When I was 16 I bought my first car.

It was a 1991 Dodge Shadow. It was maroon. On the outside and the inside. So much maroon.

When I was 17 I got my G2 in November and started driving to school and work and to hang out with friends and it… was… awesome.

However, that joy of driving was short lived as I had a single car accident on January 21, 2000 – on my way to school. It was nasty. The road was slick with ice, I went through a ditch, took out a fence, hit a tree head-on and ended up on the roof. A dude in a heating and air conditioning van cut my out of my seatbelt and I walked away.

Lucky.

When I was 20, home from college for the summer, I bought my 2nd car at a small used car dealership in Port Hope. It was a 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier. Black. And it needed work, so we put it in the shop at home and got the windshield replaced, put 2 new control arms on the front end, checked the brakes and got it ready for the road.

However, the one thing we couldn’t fix on that beauty was the lock on the trunk. It was more of a latch. You could open it by putting a dime in the slot and turning it. Pop. Just like that the trunk was open.

That car died a more dignified end. I’m not sure exactly what happened. But at some point the engine decided it was done doing what I needed it to do. Au revoir to that car.

Next came a used Mazda 626. White. 2 door. Sporty. Fun to drive.

And a lemon. Twice the transmission died in that car. And it was an automatic so it wasn’t about me grinding gears or being awful on the clutch. After the transmission went the second time, I knew it was time to go and get something else instead of pouring more money into that thing.

When it was time to replace the Mazda I started looking everywhere. You have no idea how many times I typed words like used cars for sale all over the internet. And we’re not talking about the good internet that we have now. We’re talking about the internet in 2004. Worst.

I did find something though. A private sale of a white, 4 door Buick Regal Custom. Tinted windows. After stock rims. Floated down the highway like a boat. It was huge compared to the 3 cars I owned before it.

But cash was tight then and I couldn’t pay the insurance. Could barely pay for gas (and that’s when gas was cheap). And I didn’t update my stickers on my birthday.

Long story short, I had a date with a traffic court judge one afternoon.

That was the last car I ever owned.

I don’t have my license right now. But maybe I will again some day.

And hopefully I do a better job picking a car this time.

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Joshua Murray

creator of content, daddy blogger, writer, coffee drinker, fan of the Batman. proud mo bro. prouder dad.