What Was Almost Your First Car?

"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform) 02/28/2015 at 13:57 • Filed to: first car

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Many of us, when we're ready to get our first car, have two, three, or even more to choose from.

I had two:

2002 Audi TT Roadster

I know what you're all thinking right now, and I agree with you. When I managed to kick some sense into myself, I began contemplating one of these:

Fifth Generation Honda Prelude

Fifth gens are timeless. It still looks great to this day.

Alas, I got neither. I wound up getting a 2004 Honda Accord that loves the cocaine.

What were you guys considering as your first car?

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:01

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If I hadn't had got the 4Runner, I was going to look at one of these in this color:

I had tested two GMT400's before, but they sucked to drive and felt wonky.

CAR_IS_MI > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:01

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a clean 91 CRX all stock back in that day. My dad said it was too small for my first car and I ended up with a 91 Accord sedan with el Manuel transmission.

WesBarton89 - The Way to Santa Fe > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:03

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It was intended to be a 1997 Monte Carlo, but it needed too much work.

GhostZ > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:04

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A 1966 Mustang notchback/hardtop. It was being sold for like, $4000 and only needed some engine work. I didn't have the money, though.

Instead I ended up with a 1990 Maxima, which was probably faster even though it had tons of electrical problems.

Cé hé sin > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:06

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Renault 18, this colour.

I'm better now.

Vimto > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:06

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My first car was almost an orange 2007 Honda Fit Sport.

Alas it was salvage titled and the seller wouldn't tell us why, so I ended up with this:

1999 Suzuki Esteem 1.8 GL, a.k.a the rattlebox.

E. Julius > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:07

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Like the first born son of a king, my future was never in doubt. Ever since it had been bought for my older sister in 2003, I knew this glorious steed would one day be mine when I ascended to my rightful place behind the wheel in 2010:

Old picture complete with period appropriate Bieber hair.

Bonus factoid!!! The bronze on bronze XJ in the background was my girlfriend's first car, and her family still owns it.

Ram_Riot_6 > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:07

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I almost got a low mileage 2004 Mazda RX-8. It was mint, but turned out to be a lemon law car which explained why the price was so low.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:08

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I wrote a short article on one of my "almost" first cars:

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/this-was-berto…

I might write another on my other almost first car! Hint is it is an awd Mitsubishi that isn't a lan evo. Thanks for the inspiration! Lol

dogisbadob > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:09

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nice Blazer

dogisbadob > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:10

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For me, it was two 70s luxury cars: a 76 Deville with the 500ci V8 and a 79 W116 Benz with some non-working windows and the exhaust fell off during the test drive.

I ended up with a first-gen Camry

BaconSandwich is tasty. > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:10

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1997 Nissan Sentra. Took it for a test drive, but wanted some time to think about it. Came in a day later to make an offer, and someone else had it out for a test drive, and they ended up buying it. Oh well. Despite being quite a bit more expensive, I think the 2001 Civic I got instead has been just fine.

TheHondaBro > E. Julius 02/28/2015 at 14:13

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I now need a bronze XJ.

E. Julius > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:14

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If it doesn't have bronze wheels don't even give it a second thought.

TheHondaBro > dogisbadob 02/28/2015 at 14:14

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It seems like everyone gets some sort of used Japanese car.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:14

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A 1996 Land Rover Discovery or 1997 4Runner SR5 V6 Limited

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:15

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Was almost one of these, though not as clean, but my Mom's indy told her she should steer away from it.

TheHondaBro > dogisbadob 02/28/2015 at 14:15

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Pretty sure it's an Accord Coupe.

m-b-w loves his SUBAROO > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:15

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I really wanted a 2004-2006 Acura MDX, preferably in this delicious shade of brown.

Ultimately, I ended up with an Alien Green 2012 Kia Soul from Carmax after I heard horror stories about the transmissions on that gen MDX.

I only had the Soul for about 10 months when a guy hit me from behind in a neon orange Nissan Xterra at 40 mph. Then came the lemon nightmare of a replacement car, the 2014 Elantra, and after that whole ordeal came my fantastic 2015 Outback.

TheHondaBro > m-b-w loves his SUBAROO 02/28/2015 at 14:16

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First-gen MDXs are nice cars. Then again, Honda trannies from that era were, uhh...

TheHondaBro > CaptDale - is secretly British 02/28/2015 at 14:17

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Oh damn, that would have been rough.

m-b-w loves his SUBAROO > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:18

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Exactly, and from what I read, they can sometimes be more than 4 grand to replace. I wasn't too big on dropping 13-15 grand on a car to constantly fear a huge repair bill.

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:22

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I would have called it a "learning experience"

Jonee > Cé hé sin 02/28/2015 at 14:28

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Oh, man. I'd love an 18 wagon in that color. Glorious.

Scary__goongala! > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:28

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A Gen 2 Ford Taurus SHO. It belonged to a buddy and he was interested in selling it. I was very close to taking it off his hands but then the transmission grenaded.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:32

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Ugh this is so painful. I was in high school shopping for my first car and I found a 1974 Corvette just like the one pictured. It was an automatic with a 350. Asking price was $5,000 and I thought I could find one cheaper. I bought a 1983 280ZX instead.

I still wake up at night thinking about what could have been. I'm an idiot.

Jonee > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:35

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A 1990 Subaru Legacy was nearly my first car.

But, then I ended up with a hand-me-down Grand Wagoneer in this magnificent light blue. It was awesome, but enormous and is probably the reason why I love tiny cars now. Just like how my first girlfriend was blessed with a very generously sized bust and now I'm attracted to women with a more petite stature in that department. I got my fill early.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 02/28/2015 at 14:36

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I would have rather had the Z. Now if it was '72 or below...

