First Car

[TJones]

Yeah, I have a friend who put over 400,000 miles on an '87 Civic Wagon. When I was finally "rich" enough to buy a brand-new car, I got an Accord. Still driving it. No regrets whatsoever.

Honda's are generally pretty reliable, that is because the people that own them usually get the oil and fluids changed and maintenance when they are supposed too. Same goes for just about any car. If you treat it right, it will treat you right.

Torchlight, your car may have been made on a Friday, and the last one off the line for the day. When it gets around Beer-thrirty in the afternoon, the quality kinda drops off no matter what manufacturer you buy.

[TJones]

Well, I did all the routine maintenance on the Shadow, too. And--@#$%^&*... ugh, that car makes me so effin' angry just thinking about it.

My wife was driving a Dodge Neon when we first started dating. And, based on my experience with the Shadow and that car, I'd have to guess that all Dodges are made at beer-thirty on Friday afternoon. 'Cause that car was a total P.O.S., too.

Oops, I didn't see where you mentioned that it was a DODGE product, I thought we were discussing Honda. DODGE is a whole other story. My wife had a Sebring when I met her, and it was a nightmare. Weird electrical , "Ghost in the Machine".

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Well, I did all the routine maintenance on the Shadow, too. And--@#$%^&*... ugh, that car makes me so effin' angry just thinking about it.

My wife was driving a Dodge Neon when we first started dating. And, based on my experience with the Shadow and that car, I'd have to guess that all Dodges are made at beer-thirty on Friday afternoon. 'Cause that car was a total P.O.S., too.

Avoid Chrysler cars. They look nice with cutting edge design, but are mechanical nightmares. They are notorious for transmission troubles and other little annoying things. Chrysler should just stick to trucks, thier cars are garbage-mechanical wise

Oops, I didn't see where you mentioned that it was a DODGE product, I thought we were discussing Honda. DODGE is a whole other story. My wife had a Sebring when I met her, and it was a nightmare. Weird electrical , "Ghost in the Machine".

I had a Sebring too. Never again. Tranny troubles. Recalls on ball joints. Actually had one of the joints fail and the wheel assembly came undone. Recalls on the side panels....totally bad news!!!!!!

[marmer]

And the funny thing about that Honda Civic -- when I got it new, it was CHEAP! Under $10K. It has no power steering, locks, windows, or seats, but the interior fabric quality and interior plastic quality, while now showing 200,000 miles of wear, is better than any recent Japanese or US vehicle. My wife's '93 Camry wagon is even better (and it has 275,000 miles.) I really hate the mouse fuzz and faux aluminum plastic that has infested many new cars.

Marty

Grandma's hand-me-down from 1961

Exactly like this one. red, 4-door, 6 cyl, 3-on-the-tree,

and the orignal tube am radio with Conelrad/Civil Defense stations marked.

My Rambler didn't have a tube radio, but it did have the Civil Defense (triangle and circle) logos on the display. Wonder when they stopped doing that?

Marty

[uncertaintraveler]

No picture, but mine was a gray 1974 Oldsmobile 88 with a 455 engine in it. It was 22.5 feet long---it could just barely fit in my high school parking space (which was a parallel parking space), provided I arrived before everyone else---and got a whopping 2 miles to the gallon. It looked horrible--I had gray duck tape holding the bumper on towards the end--but it was safe and, when the engine was properly warmed up, could out-run almost any car on the street.

[TJones]

No picture, but mine was a gray 1974 Oldsmobile 88 with a 455 engine in it. It was 22.5 feet long---it could just barely fit in my high school parking space (which was a parallel parking space), provided I arrived before everyone else---and got a whopping 2 miles to the gallon. It looked horrible--I had gray duck tape holding the bumper on towards the end--but it was safe and, when the engine was properly warmed up, could out-run almost any car on the street.

Something like this perhaps ?

[Pumapayam]

It is interesting to see that cars got so big and had poor gas mileage in the 70's.

Then in the 80's they shrunk and got more efficient.

