ANOTHER CAR THREAD: So what was your first and/or worst car?

[Emos]

Gotta give props to bigsmooth for suggesting a thread like this.

OK...my first car was a 1970 Honda Civic that I purchased for $400 in '83. That one was actually a pretty nice high school car to have until the oil pump died (of course the indicator light didn't come on) and the engine turned to slag.

My worst car has to be a tie between a 1976 Chevy Nova (means No Go in espanol) and a '79 Nova. The '76 had this problem with the wheel bearings on the right wheel assembly burning out (thus causing the wheel to flop around and produce flames). Eventually the frame cracked in half :Q so that was the end of that one.

The '79 (AKA The Grey Primer Dragon) was decent until the heater had a problem that would cause it to continually blow HOT air (even thru closed vents). It was wonderful in winter but come summer.....OMG! Imagine being stuck in an interstate traffic jam in August inside a car blowing 100 degree air...sometimes I would be utterly drenched in sweat.
A buddy of mine used to joke that I should have installed one of those large window-mounted air conditioner units in the side of my car....LOL

 

[crab]

I've only had two cars (even though i cant drive now)
the first one, a 1986 Cavalier RS wagon i paid $50 for....It was smashed on one side and wasnt repairable..but still drove..I had a 14 acre yard, so I beat the crap out of it, redlined it and slammed it in gear, hit trees, punctured the radiator, ripped the entire exhaust off, busted all the windows, spray painted it a million different colors, AND THE DAMN THING WOULD NOT DIE!! I wound up losing the key, so I junked it.

My car now is a Buick Grand National, but other people drive for me..

My mom's worst cars was a Chevy nova sedan, or that dammned Plymouth Horizon that stalled constantly because moisture got in the Distributor.

 

[vi edit]

The mighty '85 ford ranger!!!

170,000 miles, power NOTHING, 5 speed and holier than the pope

Damn think could barely do 55 MPH

 

[Soybomb]

1987 Ford Taurus L (no not GL, L---you know the one that did so poorly with the 4cylinder engine?) I think the transmission died 3 times and the front transmission seal went twice. The compute rnever worked, it frequently had to be neutral dropped to leave a stop light or it would die as soon as you let off the gas.......a bad ride

 

[gunf1ghter]

1978 VW rabbit.... was a total POS, barely ran, motor blew after about a month, but hey it was a $200 car

 

[Ornery]

I've owned (not in chronological order):

• 65 Pontiac Catalina 389ci 4dr
  66 Pontiac GTO 400ci (Oh my God!)
  66 Chevy Belair 283ci 4dr
  68 Chevy Camaro RS 327ci
  70 Chevy Caprice 283ci (replaced 350ci) 4dr
  76 Mercury Grand Marquis 400ci 4dr
  77 Pontiac Bonniville 301ci (pos!) 4dr <---MoFo POS! :|
  77 Lincoln Town 460ci 4dr
  78 Mercury Grand Marquis 460ci 4dr (caught fire!)
  78 Lincoln Town 460ci 4dr (fast!)
  77 Mercury Grand Marquis 460ci 4dr
  88 Ford E-150 Conversion 302ci dual air etc.

Only one sucked at all. I got more than my money's worth from all the rest.

 

[Valhalla1]

1983 Toyota Celica

the owners before me wanted to try out one of those infomercial &quot;miracle shine&quot; car polishes. They failed to test it on an &quot;inconspicuous spot&quot; but instead went straight to polishing the entire hood, roof, and doors before they noticed that it was basically acting like paint thinner, eating and disolving the paint away. after 8 or so years, the bare spots had rusted through in many places. the rest of the cars paint eventually basically peeled off.

so it was a nice mix of primer gray, steel, and rust colored.


also the interior had been flooded several times, the matierial was rotted away in several places. the seats where ripped up as if they had been attacked by dogs. the previous owners smoked heavily in the car, so it had a contant filthy smell.

the rearview mirror broke off, so I had to duct tape it to the roof (it wasn't a windshield mounted one, but mounted at the top front edge of the roof.

speaking of the roof, the roof liner was sagging and stained.

the windshield was basically destroyed.. an impact of a rock caused a huge spiderweb crack that had slowly spread over the whole thing.

the drivers side rear quarter panel was smashed in, body pieces cracked off from an accident.

the tires were so bad (I couldn't afford new ones) that I had a flat at least once a week during the last 4 months I owned the car. no hubcaps either by the way

pieces of the interior always fell off.

