Kids looking for Audis and BMWs for their first cars and I'm over here like...

"mazda616" (mazda616) 08/23/2014 at 16:49 • Filed to: First car

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Boom. My first car. Circa 2006. '92 Chevrolet Beretta. 2.2 four-cylinder, three-speed automatic. 71,000 miles. $1,250.00.

I made it look nicer.

Then, one year and 13,000 miles later, the transmission was beginning to grenade itself (it was dying the whole time I had the car). So, I sold it to this weird girl who like fell in love with it. She paid...$1,700. After all the repairs I had to do over the course of that year, I broke even.

I miss it sometimes. So simple to work on. And I loved it at first. Kept it so clean. But I couldn't have cared less about it by the time I sold it. For those few last months, it was refreshing and relaxing to have a car I didn't care about.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 16:59

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Berretta, eh? I thought those were almost always exclusively owned by psychotic ex-girlfriends.

I suppose yours may be now...

What are you driving now?

PatBateman > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 17:01

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Four wheels and an engine when you're a teenager is a win, no matter what it is.

Boxer_4 > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 17:02

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I actually saw a Beretta today, a Z26. It was probably the nicest one I've seen in quite a long time.

I remember seeing one in this color in my neighborhood growing up.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 17:04

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Spoiled kids these days, amiright?

mazda616 > BaconSandwich is tasty. 08/23/2014 at 17:06

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This replaced the Beretta and I had it until August of '09:

And I have had this since August of '09:

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 17:08

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I'd love an Audi or BMW, but I might get a Subaru Legacy. With a brand new rebuilt transmission.

mazda616 > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 08/23/2014 at 17:10

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Amen. My Beretta was parked at the high schoolamongst several brand new Mustangs and Benzes.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 17:18

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My sister-in-law just got a (used) Grand Am. She had a Sunfire prior to that. I was trying to convince her to save up more and get a Fiat 500 Abarth, but she didn't go for it.

I've heard good things about the Mazda 3.

mazda616 > BaconSandwich is tasty. 08/23/2014 at 17:29

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I've had very good luck with my 3. It has behaved itself quite well. My Grand Am was well cared for before I had it and I continued that, so it was very reliable as well. The Beretta's problem was that it sat foreve because its old lady owner hardly ever drove. And then sixteen-year-old me drove the piss out of it constantly. So it broke. A lot.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 17:30

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Sorry I was trying to be funny/sarcastic.

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 17:45

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i got the better end of the first car spectrum

85' jaguar xj6 with 220k miles on the odo for $2300

owned it for almost two years now

BaconSandwich is tasty. > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 17:47

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I think what you meant to say was "I learned a lot about fixing cars from the Beretta". :P

Klaus Schmoll > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 08/23/2014 at 18:00

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Not working!

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 08/23/2014 at 18:02

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Audi drivers are supposed to be serious and boring, you can't be funny.

Klaus Schmoll > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 18:11

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My first car was a hand-me-down Mazda 626 with incredibly high mileage. Nursed that along for another 4 years and then got another identical one with lower miles, kept that for almost 8 years.

With all these "First Car" posts on oppo, we have to take into account that they are teenagers. Their brains haven't fully developed. They also lack the experience of what actually owning a car and keeping it on the road really costs. They browse Craigslist, see cheap high end cars and start dreaming about being the king of their schools's parking lot. Growing pains!

Reborn Pyrrhic > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 18:52

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I gifted my younger brother my rusty but trusty Mercedes Benz 300D when I joined the Army. While some of his friends had newer and faster cars, he had a Benz, with acres of leather, dark tints, a new kicking stereo, and enough seats to take all his friends wherever he wanted to go. It was the coolest car in his circle of friends...

And he crashed it! I still don't forgive the little bastard for crashing my old Benz!

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/23/2014 at 19:16

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:P

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 08/23/2014 at 19:30

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You are showing emotion, you can't do that!

treesmakewater > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/23/2014 at 19:40

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we can be funny too, damnit!

M-Powwerr Drives a Ford > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 19:41

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Believe me, as a teenager, I will be happy with whatever I get, If I buy with my own money a manual e36 is on the top of my list, otherwise beggars can't be choosers (except for A/C and manual trans.)

