Buying my first baby

For quite some time now I’ve been looking into used cars because purchasing a brand new one is not only financially stupid but with my comfort level in regards to driving, I’d feel more comfortable in an older car because I’ll more than likely ding something up. Now, I’m typically very careful with everything I do, especially driving, but I also know it’s important to know your boundaries. Going out and purchasing a new car just because you think you need it is beyond absurd. I’ve seen people who just bought a new one maybe a year ago and now they’re already upgrading to something newer. If you’ve got the money for it, great, but don’t force it down peoples throats that you think you’re better than them either, you know?

I’ve been looking through quite a few used cars based websites and I’ve decided to take the route of a Honda – surprise, surprise – but everyone in my family has owned a Honda at some point in time and I know for sure that they can hold up for quite a long time. My aunt drove her 85 civic for 20 years and that thing never once died on her. And in 20 years she only managed to put about 120k miles on it, which is hard to believe but when you work in town it’s hard to put too many miles on something it’s still about 6,000 miles a year, when you think about it.

So considering I learned on a Baretta (original ‘template’ for what’s now known as the Cavalier) I know that I’d be more comfortable in a smaller car like a Civic. I have considered going a little larger with the CR-V but that’s only because I absolutely love the car. I found one for about $15,000 that’s a 2002 and it’s in Black which is fine for me considering that’s the color I was originally looking into for any car I get but it also didn’t matter much either as long as I had a car – you know? So yea, either way I’m shopping in the $10k to $15k range because that’s what savings will permit me to purchase at the moment.

If you were shopping around with up to $15k for a ‘used’ or older model, what would you get?