had an after-market AC and FM radio.

 

[iubud]

'74 2 door Ford LTD. It had a 400 cubic inch engine and I would routinely bury the speedo (that went to 120) on country roads coming and going to school or in an attempt to beat curfew and be there when the coach called the house. I should be dead along with most of my friends who were crapping their pants, but too afraid to tell me to slow down.

My friend won a retired Sheriff's car in a $5 raffle. It was a Mercury of that same age with a 460 Police Intercept engine. A relative of his was a deputy and once clocked it at over 150 mph with another deputy driving it.

My friend would come over to my girlfriend's house when I was there and do a long smokey burnout. Scary car for a teenager to own. I also remember a few trips down highway 41 at 120 mph. It is hard to weave in and out of traffic at that speed! Good times!

 

[Cream&Crimson]

Red 1972 AMC Hornet, bought it in 1979. Financed it for 1 year. Pretty much this car:

Put rims and white-letter tires on it, and made my first attempt at installing a car stereo - underdash Sanyo biamped cassette deck. Fried the wiring in the process and my dad had to help me find a shop to re-wire it.

 

[VanPastorMan]

1st car was a 1986

In 1996 I bought my first car for $3,100 cash that I had worked to earn...a black 1990 Nissan Sentra.
My stepdad had me withdraw the $3100 in cash to pay for the vehicle, rather than writing a check to ‘feel the value’ of buying my first vehicle.

Now Im looking at buying my daughter’s first car. Sports take so much time from kids today that it is nearly impossible for them to work enough to pay for their own vehicle. I’m probably going to buy her car - tell her keep her grades high, and play sports year round...knowing that she probably won’t value the vehicle ah ‘her own’ the way my stepdad did for me.

Anyway...what was your first car - year of car and year received it?

My first car was my only brand new car I have bought. It was a 1987 Chevrolet Spectrum. It was great on gas mileage and lasted until we had to get rid of it to attend Moody in Chicago in 97 since we had another car by then and could not afford the insurance in the Chicago area for two cars.

 

[iubud]

Red 1972 AMC Hornet, bought it in 1979. Financed it for 1 year. Pretty much this car:

Put rims and white-letter tires on it, and made my first attempt at installing a car stereo - underdash Sanyo biamped cassette deck. Fried the wiring in the process and my dad had to help me find a shop to re-wire it.

My friend had an orange AMX based on the Hornet. The A/C had a setting that was "Desert Only". It reminded me of something you would find in the Batmobile or in a cartoon.

 

[13thman]

First car I drove as "mine" was a hand-me-down 2-door, 1966 Ford Falcon coupe, white, no ac, AM radio, hand-roll windows, straight 6. Got it in 74.

In 76, I bought a '69 AMC Rebel for $350. Had an after-market AC and FM radio.

Did the Falcon have push button transmission?

 

[MyTeamIsOnTheFloor]

Did the Falcon have push button transmission?

Nope.
Automatic on the column

 

[13thman]

Nope.
Automatic on the column

When I was a kid, one of my friend's family had an old Falcon that was used as kind of a farm pickup. It was an automatic but you pushed buttons on the dash.

 

[MyTeamIsOnTheFloor]

When I was a kid, one of my friend's family had an old Falcon that was used as kind of a farm pickup. It was an automatic but you pushed buttons on the dash.

Mine eventually won a demolition derby at the county fair

 

[Joe_Hoopsier]

First car I drove as "mine" was a hand-me-down 2-door, 1966 Ford Falcon coupe, white, no ac, AM radio, hand-roll windows, straight 6. Got it in 74.

In 76, I bought a '69 AMC Rebel for $350. Had an after-market AC and FM radio.

Looking back over the stories and unexpectedly over heard stories, I am pretty sure I was conceived in a 66' Falcon. BEFORE Mom and Dad where married, I will add. Even at 50, make's you go Hmmmmmm.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Late 80s LeBaron hatchback. It was about ten years old when I got it. Don't remember what happened to it. Didn't last long. Total POS.

 

[UncleMark]

Late 80s LeBaron hatchback. It was about ten years old when I got it. Don't remember what happened to it. Didn't last long. Total POS.

Back in the late 80s I was the parts manager at a Chrysler dealership. At the time, Chrysler had three completely different cars they sold with the LeBaron nameplate. People would get shitty when they said they had a LeBaron and I had to go through 20 questions to determine exactly which car they had.

Since it was a hatchback, yours must have been a 5-door LeBaron GTS, an H-body.

