  I bought my first car! It cost me big, but...I think it'll be worth it. I've always heard that there are two ways to go about car buying. First, get a loan on a decent car, one that won't break down, and drive it while paying it off. You always have a payment to make, but...you drive a decent car. The other way is to buy a car that you can afford.
Something you can purchase outright. The unfortunate side effect of that is, well, you drive something that you can afford, and in my case...that has prevented me from getting a car. Ever. I'm 25. I bought a car once when I was about 17. For a hundred bucks, my dad thought it would be fun to "work on it together," and even though it was a stick...that I couldn't drive.
I bought a dodge comudgeon. Well...it was an old dodge. It drove, one time. One day. To church. Dad drove it.
Up a skinny, single car wide ramp into the church parking lot, and into a spot. That's where it sat when I left church, and dad said, "No, you drive it. " So I got in, having never driven a stick before in my life. Not 10 feet into that one car wide driveway to the parking lot...it's only entrance/exit it died. Completely. Never to go again.
It was the most embarassing moment of my life. It stuck, and so was I. Everyone in the ward, everyone I knew...my entire social circle was now inconvenienced because I bought a car that couldn't move. Stupid. I felt like the world's biggest dope. All the girls I could date, all the LDS girls that I knew...all...stuck behind me, in an ugly old dodge that doesn't go.
I was mortified. I'd have liked to have died. It was awful. My stomach fell off, I couldn't feel my toes, and then my dad, from the van in front of me hollers "C'mon. " I wanted to cry. Ok, I'm a big baby, but I wanted to.
I just got out, and started to walk away. Leave it there. Let my dad deal with it. So, dad got out...the family and the van were the last car "free" from the parking lot. We pushed the car back up to its spot. From which we had to have it towed.
Awful. Ever since, I've been a little shy to actually purchase a car. I've been about a dozen times to test drive, but...I just don't know anything about them. I mean...I get in, and they should drive. I've had a standard "auto" class in high school, and I can take care of one, but...fix one? Not a chance.
So, I'm leary to buying a car that I can afford, for fear that I will repeat Episode I. But, I loathe debt. I just loathe it. I've had a credit card or two, and I have student loans. And they never stop eating at me. I mean, the cards have all been paid off.
But the student loans? $30,000 for an education I am still learning to respect. (Kinda feel like 8 years of high school would have done as much for me, but I'm learning otherwise. ) Ouch. So...here I sit. 25 and never having owned a car.
I've had bikes, and ridden metros, trams, trolleybusses, metro busses, trains, taken cabs, flown, all-in-all I've taken advantage of just about every means of transport available. It is time. So, I've been shopping. I've driven Diesel powered VW Jettas, and the new Toyota Prius (which is hands DOWN the best car I've ever driven, on comfort, handling, overall package. Everything. ), I've driven Chrysler Sebrings, Chevy Malibus, all kinds of cars.
It just seems so wrong to take out a loan. So, when a friend said he was selling the car that he hadn't driven in over a year, but instead was using it to "save a parking spot" I offered him 30 bucks for it. Now, I've been around the car for years, and I know it well. It's got 240,000 miles on it. It's 15 years old. It's an Olds Delta '88.
Well, he balked. Wasn't sure that he wanted to sell it, and thought perhaps he'd donate it for a tax deduction. Problem is, as a paralegal, you don't exaclty make enough money to take anything other than a standard deduction. Well...he debated for a couple days. I went on, living my life. Finally he steps up to the plate.
"I'll take it. " Adam said. "Alright," I said, but, reaching into my wallet, I've only got $21 now. "There you have it. " I retorted, almost belligerently. "$21.
That's all I've got now. Should have taken it a week ago. " He took it. Signed it over on the 8th. The car hadn't been driven in almost a year. It was covered in 1/8 inch of dust, and red clay dirt.
So, I dropped $12 on a good inside/out cleaning. That's right...it cost me more than 50% the value of my car, just to have it cleaned. But, at the end of the day.... I have a car! and almost as importantly, NO new debt! 
