What Started it All: My First Car

"You actually bought a car!?

To kick off the site, I figured there was no better way than to verify why I have the credentials to spread my knowledge on this topic. I know a lot of people will enter and think “Okay, this is great info… but how can I trust this? Who is this guy, and how the hell does he know what he’s talking about!?”

That’s understandable.

I’m in no way claiming I’m some car guru that answers all your car prayers and solves all your car problems. No, what I am saying is that I’m a 21-year-old avid car enthusiast who has owned several (and might I add, pretty cool) cars over the few years I’ve been driving, and I’d like to share my car buying experiences with you cool car people, in hopes that you can utilize my tricks and have some sweet stories to tell later.

So without further ado, here is the story of my first car (Yep, that's her down below!)

It all started at 16 years old. I was just weeks away from getting my license, working my first job, an apprentice for the family’s mechanic. He was a good friend of my fathers’, and man that was such a cool opportunity while my friends were slaving away at Shop Rite, miserable in their little red aprons.

It was a nice summer evening, at the end of my shift, when I asked my boss “what do you think a good first car would be?”

Keep in mind, I know my cars… I’ve thrown around ideas in my mind for most of my teen years anticipating the day I’d be able to hold the keys to a sweet ride of my own.

His response was practical, yet intriguing: “something cheap. Japanese. Maybe a Mitsubishi Eclipse.”

Aaaahhhh… the Mitsubishi Eclipse. The bright green coupe we all became familiar with when Paul Walker thought he could beat Vin Diesel in the original FnF.

But anyways, I went home that night and jumped on the computer, determined to find my car. I logged onto craigslist and simply searched, “Mitsubishi Eclipse.”

That’s when I saw the ad I’ll never forget. The title read “1993 Mitsubishi Eclipse Free.”

“FREE!?” I thought. What was the catch? Was I calling a spam number? Was it a fake listing? Was it a posting to get me to come out to an abandoned parking lot in the middle of nowhere to get kidnapped, never to be heard from again? Who knew, but one thing was certain- I was inquiring about that listing.

After all, I was 16 working my first job, couldn’t help but to see what was good with the posting since it would’ve been difficult to obtain the funds for a tire at that point in my life.

I called, and it wasn’t till a few days later that a received a response-email. The seller, or should I say poster, explained that she received many inquiries, apologized for her delayed response, and left a number to those still interested. I called and left a message, receiving a call back the next day.

“Is this the shop?” she asked, since I explained that I was a young kid working at an auto shop, the perfect candidate for her car. “No, this is the employee, though. I’d like to see the car.”

You already know, practically as soon as I hung up that phone I was in the car with my dad, my uncle and some dummy plates anticipating my drive home.

We pulled up to what could arguably be the nicest block in Irvington, NJ. Dead end, big houses, and a brand-new Mercedes parked behind that little red Mitsubishi coupe. A nice, middle aged woman came out of her house and explained that she was the original owner, the check engine light had come on, and at that point the car was 20 years old… she simply wanted it off the street before the street cleaner came that Friday.

My father primed her up, cranked the key a few times and got her running… we let her warm up for a bit as I overly-stressed my gratuity to this kind soul. She signed the title, documenting the sale price as “nothing.”

We drove away that day, and from there on out I’ve been using Craigslist to score unbelievable deals like this, creating some pretty damn cool stories along the way.

If you’re intrigued and would like to learn more, maybe even how to do this yourself, well you stumbled upon the right place… welcome to my blog, Gas on E!