Spinoff of "beaters": How OLD was the 1st car you owned?

[ChrisFL]

I had a 1984 Mazda GLC hatchback in 1996...so 12 years old. Bought for $700 and 130,000 miles on it... and ran with no issues for 3 years until the clutch finally gave up....cost to replace the clutch was more than the car was worth

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

1987 Oldsmobile Calais in in 1988.

 

[RedAngie]

Oh, about the 67 Plymouth Valiant I drove starting in 1978. No AC, and the gas gauge stopped working. I kept a little notebook in the car to record mileage when I got gas.

When full I could get about 200 miles, but I often only bought $3 or $4 of gas and had to determine when I would need it next. Thankfully I never ran out.

It had those triangular vent windows in front, window cranks, and no power steering or brakes. I don’t think it had seatbelts either. But it did have that hump on the back seat floor for the drive train.

 

[Suger Mag]

it was 1987, I was graduating high school and I bought my first car ( I think it was $750).... a 1974 VW bug, Wolfcastle edition... cobalt metallic blue with a sunroof. I had it less than a year before I killed it on a telephone pole avoiding a squirrel... sigh that was such a cool car...

next car(s) was a inheritance from my dad, and the first in a long series of 'old man' sedans.... all used and abused with high mileage, food stains, and reeking of cigar smoke.... Buick Skylark.... Oldsmobile Firenze.... Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais... but the price was right (freebies) ... and made me very non picky about cars. Although I do insist nowadays on heated seats and AWD, those are musts living in New England.

 

[GBRforWDW]

My first car that I bought when I was 16 was the same age as me. 1981 firebird. It was junk. Cost me 900 and had to replace the engine

 

[easyas123]

It was new. It was a Civic hatchback, 4 speed, no AC. Windows were roll down...it was basic!

 

[DisneyHardin]

My first car was a 1989 Maxda MX-6 that I bought from the Auto Auction in 1997.

 

[Buckeye218]

9 years old. Bought a 1975 Ford Maverick (otherwise known as a poor man's Mustang) in 1984 for $1400. That was a great car that got me through 2 years of HS and 4 years of college.

 

[RangerPooh]

My first car was a late 80s VW Fox, and it was 10 years old and had 97k miles on it. Drove it for 3 years before totaling it when I hit a deer. It was basic. No AC, crank windows, two doors, am/fm radio...I added the tape deck. But it was mine.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

I bought my 1989 VW Jetta in Dec of 1989. Someone had owned it for 9 months and traded it in for something else. I kept it for 18 years.

 

[soccerdad72]

Late 80s Oldsmobile Cutlass that my parents had bought a year or so before I graduated college in 94. They let me keep it after graduation. I drove it for a little while before buying a new Saturn in 95 or 96, I think.

 

[DVC92]

I bought a 1965 Ford LTD while in college.

 

[John VN]

How OLD was the 1st car you owned?

1963 VW Beetle/Bug bought for college transportation in 1969 with funds borrowed from my Grandmother.

 

[Nox]

My first car was 12 years old. It was a specific car make by GM. It was an absolute disaster. The people who sold it to me clearly patched it together long enough to get it sold. It started overheating just a week after I got it, and within a few months the radiator needed to be replaced. It continued to overheat and I had to carry a jug of water in the backseat. Never could find any issues that caused it (until it finally gave up the ghost - its water pump ruptured, and it probably was the culprit the whole time, some small leak that went unseen.) The AC stopped working, and then the windows stopped rolling down. Horrible.

In contrast, my current car, a Toyota, is 16 years old. And she's in great shape. Everything still works perfectly. Haven't had to fix a single thing on her (knock on wood).

 

[aprilgail]

In 1978 I had a 1973- I was only 15 but my dad was getting a new car so he gave his old one to my brother and they kept my brothers old one for me so I had to wait a year to get my permit and drive it.

 

[Mysterian]

I think it was 94 or 95, I got a 1984 Mustang.

1984 Mustangs were not cool. The 80's t'was a dark time for the American automobile.

 

[GAN]

I had a '71 Chevelle and that would have been 1980. Wish I still had that one!

 

[tvguy]

I think it was 94 or 95, I got a 1984 Mustang.

1984 Mustangs were not cool. The 80's t'was a dark time for the American automobile.

1984 Mustangs are VERY cool. Just go to any Cars and Coffee gathering in your area. Known as the Fox Body. And a very popular pursuit vehicle with Police Departments because they were FAST.

 

[EACarlson]

It was a 1995 Volkswagen Cabrio. I loved that car.

But what year was it when you got it?

 

[tvguy]

I had a 1986 Mercury Lynx in 1989.

Our first major purchase after getting married was a brand new 1983 Mercury Lynx 2 door. Only kept it 16 years as we out grew it. Not a good family car and my wife and kids cried when we traded it in on a "family" car, a used 1991 Dodge Spirit.