The link up topic of choice today is a good one. Everyone has a 'first car' story. You may have loved your first car, or you may have hated it. But you sure remember it.
In my family, our parents took care of the purchase our first car. But they didn't go all out or ask us what we wanted or anything like that. Basically, my Dad would find a car that he liked, buy it, and then drive it all over for work trips and stuff.
I was pretty lucky because my first car turned out to be a 1991 Toyota Camry V6 LE. I specify the V6 LE part because those were the features that made it ok...good engine, leather seats, sunroof, etc. It was white with navy leather seats. I will mention that I did most of my learning to drive on an old gray Dodge caravan. Barf. I was SO lucky that it didn't end up as my first car, haha.
Boy, did I drive that little car into the ground. I really didn't start driving to high school until my senior year but I took it with me to Ga Southern and that is where I really started to put the miles on her. Not too long after going to college, something happened to the power steering in the car. Instead of just getting it fixed, my Dad suggested just keeping a bottle of power steering fluid in the trunk and filling up whenever I stopped to get gas. I could always tell when I needed to fill it up, because it would make a pretty awful grinding noise with the steering when it was almost out. Fun times. Also, the compressor seemed to be a dud, because my air conditioning was constantly going out. Not good at all for the summer months. Again, apparently not a necessity according to my Dad. And the nail in the coffin for my love of that car came when the sunroof broke...it wouldn't open and if it did, it wouldn't close. I mean, what good is a car without a sunroof???!!
As my love for the car dropped, so did my ability to keep it clean. I literally had tons of random things in the trunk at any given time. Towards the end, I had somehow forgotten about a gallon of bleach that was in the backseat....it leaked and literally ate a hole in the floor of the car, haha. As it turns out, it doesn't much matter how much I love a car, I have a hard time keeping the thing spotless. However, if you are ever stranded in my car you will always have bottled water to drink. Not sure how old it will be and it won't be a full bottle....but still, you'll survive.
I wish I had some more pictures of my first car...I can think of another specifically that I can't find, that is way better. It's from college and I'm in the drivers seat and I look totally cool (HA!). This one was just fooling around after some awards thing at high school. See, isn't a sunroof a totally necessary part of a car?!
One year, right before my birthday, I took the Toyota to get the emissions done. And she failed. Whatever wasn't working (shockingly, her surprising number of defects never usually affected the outcome of the emissions test) cost more to fix than the car itself did. And thus, I traded her in for the second car. The first car I ever bought all myself. It was right before my 23rd birthday. I have included a couple pics of this particular car as well because, even though it was technically my second car, I felt like it really was all mine, bought with my own earnings.
So there you have it. I admit that while I don't particularly miss my first car, I did enjoy my time with it and will use it as the answer to a security question whenever the opportunity arises. I know my first car experience could've been worse (did I tell you to read my sister's blog?!). And because of my first car experience, Michael can always be prepared for lengthy car searches in the future...it's gotta be at least as loaded as the Camry!! ;-)
Well, even though our first cars were totally different, sounds like Dad's "theories" and "solutions" didn't change much! Good post...thanks for doing my link up. =)
ReplyDeleteThe Dodge certainly gave you some memorable driving experience! The experience would surely come to mind every time your car stopped in the middle of the road. But all thanks to that old auto, you learned how to drive decently. And yes, car owners have their share of car stories. Some of them are funny and even sweet, and some were quite unpleasant. But all of them are worth remembering by. I bet you find yourself smiling whenever those memories come to your mind.
ReplyDelete“Everyone has a 'first car' story. You may have loved your first car, or you may have hated it. But you sure remember it.” – TRUE! Even though things did not work out well for you and your first car, clearly, you can still remember all the beautiful and the ‘not so’ beautiful things that happened when it was still yours. But, I’m sure you’ve learned a lot of lessons from your experiences with your first car and that you already know how to avoid such situations, now that you have your new car.
ReplyDeletePatrick Gauer