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Post by crazy4scraps on Oct 6, 2014 13:44:30 GMT
1983-ish bright blue Mazda GLC. DH (then boyfriend) found it for me, a friend's sister bought it new but was in an accident with it and it was totaled but they let her keep the car. It was still driveable, but ugly because the grill was replaced with a piece of hardware cloth painted black, the headlight was jimmyrigged into the front and the driver's side front quarter panel and door were smashed in. She sold it to me for $500. It ran great because it had such low miles, and DH gradually fixed almost all of the damage including repainting it Sonic the Hedgehog blue, LOL. I drove it for a few years until an old guy fell asleep at the wheel and ran into us coming home from the lake cabin. It was totaled again, on that same front corner. Fortunately there was a state trooper a couple cars behind us who saw the whole thing. Insurance paid out more than what I paid for the car plus what we had into it, and let us keep the car.
It was still driveable, so we sold it to my younger brother who needed a car. He fixed it again, drove it for a while and somebody ran into it again! Insurance paid him more than what he bought it for from us, but after that he junked it. You would have thought people would SEE a neon blue car in front of them, but apparently not since it was totaled out three separate times! We always said it was a GLC because it was a Great Little Car. Oddly enough, we haven't owned another Mazda since.
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Post by nesser01 on Oct 6, 2014 13:49:11 GMT
My first car was a used 1993 Chevy Lumina when I was 17. That car had a lot of great memories  . It had over 200,000 miles on it before it got totaled. I was driving to work and someone was pulling out of a parking lot onto a busy street talking on a a cell phone without even looking into oncoming traffic. She was driving a Volvo that barely got a scratch while my poor car fill of memories was crushed to a pulp.  . Thankfully all was okay. *Funny store about that day* I blacked out and when I opened my eyes, there was a guy knocking at my window wearing a neckbrace and on crutches shouting "Are you okay!" I looked up, not really realizing what had happened and said "I think so! Are you okay!" It was funny...I guess he was a passenger in the car behind me that saw the entire thing. I paid for it in full with money that I had earned from working. The only thing my dad did was register it for me because at the time he owed an auto body shop and had people to do that stuff and made sure it was in good condition. But I found it, saved up money for it, maintained it, paid insurance, etc. |
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Post by Peace Sign on Oct 6, 2014 13:50:30 GMT
I had a turquoise blue 1979 Toyota corolla. with a choke. I remember it cost $700 in 1986. I drove it for about three years and sold it for $700. not too shabby.
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Post by ten&rose on Oct 6, 2014 14:51:57 GMT
The first car that I drove as "mine" was an 83 Chevy Caprice Classic. It was a tank! But that was provided by my parents for any driving aged child in the house so I shared with my brother. The first car in my name was a 91 Ford Tempo. Powder blue and bought it from a nun who only drove it to school and church. I had it for a few years until I got my first teaching job and bought a 98 or 99 Saturn. OMG. I learned how to drive with my mom's Chevy Caprice Classic and had to parallel park that tank on my driver's test.  Ours was an 1981 though. In retrospect, it probably was a good car to learn on...everything after that was a piece of cake. LOL Oh yes I can parallel park like a champ. I swear I can put my odyssey in a spot for a smart car. |
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Post by mommaho on Oct 6, 2014 14:58:14 GMT
Boy do I feel old! I learned to drive in a '63 Chevy Nova, three on the column but the gear shift broke off so I had a Huge Craftsman Screwdriver to change the gears with!  4 Door and large enough trunk to fit 2-3 friends in to sneak into the Drive-In |
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Post by my2apps2 on Oct 6, 2014 14:59:25 GMT
Mine was a poo brown 1979 ford f-150. It had a giant hole in the floor board and rust everywhere, but I LOVED that truck. I showed horses in high school and I used that truck to haul horses all over southwest Oklahoma. My next three vehicles were trucks as well. I don't think I owned a car until I got married, even now I drive a huge SUV. Guess I'm a truck girl at heart. |
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Post by KikiPea on Oct 6, 2014 15:01:35 GMT
An old Pontiac LeMans:
This one, in blue. It cost $3,000 from an auction. My parents bought it for me when I was 16. It lasted till I was about 21.
