When we asked you earlier this week for the prices you paid for your first car, we didn’t quite know what to expect. The sellers were just as surprised as the prices, from disused post office vehicles to deals from parents’ friends. You all made every dollar count on these cars. Obviously, remember to account for inflation and used car depreciation when looking at these figures. Without further ado, here’s what our readers paid for their first cars.
1985 Toyota Pickup: $1,000
When I turned 15 in 1990 (in LA driving age was still 15), I paid $1,000 for a 1985 Toyota standard cab, long bed pickup from a family friend. My brother paid for part of it since he would need the truck for moving to and during college. It looked a lot like this one, minus the sweet paint job and instead kind of a cream color.
Submitted by: Ours Blanc
1986 Ford Escort: $900
1986 Ford Escort… purchased in 1997-ish. It was perfectly fine for driving around town but absolutely terrifying on the 401. Even then, it was one of the smallest vehicles on the road. Paid $900. It lasted maybe a year, then got $300 in trade for a Cavalier.
Submitted by: dolsh
1984 Pontiac Fiero: $900
My actual first car was a free hand-me-down from my mom the year before I got my license when got she a new car rather than scrapping hers.
But the first car I paid money for was in 2005, my 1984 Pontiac Fiero for $900! I literally sold Airheads out of my backpack in high school for months to pay for it. $900 was cheap even for back then and it was sort of a you-get-what-you-pay for type of deal. Really only drove it for 6 months, through most of the first winter I had my license, leaving behind a trail of rust on top of the snow in my wake. Years later when it had been sitting in the grass for years, some friends of my brother wanted to turn it into a 24 Hours of Lemons racecar, and in the process of passing it around from house to house for storage while we were all away in college, it actually got stolen!
Submitted by: StalePhish
1974 Jeep DJ: $550
$550 for a 1974 Jeep DJ, in ‘91’ish (back when the Post Office was selling off all the old Mail Jeeps). The extra $50 was for a “Supervisor model” that had regular left-hand drive and a front passenger seat instead of the package tray.
Submitted by: Dake
2005 Subaru Legacy GT: $26,500
My first car was a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix SE with the 3800 engine but I shared that with my dad as his bad weather car (his daily was a Miata). I went to university in a city and didn’t need a car for awhile and drove my parents’ cars when I went home to visit. In 2005, I finally bought my first car which was a brand new Legacy GT Limited for $26,5K on the street. Aside from being proud that I was able to save up for my first cool car only a year after graduating from uni, I was also very happy with my negotiating skills (the car had an MSRP of $31,5K). That was the car that got me addicted to modifications and weekend track days.
Looking back, my dad, knowing I was a petrolhead, took me to the dealership every time he went shopping or negotiating pricing for new cars, and it certainly rubbed off on me. My two most recent car purchases yielded discounts of more than 20% off of MSRP!
Submitted by: oddseth
1973 Pontiac Ventura: $250
$250 in 1983 for a 1973 Pontiac Ventura with a straight six and a TWO-SPEED Powerglide automatic transmission.
Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I
1988 Volvo 245: $3,500
$3,500 in 1994 for my ‘88 Volvo 245 with 96k miles. I bought it from my mom who was shocked a 17 yo had that much money.
I started work at 13 to save for a classic red Beetle. I never bought a Beetle, but I’ve had 4 other Volvos since then (among other things).
She has just under 300k on the non-working odometer.
Submitted by: bootska
1990 Ford Taurus: $1,500
I’m feeling pretty young reading these comments. Got my first car at 16 in 2006 from money I earned as a soccer ref. For $1500, I got a brown 1990 Ford Taurus wagon, quickly cementing my love for wagons. It was an old lady’s Sunday special with only 60k miles on it.
Submitted by: engineerthefuture
1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle: $350
Back in 1995, I bought a 1973 Super Beetle that did not run for $350.
Towed with a strap behind my buddy’s 1969 F250 (that he still owns and his dad bought new) across town to a former Baja 1000 racer turned VW Mechanic in the mountains. He tuned it up for $50 and got it running.
So $400 total and I was driving my first car. It had been converted from an Automatic to a 4-speed and was the most unreliable car I ever owned. Sold it a few years later for $600 after dumping nearly a grand into it for repairs during that time.
Submitted by: klurejr
1986 Mercedes-Benz 190E: $2,250
2003 I bought a 1986 MB 190E for $2,250 (if I remember correctly). Bought it from a local indy MB mechanic who had gotten it after the timing chain went. He redid it and sold it to me and I drove it for about 4 years until something else went with the fuel system that was going to cost a lot to fix, then I got rid of it. I was also in college at the time and didn’t need a car, so it wasn’t worth paying or trying to fix it to me at the time.
Random but funny tidbit, my now wife, who is not from where I grew up, ended up being good friends with his daughter in college.
Submitted by: Big Block I-4
2007 Hyundai Tiburon: $25,000
I bought my first car, new off the lot a 2007 Hyundai Tiburon- all black, debadged and tinted windows…
The good- I liked the styling, with a strut bar, bigger brakes and wider tires it handled exceptionally well and it was comfortable. Also the hatchback was really versatile- I could fit a PA and all the bands amps or a drum set and instruments and set up a gig in two trips by myself.
The bad- 2.0L gutless engine and 4 speed automatic, and the straight pipes I poorly welded on didn’t do anything to help.
I live in Beijing and at that time I spend 190,000 RMB, which would be approximately $25,000 USD in 2007. My mom helped pay for quite a bit of that car, as I was still living with her so basically turned into her driver for the next few years. I had been teaching for 4 years by that time and living with my mom helped me save on rent money, plus the cost of living is and was pretty decent in China, so it’s not too hard to save up with the decent salaries and benefits expat teachers get here.
Submitted by: rocknroll_jeph
1974 Honda Civic: $1,200
In 1981, I paid my Dad’s mechanic buddy $1,200 for an orange 1974 Honda Civic (not the one pictured) with Hondamatic (I couldn’t drive a stick at the time, and nobody else I did knew). It was certainly a well-designed car, but despite bodywork and a respray it rusted relentlessly, and it had chronic problems starting in the rain.
I could have paid less and gotten an old Nova or maybe even a Camaro, but for some reason I had to be different from the other guys.
Actually, my wife and I held on to that Civic until into ‘85, and it made it to 108K or thereabouts. By then, you had to keep a good grip on the steering wheel; the wheel alignment was such that the car wanted to travel in a circle.
Submitted by: CAMeyer
