Your first car.....

Had a three-year span in the late '80s/early '90s where I went through a little Ford Courier with only an AM radio, a giant van with an 8-track and a '77 Thunderbird with a broken AC (during a typical Chicago summer). I didn't spend much time cruisin'.

 

On the older Saturns, the "easy" way to change the oil was jack up the right side, put stands under it, take off the right front tire, pop the plastic inner fender rivets, and go to work. Everything was fairly accessible at that point. The other way? Crawl under from the front going backwards, then blindly reach as far as possible for the oil filter and let hot oil splash all over you. I was told the car was designed so that people would take it into the dealership for oil changes, since the mechanics could easily raise it on the lift, and the oil filter and oil from the pan would flow into the canister easily.

 

Doesn't surprise me. My first couple of cars were Chevys. I didn't know how to change oil, but I could do an air filter. They were easy. The compartment was out in the open, you just unscrewed it or opened it up and swapped it out.
My current car is a Mazda. I've had it for 10 years and I still don't know where the damn air filter is. I've tried looking for it a few times and given up when it became apparent I was going to have to take half the engine apart to get to it. The cabin air filter and headlights are the same way -- easy to change out if you've been trained, know exactly what you're doing and have the tools; not so much if you're lacking in any part of that equation.

 

Someone needs to go revive Chef after he reads this

 

Novacanes for pussies. Chef will tell you

 

Chef was probably the first person he called after getting the flat.

"OK, first you gotta take off your shoes so your feet won't slip when you stomp on that sucker . . . "

 

I changed tires for a living (partly) for three years. It's highly overrated.

 

What a beast!

 

1990 Subaru Legacy wagon. Not my pic, but this is it, right down to the color. Still my favorite car I've ever owned.

 

1984 Ford Ranger pick-up truck that was 50/50 as to whether it would start. Almost every day, I had to remove the breather cover, hold the valve closed with a screw driver and pour a splash of gasoline in to "prime" it.



I flipped it on the way to school one day and had to ride the bus for about three months before my dad bought me a new car as a parting gift when he and my mom split up.

Good times.

 

I, ladies and gentlemen, owned a 1972 Ford Pinto that I got for my high school graduation as my first automobile. Ugly as sin and a rolling gas can, but hook up a nice stereo system (8-track, of course) and it made a hell of a mid-70s party-mobile for rides out to the Fields of Ambrosia (the out-of-town places to smoke weed and drink beer).

I've also owned a Ford Maverick, a Mercury Topaz, an '82 Mazda B2000 pickup (with manual trans), a Ford LTD, a Thunderbird, two Explorers (the '95 was the only car I've ever bought new), an '07 Chevy Cobalt and my current ride, a 2014 Toyota Prius. Loved the Cobalt, and it was headed for 200,000-plus miles when my wife totaled it in February of 2016, but so far the Prius is the best vehicle I've ever owned. Hybrid engine is virtually maintenance-free and gets 40 mpg in town, 50 on the highway.