Later in the mid 90's they start getting bigger again with poor fuel economy.

and so the cycle continues. We should see smaller cars populate the road again soon. And our kids will be buying our old SUV's as their first cars.

[Lowbrow]

1965 Maserati Mistral Coupe

[Pumapayam]

Avoid Chrysler cars. They look nice with cutting edge design, but are mechanical nightmares.

Sad, that 300 looks really sweet like a Bentley.

[Montrose1100]

First car... 1994 Honda Accord... Oh yeah!

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Sad, that 300 looks really sweet like a Bentley.

The 300 looks great and test drives even better, but I know 2 people that own them and .............

One has experienced trouble with the freakin pedals. At a dead stop, all pedals-brake and accelerator pedals sunk to the floor.

The other has experienced severe vibrations at high speeds---60 to 70 mph on the highway for durations over 20 miles.

[TheNiche]

First car... 1994 Honda Accord... Oh yeah!

You're kidding me. That was my first car as well. Same color.

It had a number of repeated AC and electrical problems, though. At one point, driving back to Houston from Austin, my speedometer started pulsing up and down in random patterns. It'd go from 75mph (actual speed) down to 20, then back past 75 to 110, pause, then increase to 130 before plunging down to zero, pausing for quite a while and starting the random pulse process again. It ultimately died, as did almost every bit of electrical equipment in the car (power windows, all gauges except tach, etc.) It would've cost megabucks to repair, so I opted to get a new car. I now drive a grey 2004 Mazda 6 with a V6.

I also recently purchased a 1981 Chevy C-10 for $450.

EDIT: Btw, Chrysler trucks are also pretty bad. My mom owned a Dodge truck for a while, but it kept on having severe transmission problems.

[uncertaintraveler]

Something like this perhaps ?

No...mine was 4-door and had tail-fins. Plus, the picture you posted is of a car that is far nicer than the one I had.

[Captain Impossible]

I had a 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix with only a few thousand miles on it, got it in 2002 when I first started driving. Almost two years later, I totalled it betweetn I45 and TX75 south of Corsicana, right before they merged. Slipped right off the highway and into a kind of ravine at a high speed where it was totalled.

And where it happened:

It wasn't a great car by any means, but I still kind of miss it.

[Montrose1100]

You're kidding me. That was my first car as well. Same color.

It had a number of repeated AC and electrical problems, though. At one point, driving back to Houston from Austin, my speedometer started pulsing up and down in random patterns. It'd go from 75mph (actual speed) down to 20, then back past 75 to 110, pause, then increase to 130 before plunging down to zero, pausing for quite a while and starting the random pulse process again. It ultimately died, as did almost every bit of electrical equipment in the car (power windows, all gauges except tach, etc.) It would've cost megabucks to repair, so I opted to get a new car. I now drive a grey 2004 Mazda 6 with a V6.

I also recently purchased a 1981 Chevy C-10 for $450.

EDIT: Btw, Chrysler trucks are also pretty bad. My mom owned a Dodge truck for a while, but it kept on having severe transmission problems.

Niche-ie!

I loved that car... I too had AC problems, but never any heating problems. You know, for the 3 days of winter we have. But I always had trouble with de-fogging the windows. It would take forever, and towards the end I had to do the opposite heating/cooling method to see any results. I noticed the power windows were slower towards the end.

Since my first car I had a Red Jeep Grand Cherokee, and now I drive a GMC Denali.

[Subdude]

Kinda like this:

which in high school I somehow thought was a good idea. My God, what a piece of junk that was.

I can't believe Lowbrow had a Maserati!

[TheNiche]

I also recently purchased a 1981 Chevy C-10 for $450.

Update on my 1981 C-10: I have had it parked in front of a friend's rental home in Richmond Plaza (subdivision is surrounded by Bellaire, but isn't Bellaire). It got tagged by HPD to be towed tomorrow morning on the grounds that there is some sort of selectively-enforced ordinance in place that the City can have anything towed that has been sitting idle on a city street for more than 24 hours.

They didn't tag the massive MOTOR HOME that has been sitting akwardly on the corner for several days now.

