cfile

New Car (moc17 hindsight 20/20)

New Car (moc17 hindsight 20/20)
cfile, Jan 17, 2020
Description:
MOC8 Day 17 Hindsight is 20/20
Credits:
Pink Reptile Designs | Check Out My Ride - Alpha
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Check-Out-My-Ride-Alpha.html
Pink Reptile Designs | Check Out My Ride - Elements
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Check-Out-My-Ride-Elements.html
Pink Reptile Designs | Check Out My Ride - Papers
https://the-lilypad.com/store/Check-Out-My-Ride-Papers.html
font: Ambition & Ink, Bacana regular.
571 Words
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Journaling:
"My first car was a 1983 Nissan Sentra 2 door white sedan , standard shift with no A/C...It also just had a plain AM radio in it. The cost for the brand new car at that time was around $4,950 MSRP & probably closer to $5,200 after taxes and fees. I was 22 years old and purchasing my first new car, after I had been driving Mom's 1962 Starfire Oldsmobile for 4 years. My brother advised me I needed to park Mom's car on the side of the road. He said it was never to be driven again, as the upper control arm bushings were starting to rust, and there was a possibility of the engine falling out while driving. It was dangerous, and thus Mom's old car was put to rest.

At the time, I was working at Equitable Life Assurance (my first job) as a keypunch instruction coder. I had been working there only 3 years, so my salary was not very high. I was going to be taking a loan for 4 years on the car and I was scared to death of a car payment. I remember my BFF Mary, was buying one at the same time, and she too was not getting A/C or a better radio, as we really thought the $300 extra for the A/C was going to be too costly per month. [I literally thought I would not be able to go out and go anywhere for 4 years with a car payment, as I was not putting any money down to get it.]

Here I was, with a new car, living on Long Island, NY with no A/C. My brother bought me an AM/FM Cassette radio system and installed that for me, so as far as the music went, I was hooked up. For the most part with the windows down during the Summer, no A/C was not a problem... UNTIL.... I moved to Florida with my parents in 1988. The car was now paid off, I had no job, and the Summers in Florida are way too hot!!! I did not stay down in Florida very long, and moved back to Long Island in 1989. I lived there with my car until I was getting married in 1992.. this time moving to TEXAS! I sweltered in Texas with no A/C, but I did not have a car payment. (I went through 2 clutches, but no car payment!!) We temporarily moved to Atlanta, and once again, it was hot in the Summer. The car in 1996, was on it's last legs, and after 13 years, I watched the car being towed off, having sold it for the amount it would have cost for the A/C!! We moved back to TX a week later. As we arrived in town, we went straight to the CHEVY dealership to buy a new car. I was getting A/C!

I do keep cars a very long time... at least 10 or more years at a clip, so HINDSIGHT being 20/20, having learned a very valuable lesson, all cars we buy from now on, will have A/C (& now Heated Seats).. the amount of cost is well worth it! I did not think in 1983 the $300 would be split over 4 years of car payments.. Just as an FYI, had I did the math back in 1983, the $300 for A/C would have only been $6.25 a month back then!!!

(571 words)
chastml likes this.
    • *gina*
      fantastic page - love your journaling and the the old photos. When I think back to what I bought from my first money I made myself - it was contact lenses. I hated my glasses back then because they all didn't look very pretty
      Jan 17, 2020
      cfile likes this.
    • cfile
      @*gina* Thanks Gina :) LOL I did that too with the contact lenses.. too funny!
      Jan 17, 2020
    • EHStudios
      I can't survive without a/c, so I don't know how you did it for over a decade. I had to do it for one summer & wanted to die. Love your page Christa!
      Jan 17, 2020
      cfile likes this.
    • cfile
      @EHStudios Ha ha Elisa.. well I will never find that out again LOL.. also in 2008 when I got my 3rd new car (1983 was 1st, 2nd was 1996 and 3rd was 2008) that was my first time with heated seats! After that, hubby bought a car and yup had heated seats too, so this past year (2019) when we downsized to one car trading the two in for the new one, it too had heated seats so I am a happy camper. .. as you can see I keep cars anywhere from 10-13 years.. my 2008 car when I traded it in, did not even have 25,000 miles on it! :) Thanks for the fun challenge!
      Jan 17, 2020
      EHStudios likes this.
    • mcurtt
      I love your page, the various car pics, your detailed journaling. It all reminds me of our first car. We buy our cars new and drive them until they collapse, LOL. Our first car we bought together was a 1974 AMC Gremlin, we paid $1700 for it. We moved on to a 1983 Datsun Sentra (before it became Nissan), then a 1993 Nissan Sentra XE, then a 2003 Subaru Outback (we still own it, has 218,000 miles on it), a 2010 Kia Forte (we also still own it, has 121,000 miles on it). The Gremlin was bare bones, no a/c, crank windows, no carpeting, but so many memories. :-)
      Jan 17, 2020
      cfile likes this.
    • cfile
      @mcurtt thanks Marilyn!! Gosh.. I love the cars we purchased.. since 1983 I have only bought new cars... I tend to have lower mileage on ours but still I love them and if we didn't downsize to the one car, I would still be driving my 2008 Chevy Equinox! Funny that we keep cars until they are kaput.. in 2008 when I got rid of the 1996 Chevy Cavelir, I needed to have work done on the header so I traded it in.. the dealer gave me $1500 on it, and I was thrilled to trade it in before fixing :) Thanks again re my page.. I think we both aced this challenge with our storytelling!
      Jan 17, 2020
      mcurtt likes this.
    • flowersgal
      Love your car story and the photos. I,too, now drive my vehicle a long time. Currently it is a 2003 Dodge Caravan with 130,000 plus miles on it. I am still happy with it and plan to hold onto it as long as I can. My husband is after me to trade but I am steadfastly resisting.
      Jan 17, 2020
      cfile likes this.
    • cfile
      Jan 17, 2020
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  • Category:
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    Uploaded By:
    cfile
    Date:
    Jan 17, 2020
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