the battery case was gone, so the battery used to slide around.. and when I went around a corner fast, sometimes the battery would slide and touch the frame of the car, isntantly causing sparks under hood and killing the car. I fixed the problem by braking off a piece of the interior door plastic and shoving it between the battery and frame so it wouldn't move.


it leaked oil like a champion.

it also leaked automatic tranny fluid.

it smoked out the exhaust.

it always died and idled really rough.

it had a huge crack in the rusted up muffler so you could hear it a mile away.

there was a weak attempt at window tint on the windows which was extremely purple and bubbled up.

the passengers window was messed up so when you tried to roll it down, it would fall down into the door, and you had to reach in with pliers to pull it up and roll it up.

both outside door handles broke off, so I had to leave the drivers window cracked at all times so I could reach in and open the door. obviously this also meant you couldn't lock the doors. also that meant the rain got in my car always

both drivers side and passengers side mirrors were broken off.

I always had to slip a mechanic a 20 so I could pass inspection.

the auto shift knob was broken, so I had to carry a screwdriver to mash in the button with so I could put it into drive.

the ignition was hosed up, you could start the car with practically any key that would fit in the slot, or a flathead screwdriver.

it leaked in the rain

it was extremely dented and scratched up, hail damage also.

air conditioner broke.

radio broke.




but it was mine, and I paid for it myself. (all $200!) I drove it from when I got my license at 16 until before my 18th dbay when the transmission started getting weird. it wouldn't shift out of 2nd gear until it warmed up, so you couldn't go faster than like 35 mph. in the winter it would never warm up so it would never shift.

eventually it wouldn't shift out of first, and would just billow smoke if you tried. it wouldn't go into reverse either. I finally said fu*k it and junked the bitch, and bought a 92 Ford Ranger pickup.




now you know why I'll never, ever, ever drive a Japanese automobile again.

 

[Fardringle]

1980 Ford Fiesta (2 door hatchback) that was painted GOLD Metallic!
Ugly little car, but pretty quick for a POS with 150K miles on it..

 

[geno]

I'm still driving my 1st car - a '91 Dodge Shadow. The car has been great to me and has lead me to buy a heavily modded, turbo version (Shelby CSX - pic in my sig). I'm 17, and I've had this car for not even a year, bought it off of my mom for $500 with only 84k on it - still running strong (until I bring the CSX home)

 

[N8Magic]

Ahh. My first car.

It was a 1989 Hyundai Excel that my dad purchased new and gave to me when I was 16. (1993)

Well, I must say, that car was AWESOME. In the 6 years I owned it, I put NOTHING into it save oil changes and gas. It was bulletproof even though I drove the bejeezus out of it!

It wasn't the fastest (or the slowest!) car around, and by rowing through the 5 speed, I could get 'er going pretty quick, as long as I was only with 1 other person max.

'Tis a shame I only got 200 dollars (canadian) for it when I traded it in in '98.

Theres nothing like 98% depreciation in 9 years to put a smile on your face.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Damn...Valhalla1 !! That must have been a traumatic experience!! Did you buy it like that? Or did it just fall apart over time? Now I can understand why you don't like Japanese.

The same thing happened to my family..except it wasn't a Japanese car, but a used '88 Dodge Aries stationwagon. That was the biggest piece of junk ever. It broke down one to many times on the highway and city roads! And it was only 4 years at the time too! After that...my dad swore to never buy American cars (except for Cadillacs..he has a soft spot for them) or used cars again..first impressions count I guess.

After giving the Aries to the junkyard, my dad bought a brand new '91 Corolla and it's been kicking strong till now..ever after I started driving it. Although I'm thinking of replacing it with a '97 Impreza RS or a early 90s late 80s Caddy...my dad won't think of it. No used cars for him..only brand new.

 

[urbantechie]

Nova acutally means, No you go.

 

[bobtist]

1983 Nissan Pickup. Great truck... Bright orange, though, kinda' odd.

 

[Ornery]

mAdD INDIAN, the trick is to get a good foundation of a car in the first place. I've NEVER purchased a car new, and only had one used one bite me in the ass. And even then, I only lost about $1,000 over a year's time.

Every car requires batteries, exhaust, tires and brakes after about 5 years. That's about the &quot;newest&quot; I've ever purchased too. To this day I doubt I spend $1,000 per year average for any vehicle and that includes repairs! :Q

 

[geno]

<< No used cars for him..only brand new. >>


I'd love to follow this type of guideline - but the chances of getting a lemon, while not as great as getting a neglected used car, can be extremely painful to deal with. Normally lemon cars have BIG things go wrong with them, causing one hell of a headace. If I had 23k to spend, I'd get a car that's broken in but in near new shape. Can't go wrong there, hasn't been used long enough to succumb to the abuse, and has been driven enough to work all of the kinks out =]

 

[Spamela]

my first was a 1961 thunderbird &amp; it was a good car. the worst was a '93 Taurus. after the motor mounts broke (because, in the mechanic's opinion, they were inadequate for the 3.8L engine), the weatherstripping got crushed because the door shut too far, the rear-view mirror fell off (glue couldn't handle the summer heat here), and we had several brake jobs (because the oem brakes were POS), i sold it &amp; got a Grand Marquis (an excellent ride).