My friend got a letter taped to his rental's door from a new McMansion owner that lives on one of the corners at Chimney Rock stating that he doesn't want "burnt out old trucks" in his neighborhood. The letter went on to describe this person's intentions to re-form an HOA.

The bastard.

[TJones]

All you have to do is move it to the driveway to show that it does in fact run. They can't tow an operational vehicle. Tell your friend to return a letter in kind, that reads that he didn't want jackass neighbors that leave letters on his door, but that apparently he didn't get what he wanted either when he bought his house. :lol

btw Niche, is this your truck ? I can certainly see WHY the neighbor would be upset.

[TheNiche]

All you have to do is move it to the driveway to show that it does in fact run. They can't tow an operational vehicle. Tell your friend to return a letter in kind, that reads that he didn't want jackass neighbors that leave letters on his door, but that apparently he didn't get what he wanted either when he bought his house. :lol

btw Niche, is this your truck ? I can certainly see WHY the neighbor would be upset.

Yes and no. Mine is gunmetal grey with rusty spots.

I've contrived a variety of devious strategies. > None of which my friend is prepared to use.

[TJones]

Yes and no. Mine is gunmetal grey with rusty spots.

I've contrived a variety of devious strategies. > None of which my friend is prepared to use.

Just go get some Matte black and paint it all one color, then the douchebag will have no complaint.

[TheNiche]

Just go get some Matte black and paint it all one color, then the douchebag will have no complaint.

No, but I would. I like my rust. It adds character...that's what happens when a vehicle sits in a west Texas cotton field for several years at a time.

[dbigtex56]

Kinda like this:

which in high school I somehow thought was a good idea. My God, what a piece of junk that was.

I can't believe Lowbrow had a Maserati!

OMG...Subdude had Mary Richards' car!

(note to younger members: This is a reference to the opening sequence of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.)

[Montrose1100]

OMG...Subdude had Mary Richards' car!

(note to younger members: This is a reference to the opening sequence of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.)

If I remember correctly, and I do, wasn't her car Blue in the opening credit? Well the 2 seconds it did show it.

haha, I can hear the theme song. Your gonna make it after all!

[Mark F. Barnes]

First ride 1967 rs/ss

As purchased

Start of refurb

After

And Repainted again in 1981

[sevfiv]

OMG...Subdude had Mary Richards' car!

(note to younger members: This is a reference to the opening sequence of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.)

If I remember correctly, and I do, wasn't her car Blue in the opening credit? Well the 2 seconds it did show it.

haha, I can hear the theme song. Your gonna make it after all!

MTM

here's the car from the "you might just make it after all" shows:

and then the "you're gonna make it after all" shows:

[TJones]

Apparently Mary owned 2 Mustangs, looks like a '70 in white and a '71 in blue. TV reporters made pretty good money back then.

Oh, Mark, do you still have the "Bitchin' Camaro" ?!

[Talbot]

White 2000 Chevy Malibu with about 105,000 miles.

[Mark F. Barnes]

Apparently Mary owned 2 Mustangs, looks like a '70 in white and a '71 in blue. TV reporters made pretty good money back then.

Oh, Mark, do you still have the "Bitchin' Camaro" ?!

Absolutely, I have quite a few toys, wifey says I have separation issues with my cars.

Current underhood shot, major funds and time on the last facelift

This is my quick one

The reason Why it's quick

[Mark F. Barnes]

All you have to do is move it to the driveway to show that it does in fact run. They can't tow an operational vehicle. Tell your friend to return a letter in kind, that reads that he didn't want jackass neighbors that leave letters on his door, but that apparently he didn't get what he wanted either when he bought his house. :lol

btw Niche, is this your truck ? I can certainly see WHY the neighbor would be upset.

I saw this guy selling breakfast tacos on Navigation!!!!!!

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

Absolutely, I have quite a few toys, wifey says I have separation issues with my cars.

Current underhood shot, major funds and time on the last facelift

This is my quick one

The reason Why it's quick

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!