My hovercraft is full of eels > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:51

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Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:57

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I kept my options pretty open for my first car. All I wanted was a GM product with a V8 and in good shape. I looked at quite a few cars before I bought my 'Vette, but the closest I ever came to buying was with an '87 Trans Am GTA.

It looked exactly like this. Black exterior, tan cloth interior. Had the 5.7 TPI/auto combo, with a bit over 90k on the clock. It was in awesome shape and needed nothing. Needless to say, I was set to buy it. After we looked at it, we were scheduled to get it inspected the next morning. Much to my disdain, though, the seller called in the morning and said that he had changed his mind about selling the car, and was going to keep it. So, no sale :(

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:58

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Well my first car was the family's GMC Safari beater we owned since before I was born no matter what I contested. But the actual first car I got was the M3, but I also was looking at an Acura TL Type-S

A V8 third gen Explorer

S10s and Blazers

I also looked Grand Prixs, Pathfinders, QX4s, 4Runners, Redeos, Passports, various other 3-series, and a few other models I can't remember. But it came down to the M3, Explorer, and TL Types-S (which was my first choice, but I had been in an accident.)

duurtlang > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 14:58

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I was about to buy one of these as my first car, after I got my degree. A Citroën BX, preferably a GTI. I would've bought one too if my parents hadn't handed me the keys to a piece of family heritage, a '91 Golf.

AdverseMartyr > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 15:03

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I had my father talked into a 1983 Shelby Charger until he checked the insurance cost for a 16 year old male.

Carl (@stuffcarlsays) > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 15:16

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Almost bit the bullet and got a '74 BMW 2002 tii. Went for a Saab 900 instead.

Sam > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 15:27

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We actually purchased an E36 328i, but never went to pick it up because of some family issues. Then we looked at 240D wagons and W123 wagons. They ended up surprising me with an NB Miata.

DavidHH > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 15:32

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A Barftastic Ford Fairmount Futura.

I had been keeping the beast running for years, and it was supposed to get it when replaced, but instead my sister made such an unending fuss that my mom had to sell it instead, for next to nothing. When I bought my first new car, a Ford Escort Pony, both my sisters made such a fuss that my grandfather bought them loaded Escorts just to get them to shut up, which they destroyed by lack of maintenance. But first one of them had to borrow my Escort and drunk drive it into a curb, so that it cost me over half the new car price to repair it......

DavidHH > CAR_IS_MI 02/28/2015 at 15:34

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He might have been right, as a friend and her girlfriend died in her Civic, after pulling out with the sun in her eyes. The Ford Ranger that hit them drove home after the accident. I still feel bad for him.

TheHondaBro > AdverseMartyr 02/28/2015 at 15:35

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Exact same reason I didn't get the Audi.

Hiroku > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 15:43

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I always knew I wanted an 850 Turbo, but wasn't completely convinced I could afford one at the time so I briefly considered something smaller and more affordable. There wasn't anything else I was particularly interested in, but I considered an mk3 Jetta TDI for a while:

(like this, minus the stance, bro!)

Didn't take me very long to realize I had passed the point of no return though and I knew I had to have an 850. Initially I was dead set on a black 4-door:

(I really liked black sedans back then!)

Eventually I decided the wagon was so much better in every way, so I started searching for that instead. I then looked at about 5 or 6 cars, but they were either terribly modified, beaten to within an each of their life or didn't have extras I wanted. Took me the better part of 4 months until I eventually found the perfect one.

(my actual brick, pictured taken with potato the day I got her)

Hasn't been a completely trouble-free experience, but I haven't looked back since.

mazda616 > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 15:50

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I ended up with a '92 Chevy Beretta 2.2 with 71,000 miles. I modded it a fair bit.

My grandad wanted to get me one of those rental-spec Tauruses. Gross. The Beretta was old and slow but at least it had personality.

Fookin' Prawns > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 16:32

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I almost had a mid-2000s white Volvo S40 (sedan, automatic). Unfortunately, while it was in good condition, the transmission didn't have much longer to live. Then I almost had a tuned S-10, which I'm still surprised was even considered by my parents. Finally I ended up with a Prius, which was a pretty good first car.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 17:11

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As those who remember my early days of on Oppo can tell you, I looked at so much shit it's not even funny.

RallyWrench > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 17:39

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It was almost a '64 Cortina, ostensibly an original twin cam, but completely in pieces, rusty, and with a Pinto engine. It was $600 in a field. I got a '68 BMW 1600 for the same money instead.

Axial > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 18:40

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Was this close to getting a Pontiac Grand Prix GT:

200 HP V6 would've been sweet, but we noticed right before buying that the front splitter was cracked in two and decided "nah." It was fully loaded, too.

Pcannizzaro1986 > TheHondaBro 02/28/2015 at 21:04

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i was so close to buying a 65 fairlane but i hesitated because its a ford... and i missed out on it. And i ended up getting a z24 Cavalier convertable like this one..

Alex Zapata > TheHondaBro 03/01/2015 at 00:43

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I went the opposite way of most people here, I was looking at mostly boring cars and ended up with a really nice and interesting (at least to me) car...

Went looking for one of these (pretty similar but fully loaded):

One of these:

But I ended up with a Mercedes C230 Kompressor that is eerily similar to my profile pic (even though it is not my car), I really wanted the Astra though, it was older than the Merc but it was a Hatch and a 2.2, pretty much the same as the picture and I know I would have been really happy for ages with that car, but when you are offered a Mercedes-Benz, you just don't say no...

TVs Ron Banwart > TheHondaBro 03/01/2015 at 22:41

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Mine was almost an '88 Samurai with a small pickup bed welded onto the back, ended up with a '90 crx si instead.