I Sold My Car

"Marriokart" (XVSM)
07/06/2016 at 17:10 • Filed to: corolla, sold, first car

My car is gone and now I’m sad. Not because it was a particularly great car or that I won’t be having a car again in the near future, but because it was my first. I never really had an attachment to the car when I owned it, but now that it is gone I miss it. It was beat up on the exterior, as you can see, but the drive train worked great.

The best thing about it is that I didn’t have go care about it being damaged, or worry about it breaking. My next car is going to be newer, more advanced, but also likely more prone to breaking and I will have to worry about it. When a friend of mine backed into me and caused the dent on the front passenger door, I was able to prank him by getting him to think I cared immensely about it. With my next car, I’ll likely be parking away from others when possible, and I will miss he peace of mind.

The car itself isn’t anything special; 1.6 liter engine, 3-speed auto, cloth seats, roll-down windows and A/C that I used about 3 times in 2 years because it sapped so much power from the already under powered engine. I figure that it made 80ish hp to the wheels, so I went full throttle a lot. It wasn’t even the first car I learned to drive, that being my dad’s Volvo. It wasn’t even remotely fast, or even enjoyable to drive. But it was mine.

I will miss not caring. I will miss going out on a snowy field one winter and sliding around. I will miss freaking out a few unsuspecting passengers with the pull of the handbrake mid-corner late at night. I will miss all of it, good and bad.

DISCUSSION (10)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Marriokart
07/06/2016 at 17:17

Farewell, Corolla u_u

PorkchoPlissken > Marriokart
07/06/2016 at 17:29

I still miss my first car. Granted, it was a cool little thing (88 Celica), but I spent my hard earned teenage money to buy it ($1800 in 2001), and it was the car I learned to drive a stick in. I’m sure there are many of us that will always miss our first. Just remember that there are more to be had in the future!

mazda616 > Marriokart
07/06/2016 at 17:33

My friend had one almost just like that and it stood up to amazing neglect and abuse. Thos are truly some of the toughest cars around.

DynamicWeight > Marriokart
07/06/2016 at 18:17

One of the best things I did was keep my 90s corolla for about a month when I got my new car. After about two weeks of driving the new car I had started to get really annoyed with it. I thought about all the money it was costing me that the corolla didn’t require. I remembered my corolla so fondly and thought about all the things that it did so much better and all the wonderful memories I had in it.

Well.... I STILL HAVE IT! Thought I. The very next morning I hopped in, turned the key, and the engine purred (coughed) to life. Oooooooh boy had I been looking at it through rose tinted glasses. It was terrible. I really hadn’t realized how old and worn the seat had gotten, the engine was so gutless. It handled like a ballet dancer with bricks strapped to her feet. It was loud. It was dirty. Terrible. Just terrible. Oh, did I mention it shook like an addict at idle?

So yeah, the point of my story is, it’s easy to get overly fond of crappy old cars, but you’re really ignoring all their faults and newer cars are much better. This may not be the case with some special cars, but with these sorts of appliances, it absolutely is better to have a nice new car. Oh, and about not caring, just continue to not care about the new daily driver. Get a special car you care about for the weekend.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Marriokart
07/06/2016 at 18:18

I know the feeling mate - I have a second car, but I really miss my first one. Are you going to have any ride to replace this one?

Captain of the Enterprise > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
07/06/2016 at 19:28

It's always sad to let go of a first car I cried after mine drove away

Marriokart > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/07/2016 at 23:47

Yea, I’m upgrading actually. Spending about 5k (CAD). Going to go look at this tomorrow http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rds/cto/566759… .I’m looking at Mazda 3s, but I’d really love a first-gen is300 stick, or a saab 92x. I’m also looking at some JDM imports, as there are some great deals here.

Marriokart > DynamicWeight
07/07/2016 at 23:48

Not in that position yet in my life, as I’m still in uni. I’m definitely hoping to have a weekend classic in the future though.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Marriokart
07/08/2016 at 07:50

A. Watch out for rust on Mazda3s of that vintage - they rust a LOT. Great cars otherwise!

B. The Saab 9-2X is just a Subaru Impreza underneath (which I am sure you already know! :P ); unless you really like the 9-2X’s styling only, try looking for ‘02-’06 Imprezas as they are the same car underneath the sheet metal! I say this as 9-2Xs are REALLY rare here in Nova Scotia, so I can’t imagine there are THAT many of them in BC either...? :)

C. Be VERY careful where you get JDM Imports from - if you want a good resource, there is a VERY friendly and helpful forum called Import Era that I am on (although I haven’t posted there in awhile) that would be a big help for you. They have a ‘reviews’ section that reviews a lot of JDM Import dealers (among other things), and a good many of them are selling some very sketchy cars (odo rollbacks, etc) they bought cheap for a high markup...if you’re going the import route, I’d get somebody to actually find one for you rather than getting one from one of those dealers. (Buying directly from an owner would be OK too as long as you can have the car checked out first). If you do go the ‘get somebody to import it for you’ route - Brave Auto comes highly recommended!

Marriokart > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
07/10/2016 at 01:30

I’m well aware of the rust on Mazda 3s, although it isn’t as bad here in the lower mainland. I do prefer the Saab styling, and the interior is a bit nicer, but they are rare as you said.

I’ve done some research on the local JDM importers and have heard some of the horror stories, so I am definitely staying vigilant.

Thanks for the tips though