When I went to replace it with a new car, the power windows and AC no longer worked. I got a whole $200 in trade for it. NOT safe to have been driven much longer and I was toting 2 very young kids around in it! A PITB in a 2 door with 2 car seats in the back. :-P
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Post by compwalla on Oct 6, 2014 15:01:57 GMT
My first car was used but not ancient. My dad bought in 1987 and it was a 1983 Ford Escort four door hatchback, manual transmission, no AC, vinyl seats. Lovely in the summer. But I was the only one of my friends who had her own car so it was the car that took us on all our adventures. |
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Post by Merge on Oct 6, 2014 15:06:47 GMT
1984 Mercury Lynx. It got passed to my brother when I went to college and the car I got was even worse - a 1981 Chevy Citation.
I didn't know anyone who had a new, "nice" car. Most people either had a castoff car of their parents' or a cheap car purchased for cash. Even the "rich" kids. It would have been considered foolish to give a brand new or expensive car to a teenager.
Different time and place! In the high schools here the cars in the student lot are often a lot nicer than the ones in the teacher lot.
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Post by scrapsotime on Oct 6, 2014 15:10:24 GMT
1972 Volkswagen Beetle. My dad bought it off my older sister for $600. It caught fire while I was driving it 2 weeks after he bought it and went up in flames.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 21:27:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2014 15:15:25 GMT
I had a 1983 Mercury Lynx station wagon with wood paneling on the side. Boy was it ugly but I could cram a ton of people into that little sucker.
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Post by auntkelly on Oct 6, 2014 15:17:16 GMT
My first car was a 1968 4 door Chevy Impala which I bought for $800 (babysitting money) in 1976. I was from a small town in Oklahoma and most of my friends had old clunkers. A few were lucky enough to drive brand new cars. My best friend received a brand new lemon yellow Camaro for her 16th birthday. I loved cruising Main in that car!
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,992 
Location: Houston, TX
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Post by smartypants71 on Oct 6, 2014 15:41:37 GMT
Mine was an '87 Chevy Nova. It was the model that was made by Toyota so it was basically a Toyota badged as Chevy. It was pretty decent, but so not a sexy car  |
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Post by cadoodlebug on Oct 6, 2014 15:45:15 GMT
1971 Toyota Corona. Paid $3,200 new and sold it 7 years later for $1500.
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msliz
Drama Llama
The Procrastinator
Posts: 6,419
Jun 26, 2014 21:32:34 GMT
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Post by msliz on Oct 6, 2014 16:05:52 GMT
1978 Datsun B210. It was a little orange hatchback with racing stripes. It used to be my sister's, but when she got a new car, I bought it from my parents in my HS senior year. I had saved $500 in babysitting money, and I paid off the rest in installments while working at McDonald's. It died a rather dramatic smokey death when the transmission gave out in a college parking lot, freshman year.   |
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Post by eebud on Oct 6, 2014 16:16:34 GMT
1978 Datsun B210. It was a little orange hatchback with racing stripes. It used to be my sister's, but when she got a new car, I bought it from my parents in my HS senior year. I had saved $500 in babysitting money, and I paid off the rest in installments while working at McDonald's. It died a rather dramatic smokey death when the transmission gave out in a college parking lot, freshman year. Yea! I am not the only one who had to suffer through a Datsun B210. LOL I had another friend with a Datsun B210 that her parents bought her new and it also lived in the shop. It was probably about a 1977 or 78 model. I also had a friend with one of the Datsun Z cars. I forget which one. He had a kick spot on the rear back where he kicked the car every time it broke down. He HATED that car. Forgot to add..........on my post about my Datsun, I said it had illegal side pipes. The exhaust system went out in it just before the car came to me. It was my brother's until I turned 17. He put side pipes on it because it was cheaper but the side pipes went back too far on the car so they were illegal. Every year when I went to get an inspection sticker, I had to seek out an unscrupulous inspection center that would put a sticker on it regardless of the illegal side pipes. Boy was I glad to get rid of that car. I had it for about 2 years, maybe slightly longer. |
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denainok
Shy Member
Posts: 43
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Post by denainok on Oct 6, 2014 16:18:46 GMT
My first car was a 1985 Chevrolet Celebrity 2 door. My parents bought it for me as a graduation gift in 1993. I drove it for a couple years then bought my first NEW car. I bought a Dodge Shadow..It was aqua green.