 

[geno]

<< the rear-view mirror fell off >>


Heh, I had this happen to me - no big deal but it's still pretty funny to see it happen

 

[Fangorn]

1974 Mazda 808 tin can car. It was bought the day I was born, and my parents drove it for ten years. For the next six (16 year olds can drive in Canada legally!), it sat out on our driveway getting tuned up and started each spring for a day.

The first time I took it out on my own I pulled a 180 spin coming out of my street.

It had a manual choke, so during rainstorms it would stall out from too much water in the mixture.

I ended up getting another car after only 6 months. The risk of driving around in that deathtrap was just too much.

 

[SuperSix]

My first car was a 1971 Fiat 124 .Sport Coupe. Pretty rare car, I found out later.. It had 4 wheel disc brakes, DOHC 4 cyl w/factory tube exhaust headers, 2 Weber carbs, 5 spd tranny. Took me awhile to figure the interior out, it was all in italian.


On the test drive, I stopped a a Little General convenient store, and the brakes went to the floor, and I ran into the wood posts in front of the stoare @ about 5MPH. My friend that was with me opened the passenger vent window, and it came off in his hand. I still bought it, $500.00. MY car, MY money. I was 18. Until the synchros went out in the tranny, it was a good car.

 

[Emos]

<< Theres nothing like 98% depreciation in 9 years to put a smile on your face >>



OUCH....that had to be painful (even for a Hyundai)!
And Valhalla1....guess I can see where you get your anti-Japanese car bias from! :Q At least give the Euro rides a chance!

 

[Doggiedog]

My first car was an 86 VW Golf GTI 8V. Got it used for $4900. That car had to be the best car to learn stick on. It wasn't very fast but it felt fast. Unfortunately, the thing never started in the winter.

My worst car was a company supplied Subaru GL 4WD. In the winter, I would need to warm it up for 30 mins before leaving. So basically I'd run to the garage, turn it on, take a shower, eat breakfast and leave. Else, the thing would stall every 10 feet. The worst thing about it was that it was brand new! In the summer, I would have to turn off the AC if I wanted to shift into 3rd gear (it was a 3 speed auto) or else it'd nearly stall. When you opened up the hood and took a look all you'd see was a tiny yellow spare tire covering over what looked to be a lawnmower engine. It was an air-cooled car so it was very noisy. The only saving grace was that it was unbelievable in snow, which it did alot where I worked.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Ornery: We understand that now. However at the time of our purchase we were new in Canada and wanted to settle down without having the headaches of the car breaking down on us. Both my parents worked full time and didn't have much time/money to spend on the car. And with our Corolla, we have never spent more than $1500 (in temrs of maintenance this excludes the body work done on it after an accident which was paid by insurance)on it over the course of 10 years that we've owned the car. With our Aries, we spent around $2000 in 3 months.

Ornery: Since you are an expert on big cars...what's the deal on late 80s, early 90s Cadillacs? How are they in terms of reliability? Also they are all RWD correct? (I wanna experience driving an RWD car). And all have powerful V8s? What about mileage? I've always had a thing for Cadillacs..I love the grill and the interior..I want the one with digital dash. Although I don't think it be as fast as the Maxima though..still its good enough.

What's the specs on an early 90 Cadillac Sedan de Ville? All I know is that it has a V8. My friend bought one for $5000CDN cash. The car was in mint condition..no scratches or dents!

Sorry for all the questions...I really appreciate the responses though.

Thanks!

 

[UWDawg]

My first and worst car was a 1975 Ford Courier. Ack! Every ten miles something mechanical and expensive would break. Hate Fords to this day.:|

 

[Barrak]

1977(I think) Peugeut Diesel Turbo. I fricken loved that thing, to bad I was 17 and didnt have any sense of responsibility, I let it run out of oil and froze the engine. Some day I will get one of these again and have it reconditioned. They have style..

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Barraks: In Nigeria, my family used to have a Peugoet 504. Those things were sweet. I loved the look of the 505s too!! Too bad we don't Peugoet in North America..they have some sweet cars now.