Some kids turn 16 and get to choose a vehicle of their choice, some get hand-me-downs, some buy the cheapest clunker they can afford and cross their fingers, and some other exceptions. Chances are you fell somewhere into those categories. Growing up in one of the wealthiest counties in America, many of the kids in my school were “lucky” enough to get whatever the heck they wanted. For example, during a girls sweet 16 her parents rented a Fiat and pretended to give it to her as a joke...story goes that she was actually so upset she cried about it. Then they gave her the real present, a brand new Audi A4, (how funny!!!). Yeah, my family was not like that. When I was 17, my mother and I discussed getting a vehicle for myself. A few weeks later around Christmas time I had myself my first ride. It was a 2001 Chevy Cavalier, 2.2L 4l, 4-speed, little white whale of a sedan with about 120 horsepower of raw American muscle. The thing was a friggin lawn mower. She bought it off a co-worker who purchased it at the County Park’s vehicle auction for a WHOPPING $400, (we live within our means). It had four different generic crappy tires and the county left the fleet numbers on it. 05959, she was mine and I loved ‘er. What a hoot to drive. Right around 72 mph the drivers side rear door seal would suck air in and the door would flutter against the body, it killed starters like It was it’s job, (went through three, four maybe?), and the spare compartment in the trunk floor was often full of grody water, to name a few quirks. The darn thing died everywhere on me but never had to get towed anywhere besides out of the driveway, that car always had my back. Three years later I sold it back to the brother of the original buyer for $200 after putting new tires on. What a deal, right? The fact that it wasn’t a polished Mercedes or luxury SUV made me smile every time I parked next to one. I knew I wasn’t like them anyway, the freedom of driving was that much sweeter. I was proud to be different, to be me.
I can relate to this my first vehicle that I ever got, my grandpa bought it for me around tax time when I was 17. He bought me a 1999 Ford Explorer V8 5.0. We got it for around two grand. It wasn’t a bad vehicle, being that it was my first. I still drive it to this day. I've had it for around three years now and I would get rid of it for anything. I have so many memories with it. I have put a lot of mileage however since I got it though. When I first got it, the vehicle was around 174,000 miles, and now it has around 201,000 miles on it. I've definitely put some mileage on it, but while doing so I've drove it with pride knowing that I don't need to have the best vehicle on the road. Back to that story about the girl getting the Audi A4 for her birthday, and crying because she got a fiat. I think that is ridiculous Fiats are nice and I would be joyful if that were my first vehicle. Kids like that don't know what it’s like to live the struggle, and are never appreciative for anything ever. They always think they must be better than everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get my license until I was 21! Then I got a '98 Suzuki Swift. Loved that thing.
ReplyDeleteI just got a new car and have advice for your readers. If you want to be home by lunch after stopping by the dealership, do like I did and get there first and just tell the salesman that you have a limit. If they can get you in the car for xxx amount a month in payments, including tax, title, and tags, deal.
ReplyDelete