I didn't own a car until I was almost 30. I was the fourth owner of my first car, a gray Ford Granada. Someone in Pittsburg owned it first. Then my father owned it and then he gave it to my sister and then she gave it to me when it had 107,000 miles on it. I owned that car for four years. I don't know how many miles I put on it but I did get about $200 as a trade-in.
The next car was a used, silver Renault. I thought this car was beautiful. I paid $10,000 for it in 1989. But it broke down all of the time and repairs were expensive. The car was in a bad accident and was fixed and I used it for about two more years before I gave it to the local tech school. The car was rebuilt and given to a student with a good attendance record.
My next car was used, small and red. I paid about $6000 for this car. It was American made and when it reached 112,000 miles, I donated this car to the Tech school again and some kid drove it for several more years.
I purchased a used royal blue Mercury Mistique next. I liked this car. Someone rear-ened me and did lots of damage. I had to sue him to get the car fixed. By the time this was settled, the car was no longer worth the value of the restoration so I just took a check and gave the car to someone who was a little short on cash but needed a car. She was grateful and I got to unload the damn thing.
I purchased a silver Mercury Mistique next. It had 26,000 miles on it and I got it for $7000. I should have never gotten rid of this car. It got great mileage and it never broke down. I beat it up and it just keep on ticking. My car friend convinced me that the car was no longer safe fro long distance driving. He worried that I was going to break down somewhere in my travels and i'd be stranded for life. So he bought the car, fixed it up and gave it to his son who just graduated from college and needed something to get through life.
I also purchased a Dodge Ram Van which served as a second car/ camping van. It was a beast. It got 8 miles tot he gallon and it guzzled gas like no other machine I have ever seen. I could sleep in it and it had 4 stadium chairs. I loved that ugly thing.
In 2008, I bought a used Honda Element (2003) and I still have it today. It had 47,000 miles on it which I thought was too many miles. The salesman told me, "No, don't worry about it. This car is a Honda. You will get at least 250,000 on this engine." So I bought it for $15,000.
Well, it's almost 8 years later and I am still driving it and I think I will hit the 250,000 in another two years . And then I will probably get another car. I am thinking of a Mini-Coop.
Update: In March 2017, I lost confidence in my Honda Element. I had 243,000 miles on it. I sold it for $1200 and bought a 2012 Honda Civic for $15,000. It only had 1200 miles on it. I love this car. It gets 36 miles/gallon.
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