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > treesmakewater 08/23/2014 at 19:44

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It is against the German car owner handbook, regulation 11,783.

treesmakewater > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback 08/23/2014 at 19:44

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Sounds sketchy. Any warranty on the rebuild?

treesmakewater > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/23/2014 at 19:45

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subsection 3, paragraph 6, stanza 6

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > treesmakewater 08/23/2014 at 19:47

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BMW's section is much shorter: Section 1, subsection 1, paragraph 1, stanza 1; "Park at the most inconvenient place for other dri... just be a dick!"

treesmakewater > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/23/2014 at 19:50

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You must be reading the "politically correct" version. My uncle's handbook states to "treat all drivers like the plebians that they are"

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > treesmakewater 08/23/2014 at 19:52

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No, but honestly I can't remember if it was a rebuild or a new gearbox. It was a little while ago my mom told me about it.

treesmakewater > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback 08/23/2014 at 19:54

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im just sitting here thinking "how the hell did someone kill anything on a Subaru". Auto/CVT or manual?

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > treesmakewater 08/23/2014 at 19:58

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Being that it's a 2001 I believe it's an auto.

treesmakewater > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback 08/23/2014 at 20:04

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subaru had a CVT during that time, I just don't know what cars. I can't remember if Subaru's early 2000s CVT was the only reliable one, or one if the worst (I know its one of those two, do some research).

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > treesmakewater 08/23/2014 at 20:09

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I looked it up and the 2001 had a 4spd auto and a 5spd manual.

mazda616 > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 08/23/2014 at 20:58

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That's pretty epic, dude. I like. A lot! How has it been reliability-wise?

mazda616 > PatBateman 08/23/2014 at 21:01

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Amen! I had this bout where I wanted a Beretta really, really, REALLY badly. My grandfather found this one for uber cheap and I was like "Hell yes." It was a good first car. Easy to drive/park, old enough not to worry about me trashing it, slow enough for me to stay out of trouble, and cheap on insurance. My grandad heavily influenced me into a four-cylinder Beretta since the V6 ones could actually be pretty quick for what they were.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/23/2014 at 21:06

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Well then I'll just sue you.

Because I'm allowed to do that.

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > mazda616 08/23/2014 at 21:20

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reliability-wise its been a common old car when i got it it needed a alternator and a set of belts and the radio was kind of broken and there was a huge rust spot on the hood

so far the only thing to fail on it aside from the alternator belt turning into spaghetti after the bearing sized has been the fuel pressure regulator which made it belch smoke like a cummins and it happened in the middle of winter but it wasn't so bad if you could keep a steady speed going

funny story about the radio when me and my dad went to go test drive it i asked him what the little prongs were for on the side of the radio and he said it was for taking the radio face off and he went to show me and ended up pulling the entire radio out because the PO had just shoved it in there without mounting it lol

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 08/23/2014 at 21:50

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Jokes on you! I'm a broke pleblian!

thebigbossyboss > mazda616 08/24/2014 at 10:56

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Your first car sounds remarkably like my first car.

In 05 I bought a 1992 Ford Tempo with the 3 speed slush box. 4 years later I crashed it into a truck turning left.

mazda616 > thebigbossyboss 08/24/2014 at 13:05

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My Beretta was actually bought in July 2005. Then, it sat around waiting for me to get my permit, which I got in November of 2005. Then, in May of 2006, I finally got my license and began the process of driving it constantly.

n54 & s38 > mazda616 08/25/2014 at 16:01

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Yup. My 335xi is my 5th car. First one was a 1988 Ford Taurus handed down to me from my dad. And I was thrilled to have it. I'm a member of E90post and there was a thread asking what the members' first cars were. Couldn't believe the number of kids whose first cars were BMWs or some such nonsense. Blew my mind.

HorizontallyPredisposed > norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback 08/25/2014 at 22:51

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I was looking at a B6 A4 3.0 Quattro for my first car, but then a 4th Gen Legacy GT showed up with low miles. Took the Legacy. Right choice.

Pretty fun now with a COBB tune and some exhaust bolt ons. Only problem is I have another $4k in parts just sitting in the shopping cart online until I am gainfully employed finally.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > mazda616 09/11/2014 at 03:08

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Any car will count as long they pay for it yourself. You truly appreciate it when your blood and sweat is embedded in it.