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My first car

 
Nick MYW Nick MYW
New User | Posts: 9 | Joined: 03/07
Posted: 03/23/07
10:40 AM

So any ideas of the  first  car. What should it  look like  

 
freewill07 freewill07
New User | Posts: 8 | Joined: 04/07
Posted: 04/03/07
11:15 PM

It should look like an animal Fast, Strong, and Good looking!  

 
Stelios Stelios
User | Posts: 105 | Joined: 03/07
Posted: 04/04/07
12:45 PM

I have no idea what it should look like, but I do have a few general tips.

Being your first car, I would buy used unless you can absolutely afford to buy new. Auto auctions are a great place to find used cars (most of them where I worked in high school were repossessed, but in good condition).

No matter where you get your car, I would go to Auto Zone and buy a Chilton's repair/service guide for it and start gettin' dirty--change the oil and filters, transmission fluid and filters if the car is a few years old, rotate the tires, change the brakes and rotors if needed, etc etc..basically, get to know your car because it will pay off in the long run when you can do the work on your own (it's more satisfying anyway).

Good luck on your search!  

 
Julio_Hormone Julio_Hormone
New User | Posts: 1 | Joined: 04/07
Posted: 04/04/07
11:41 PM

Ah, my first car...was purchased fifth-hand in 1976 and it was a 1965 Renault R10 with 265,000 miles on it.   It was a red (sort of) sedan and I got it for $75 from a friend of a friend, or is that the enemy of my enemy is my ally?  Anyway, it had 4-wheel independent suspension (struts leaked), 4-wheel discs (cracked rotors & leaking calipers), rack & pinion steering, and leather seats.  I think the engine was a 1.6 liter, inline 4-cylinder with a Zenith carburetor, coupled to a 4-speed manual transmission, and these were mounted in the rear, the trunk being in the front of the car (it couldn't close for the damaged nose) and the trunk lid opened away from the windshield.  A neat little thing was the jack handle doubled as a hand-crank to start the engine, if need be.  Going to full-serve gas stations was fun as inevitably after navigating around the car twice the attendent would where you filled it.  You had to pop the engine compartment in the rear as that was where the filler cap was.  Also, like the VW's, the spare tire in the front was the power source for the windshield washer.  I think the tires weren't much wider than a beach cruiser bicycle tire.

This car would guarantee your arrival to where ever you wanted to go (provided it was within 25-miles), but the return was 'always' accomplished by sticking your thumb out.  I would have to come back the following day to start it and drive it back home.  The upside was I never worried about getting a DWI!  Also, during the winter I would drive with heavy winter gloves (found in the glovebox), coat, and hat as there was a steady stream of cold air coming from the inside of the trunk and through the dashboard due to the aforementioned damaged nose.

My suggestion to you is don't buy anything older than your kid sister, make sure that you get a history for the car, and get an extended warrantee if buying from a dealer.   Also, don't buy a new cheap foreign vehicle like my brother did.  He got a Yugo and it was broken into three times.   Each time they broke into the car, they stole the Club on the steering wheel, and left the car!  He stopped making payments on the car when it started getting problems and it couldn't be fixed due to the parts not being available (factory was bombed out in Yugoslavia), and the bank refused to repossess it!  I think the mechanic used it as a planter.

Good luck, happy motoring, and let us know what you end up getting!