 

[TheOriginalHappyGoat]

Back in the late 80s I was the parts manager at a Chrysler dealership. At the time, Chrysler had three completely different cars they sold with the LeBaron nameplate. People would get shitty when they said they had a LeBaron and I had to go through 20 questions to determine exactly which car they had.

Since it was a hatchback, yours must have been a 5-door LeBaron GTS, an H-body.

Yup. The plastic (!) racks that powered the windows were broken, so I had to roll them up and down by hand. Not by cranking a handle that didn't exist, mind you, but by putting my hands on the window and pushing up or down. It was a complete shit show.

 

[MyTeamIsOnTheFloor]

Looking back over the stories and unexpectedly over heard stories, I am pretty sure I was conceived in a 66' Falcon. BEFORE Mom and Dad where married, I will add. Even at 50, make's you go Hmmmmmm.

Plenty of room - front or back.

 

[Hoosier Fan]

1964 Ford Fairlane. $500. Bought in summer of 1985–just before my senior year of high school. Although I suspect this one is in better shape than mine was. Same color as mine.

 

[UncleMark]

Yup. The plastic (!) racks that powered the windows were broken, so I had to roll them up and down by hand. Not by cranking a handle that didn't exist, mind you, but by putting my hands on the window and pushing up or down. It was a complete shit show.

Yeah, I sold a shit ton of those regulator gear strips. It wasn't just the H-body LeBarons, it was anything with electric windows.

 

[Standard Issue]

Bought my first car in 1977.
$500 bucks at auction.
Rebuilt the engine.
Sold it three years later for $2000.
I still miss it.

 

[Sope Creek]

Looking back over the stories and unexpectedly over heard stories, I am pretty sure I was conceived in a 66' Falcon. BEFORE Mom and Dad where married, I will add. Even at 50, make's you go Hmmmmmm.

Somebody was going "hmmmmm" long before you were 50.

Heck, with the way you post I thought you'd have been a lot older than you are.

 

[MaxCoke]

1976 Toyota Celica GT hatchback.

 

[outside shooter]

not much high-end speed, but reliable

for real, though, 1969 Pontiac Tempest. Piece of crap that left me continually stranded. Gold, but heavily faded. Looked like this.

 

[McNutt76]

In 1996 I bought my first car for $3,100 cash that I had worked to earn...a black 1990 Nissan Sentra.
My stepdad had me withdraw the $3100 in cash to pay for the vehicle, rather than writing a check to ‘feel the value’ of buying my first vehicle.

Now Im looking at buying my daughter’s first car. Sports take so much time from kids today that it is nearly impossible for them to work enough to pay for their own vehicle. I’m probably going to buy her car - tell her keep her grades high, and play sports year round...knowing that she probably won’t value the vehicle ah ‘her own’ the way my stepdad did for me.

Anyway...what was your first car - year of car and year received it?

My first car was a 1969 Chevelle Malibu. I bought it in 1975 from my aunt and was able to use it my senior year at IU. I think it consumed more oil than it did gasoline.

 

[Cream&Crimson]

My first car was a 1969 Chevelle Malibu. I bought it in 1975 from my aunt and was able to use it my senior year at IU. I think it consumed more oil than it did gasoline.

That '72 Hornet I mentioned being my first car? A few years later, I had pretty much used it up and it was total junk. But fortunately I had full coverage on it and a drunk guy rear-ended it as it was parked in front of my apartment. Insurance totaled it and cut me a check, and I bought a '69 Malibu coupe (red with black vinyl top) with the proceeds and some cash. That's the car I wish I still had....

 

[GetFreshCrew]

1985 Mercury Lynx (poor mans Ford Escort)...
The only good thing about it was that my brother backed into it once when he was home from college one summer & I got to drive the old man’s ‘78 MG midget for 1/2 of that summer while it was getting fixed!!

 

[randyjenkins]

When I was 13, I started mowing neighbors' yards. At 14, I made a small corporation. At 15, I formed 3 other corporations. At 16, I bought a brand new vette.

 

[cryano]

When I was 13, I started mowing neighbors' yards. At 14, I made a small corporation. At 15, I formed 3 other corporations. At 16, I bought a brand new vette.

Not too surprised...I’ve noticed the level of intelligence you have brought to this and the free bball board. Figured you were some kind of savant or something...

 

[randyjenkins]

Pimpin hoes and clockin dough. That is what I do. G G G G-unit!