Car Talk

Since I just bought a new car I thought I would list all the vehicles that I have actually owned. While I’ve driven my Mom’s Firebird and Lou’s Rivera I never actually owned them. This is a list of the cars that my name was actually on the title of. (I would love to get a list of cars my friend Chuck has owned as it has to be like twenty in the last twenty years.)

1977 Mercury Monarch – It was the first car that I actually bought. I used some money I had saved up and paid $500 bucks to my friend Chuck’s friend who was selling the car. It was a Ford Granada knock off that was brown and had the classic bench seat. I had it for a couple of months before I was sitting at a light on 63^rd street when I got rear-ended. I then got hit a couple of weeks later on Harlem. This was a good thing as I made money on the deal as I got the blue book value for the car as they claimed it was totaled. I then sold the car for like $200 bucks to Chuck. So all in all I made like a grand on the car, if not more. I would need that money to sink it into my next car.

1979 Dodge Omni – My Uncle Randy was selling his old Omni and my aunt had one and had nothing but luck with it. So, needing a car I bought it for like $700 bucks. It was bright orange and had the pickup of a lawnmower. I had it one whole day before my friend Dell broke the emergency brake my lifting it up going “What’s this do.” That would be the least of my problems with it. In retrospect I am glad I had the car as I learned just exactly what could go wrong on a car. I only owned the Omni for about six months. But it was a long six months. All the money I made on the Monarch I sunk into repairs and then some. I could list them all but it would take to long. In the end the car was dying at every stop light so I had to perform this magic act of braking with my left foot as I shifted the car into neutral. Then with my right foot I would keep hitting the gas. This caused the car to do a neutral drop at every light. Eventually it died and would never run again leaving me without wheels for a while.

1983 Buick Skylark – For all the bad luck I had with the Omni I had nothing but good luck (at least for awhile) with my Skylark. My Step-Dad knew this guy selling it and since he was a friend he let me have it for $400 bucks. The car was brown and a nice cloth interior. It had a sunroof and power locks and windows. It was really a cool car. It did have like 120,000 miles on it but that engine just kept going. I beat that vehicle into the ground and it always started. Unlike the Omni very little mechanically went wrong on the Skylark. The sunroof broke and thanks to my friend Chris it shattered glass all over us but once my step-dad configured some plexi-glass to replace it was all good again. Eventually, while making a left on to 79^th I hit a median on Narragansett and cracked the oil pan rendering the car dead.

1978 Chevrolet Nova – Maybe the favorite of all the cars I’ve ever owned. It was a faded yellow with a worn tan interior. Trust me it was as ugly as it sounds. I bought it for $250 bucks from this lady my Mom worked with. The driver’s side window would not roll down and of course it had no air so in the summer you would sweat your ass off. Then after I had it a while the heat stopped working. So, I had to carry a towel in the car as the defroster would not work and when the windows steamed I just wiped them down. I had the car for a couple of years and despite the flaws it always started and got me from point a to b without issues. It was an easy car to work on and when I sold it I got $200 for it so, the car only cost me $50 bucks and I had it for two years. Now that is a deal.

1992 Toyota Corolla – My Corolla was my first real car and first car payment. My Aunt had bought it and no longer wanted it and was looking for someone to take over the payments. Since I had a real job and was sick of depending on my girlfriend for rides, I offered to pick up the payments. It was a light red with red interior. It was a classic four cylinder go cart that served its purpose. It was reliable and it always started. I had it for four years and it had to go down as the most reliable car that I ever owned. I also fell in love with Toyota and am still pissed I’ve never bought another one.

1997 Dodge Avenger – After driving the Corolla for four years I kind of wanted something a little sportier so, I started looking around. My girlfriend at the told me she liked the Dodge Avenger. I went to a Dodge dealership and test drove it and really liked it. I than got lucky as they had a demo model with 3,000 miles on it and they where willing to sell it at a reduced rate and still give me a full warranty. So, I paid like 14,000 grand for it when it was listed at like 19,000. It was green and was a sharp looking car. However, like that failed relationship the vehicle itself was nothing but problems. I had to get numerous brake jobs, I had to have the fuel injectors replaced, it had a cracked oil gasket, I had to put a whole new exhaust system on it and then the timing belt needed to be replaced. I could on and on. Needless to say the car was a lemon. I never really liked it, as it was so low to the ground it felt like if you hit a curb the car would be totaled. Eventually my wife inherited it and she put some major miles on it driving to work everyday. I recently sold it on E-Bay for $1,600 bucks. Considering what I paid plus interest and then repairs I literally took a bath on that car.

1994 Ford Ranger – When I met my wife she was driving this Ford Escort. Once we hooked up and she got a job out in the sticks, I did not like her driving all that way in her beat up Escort so I gave her my car which meant that I was relegated to driving the tin can that was her car. I hated it and when my friend Chuck told me he was selling his Truck (which he loved) a light bulb went off in my head. So, I sold her Escort on e-bay for $1,500 and bought the Truck for $2,700 meaning I only really had to pay $1,200 for the truck. I still have this one and I love it. It is fun to drive, comes in handy and was exactly what we needed when we bought our house. It has made many trips to Menards and Ikea and was one of the best investments I’ve ever made. Other than oil changes, a broken spring in the back, and a minor brake job it has been very reliable. I’ve had it over two years now and my plan is to drive it until it dies. It has 168,000 miles on it but it keeps on ticking.

2001 Mazda Tribute – As I stated in an earlier post I just bought the Tribute a couple of weeks ago. It really is for my wife and she really likes it and I must admit it is fun to drive. So far, it has been great and hopefully it will continue to be.