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Post by padresfan619 on Oct 6, 2014 16:20:49 GMT
I didn't get my license until I was 21. My first car was a 2004 Hyundai Accent that was only totaled about 3 years ago. The car was given to me by my grandma after she decided she couldn't drive herself anymore. I miss that car!
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stittsygirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,664
Location: In the leaves and rain.
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Post by stittsygirl on Oct 6, 2014 16:22:26 GMT
A 1964 Ford Fairlane, that I purchased myself for $400. I wish I still had her (her radiator blew my first year of college). I didn't appreciate the value of a good classic car back then.
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Post by Mary W on Oct 6, 2014 16:22:47 GMT
My parents never bought any of us cars, and I had to pay my own way through college, so I didn't have a car until my senior year of college in 1983. My first one was actually my boyfriend's (now husband). He was in the military and was being transferred, so he gave me his car. It was a 1971 Monte Carlo. The body and interior was in beautiful condition. It was a really fast car, and the only time I've ever been stopped was when I was driving that car. My next car I bought after I graduated. It was a 1984 Chevy Chevette. I loved that car because it was brand new and it was all mine!
I love the pictures. Does anybody have any pics of their actual cars? ('Cuz this thread really is useless without them!)
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Post by lorieann13 on Oct 6, 2014 16:22:56 GMT
I was given my moms fully loaded 1989 Toyota Camry in 1994, at the end of my jr year.
It had auto everything, lumbar seats, sound system, etc.
They paid insurance.
I bought my first car in Aug 1999 after someone hit me and totalled the Camry. That was a 2000 Honda Civic. At that time I paid my insurance.
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TrishC
Junior Member
Refupea #1776
Posts: 64
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Post by TrishC on Oct 6, 2014 16:30:55 GMT
My first car, which I paid for myself, was a 1974 (or '75 I can't remember exactly) Ford Pinto, dark blue with a Starsky & Hutch type racing stripe. It had no air conditioning. I bought it shortly before all the news stories broke about Ford Pintos blowing up when hit from the rear because of a faulty-designed fuel tank.
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Post by sbartist on Oct 6, 2014 16:40:08 GMT
1968 oxidized green Volkswagen bug for $300 that I paid for. My dad had it for about a week to work on it (he was a mechanic). When I picked it up at his shop, I laughed so hard, I was crying, for a good 5 minutes. I bought the car before I actually saw it and I just never pictured myself driving a VW bug. But I drove it for three years before it would not run any more. Wish I had a picture of it.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 21:27:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2014 16:47:04 GMT
I had a 1986 Toyota Corolla with 230k miles. I got it in 99. It was rusty, old, and ran like a charm. I paid a whole dollar for it. (it was an old car of close friends of my parents..they originally wanted $500 for it, but then ended up charging me only a dollar). They wouldn't take any more money for it so I went and bought a $499 radio.  |
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Post by workingclassdog on Oct 6, 2014 16:53:57 GMT
It was a Chevy Citation, I think 1980. Somewhere in there. For what it was it was a decent car. Even had power windows. I had to pay for it from what I remember. I actually got a loan at 16 and paid $80 a month for it. I don't think my parents chipped in or if they did it wasn't much. That was just the rules. I don't remember paying for insurance though, so they must have just paid it.
My ds and dd have shared a car, a 1998 (or so) Honda Civic. We actually bought it for our second car and dh and I drove it. DH bought another oldie (he's a car guy).. and they just took over the Civic. We didn't make either one 'pay' for it, but they were both in charge of picking up youngest dd from daycare, etc. when we needed them to. Actually, oldest dd still does. That is their contribution.. they help with six year old dd, and they drive the car. We pay insurance.
