Couldn't afford car unitl out of college (yes, was brutal getting around for 4 years):
- 1982 Ford Fairmont Futura ... a family sedan for a single guy. I felt like an idiot at times

paid $2K thanks to a generous graduation gift form my grandparents. Drove it until about 90K - it was using 2 qts. oil a week.
- 1987 Chvy Monte Carlo - this is the only new car I ever owned (bought it with my (1st wife) in 1987. V8, power everything, aluminum mags,
awful mileage. Nice riding car though. After we owned it a week, someone stole it(probably ofr the mag wheels). FOund it across town with no tires, but otherwise OK. Paid deductible and drove it 8 years. Sold it to my SIL and got a:
- 1995 Saturn SL2 ( paid $11K used only a month): 900 miles on it. Drove it almost 8 years. Decent car. Really small, but hanlded OK. Felt like I was climbing out of a manhole when getting out of it .... Cost me $13 to fill the tank back then. Started needing some costly repairs by the end. Traded it for a (got $400 for the Saturn)
- 2003 Toyota Camry SE - BEST CAR EVER. Except in the snow - slid all over the place. BUT, Extremely reliable, good mileage, quiet. Very few bells and whisltes. In 8+ years, the only significant expense I had was a converter at about 200K miles. Would get another Camry in an instant. Gave it to my DIL and bought a:
- 2012 RAV 4 - AWD. Small SUV, about 27 mpg... nice utility - not a lot of extras. Paid $21K in 2012. It's our only vehicle so we're grindng out the miles. Rear-mounted spare kinda ugly, but got over it... So far, so good (recent plugs and battery).