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Post by ilikepink on Oct 6, 2014 16:54:44 GMT
In HS I drove my mom's 72 Olds, taking her to/from work. When I graduated HS, my grandfather bought me a brand-new 1976 Olds Omega, baby blue. He didn't want me to buy a used car and have problems to deal with. After I had been working a while, I bought a 1980 Fiat X1/9. To help with the down payment, my grandfather bought my car from me (yes he bought it twice!). That Fiat and I had fun! The roof came off and stored in the front trunk. It was a mid-engine, and even simple oil changes were expensive. Lots of electric problems - the headlights would pop up occasionally, and "blink". Kept that car until I was so pregnant with DS1 I couldn't bend down to get in/out of it.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 21:27:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2014 16:54:45 GMT
My first car was a 1979 Plymouth Horizon TC3. It looked exactly like this:  It was orange! It was dubbed "The Orange Crush" by the previous owners. By the time I got it, it was 15 years old and had rust eating through the floorboards. Dad, being the mechanic he was, was able to patch the worst of the holes and kept it in running condition. My parents paid for it but I was responsible for gas and insurance on it. A tire rod snapped on me one day going around a corner. It was so rusted that all it needed was a good bump to break it completely. Talk about being 18 and terrified before cell phones. Our plan right now is to keep DH's Madza running long enough for the oldest to be able to drive it. Ex is being a jerk and says he will find him a car. I'm thinking, I got a free one right here!  |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 21:27:26 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2014 16:59:34 GMT
Oh, mine was a SWEET ride LOL. But it was mine and my parents bought it for me, so I was still pretty happy with it. It was a 1985 (I think) Toyota Corolla wagon, in brown. Fancy! It looked like this, including the two-toned brown vinyl seats. Except the side mirrors were in normal locations, not on the hood. And, obviously, was a left side driver, not right. For all its aesthetic issues, it was a newer car (I got it in 1990) and was in perfect condition and never gave me any trouble. So, all in all, it was a good car.  |
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Jili
Pearl Clutcher
SLPea
Posts: 4,378
Jun 26, 2014 1:26:48 GMT
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Post by Jili on Oct 6, 2014 17:01:42 GMT
In 1991 I bought my very first car that was all my own-- a 1991 dark sapphire blue Chevy Cavalier. Or, as my dad referred to it... the Cadaver. I loved that car. Dh and I drove it into the ground. We had it until our first dd was about 4 years old, if I remember correctly. Maybe even longer. My dad bargained it for me at the dealership, and I bought and paid for it myself, no money down.  Up until that time I'd been driving my parents' old beater car-- a tan 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88, affectionately known as "the Rectangle", in reference to its shape. At the time, my Dad told me that I needed to buy my own car, as it was my younger sister's turn to have the Rectangle. |
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Post by Sparki on Oct 6, 2014 17:04:12 GMT
1980 Pontiac Phoenix - I bought it in the mid-90's. I bought it by picking up aluminum cans on the side of the road. I paid $300 for it. My next car was a 1996 Toyota Tacoma pickup - bought brand new. Yay!!! No one ever bought me a car, ever. Well, my husband kinda did - he paid for it and I paid him back, back when we were dating.
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. It had over 200,000 miles on it before it got totaled. I was driving to work and someone was pulling out of a parking lot onto a busy street talking on a a cell phone without even looking into oncoming traffic. She was driving a Volvo that barely got a scratch while my poor car fill of memories was crushed to a pulp. 
. Thankfully all was okay. *Funny store about that day* I blacked out and when I opened my eyes, there was a guy knocking at my window wearing a neckbrace and on crutches shouting "Are you okay!" I looked up, not really realizing what had happened and said "I think so! Are you okay!" It was funny...I guess he was a passenger in the car behind me that saw the entire thing.
Ours was an 1981 though. In retrospect, it probably was a good car to learn on...everything after that was a piece of cake. LOL
4 Door and large enough trunk to fit 2-3 friends in to sneak into the Drive-In
Up until that time I'd been driving my parents' old beater car-- a tan 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88, affectionately known as "the Rectangle", in reference to its shape. At the time, my Dad told me that I needed to buy my own car, as it was my younger sister's turn to have the Rectangle. 