Your first car to your current vehicle.

Hey all, thought this was an interesting idea. I’d like to see your progression of vehicles from your first car, to your current vehicle. I realize it will be quite the challenge for some of you to remember them all, as I have a friend who is 24, and on his 11th vehicle… We call him crash… Anyway, I’ll start.

My first car was a blue and white two-tone 1990 Chevy full-size G20 van that I got after my Dad passed anyway from cancer. It had a big block 350 V8 in it that my Dad had done a little work to, so it was actually fun to drive around! My Dad hated mini-vans, and with me being 1 of 6 kids, we needed a van… Had that from ’06 to ‘09 when she finally died on me. I was the weird teenager in the big creepy van.
Only picture I could find was the day the scrapper came and towed her away…


My second vehicle was a red 2006 JEEP Wrangler Rubicon addition. I had been looking for a car for months after old blue died, when one of our neighbors pulled this beauty onto their front lawn and stuck a for sale sign on it. I talked to them about it, and they said they bought it as a “fun car.” They said they folded the top down, parked it in their garage, and only took it out when the weather was nice! Cool people, they knew about my Dad passing, and that his van died, so they gave me a great deal on it! Had her from ‘09 to ‘12. Loved that JEEP! Still miss her…


My third vehicle was a silver 2008 Nissan Frontier crew cab long bed, manual transmission! I wanted a Tacoma, but you can’t get a DCLB with a stick! I needed to learn stick so I could start driving for big brown as soon as I turned 21. Being the JEEP was an auto, I needed a stick shift. I drove 5 hours north to New Hampshire to buy the Frontier. The CCLB’s with a stick are hard to come by! Used the equity I had in the JEEP to purchase the Frontier. Ran her into the ground(well, almost)! Had her from ‘12 to ‘20! Great little truck, but just started costing me to much to keep her running, and I needed something more dependable, and automatic as I was getting married.


And that’s it! My current vehicle is my Taco! Love it! Had her just over a year now, and am hoping for many more!


Now let’s see your lists! Please include pictures! Thanks,
Nate.

 

1996 Nissan Pathfinder SE, traded for my current 2010 Tacoma exactly 12 years ago!

 

1. 72 Cadillac
2. 27 T Coupe
3. 70 Duster
4. 69 Dart GT convert
5. 80 Mazda GLC Sport
6. 82 Mercury LN7
7. 84 Nissan 720 KC 2wd
8. 89 Camaro
9. 92 GMC Safari awd
10. 84 Buick T Type
11. 87 Buick GN
12. 86 Buick GN
13. 87 Buick Regal Limited (pictured)
14. 97 Tercel
15. 10 Tacoma

 

1. 1999 Mustang V6 (high school)
2. 2005 Ford Explorer
3. 2012 Tacoma TRD Sport
4. 2011 Mustang 5.0 (manual)
5. 2013 Mustang 5.0 (manual)
6. 2001 Mustang Cobra (manual)
7. 2018 Tacoma TRD Sport (manual)
8. 2019 Tacoma TRD Pro (manual)
9. 2020 Camry Nightshade
10. 2021 Tacoma TRD Pro

31 y/o and hope to own many more

 

2001 Tacoma (still have)
2002 Audi A6 (sold)
1983 jeep CJ7 (gift from my uncle, I mostly finished and gifted back because he missed having it)
2006 Avalon (still have)
2006 corolla (totalled)
2005 tundra (got it)
2009 corolla (have it too)
2002 Tacoma (you guess it, have it)
1998 Tacoma (yup… got it)
1966 Mercedes (sitting in a garage.. waiting for parts)
Picking up a 1993 mr2 very soon from a buddy and he also is giving me the chassis and body to a 1973 FJ40




I’ve owned quite a few other behicles that I’ve bought to fix and sell. But the ones listed above have been keepers at some point (well most of the time, I don’t get rid of my keepers apparently)


Not bad for 25 years old.

 

1997 RAV4
2006 4runner
2001 f250
2009 Tacoma
1990 skyline gtr
1977 k5
2002 skyline gtr

I still have all my vehicles and plan on adding more.

 

1985 Mitsubishi Starion turbo (Manual)
1978 gmc jimmy
1984 Nissan 300zx turbo (Manual)
1989 chevy s10
1989 Ford F150 4X4
1986 Mustang 5.0 notchback (Manual)
1998 Saturn SL2
2007 Dodge Magnum R/T
2005 Tacoma prerunner (Still have)
2007 BMW 3 series wagon (Still have)
2021 Tacoma TRD Offroad. (Still have)

 

92 Toyota pickup single cab stick shift. 4inch spindle lift prerunner style (sold)
09 Tacoma access cab 6 speed bilsteins 5100 and wheelers 3inch leaf springs (totaled)
04 explorer manual (bucket of junk got scrapped)
00 Grand Cherokee limited rough country short arm X-Flex 4inch kit (sold after 2nd blown engine)
06 4Runner (current vehicle)

 

You still have them all? You must be just as bad as me

 

Yep. Never have sold a car and don't plan too.

 

Don’t worry. You’ll end up with that one car that pushed you to the point you finally sell (I’m looking at you AUDI) lol.
Other than cars I literally buy to flip… I’ve only sold one car, one got totalled and one I honestly just gave back to my uncle.. because a jeep just isn’t my thing

 

1986 Ford Bronco II
1996 Tacoma - Single cab 4x4
199x Jeep Grand Cherokee w/318 v8
1979 Trans Am
1999 Tacoma Extended Cab 3.4 4x4
2000 Civic Si
2000 Ford Lightning SVT
2005 Tacoma PreRunner 2.7
2007 Tacoma - Current truck. The only one I still own.

There were a few others. But I didn’t own them long enough to count.

 

First was a 1974 Corolla, bought new for $1500! That was a lot of money for me back then. I really, really wanted a Super Beetle, but that was way out of my price range at $2000!!!

 

simplifying my timeline with this:
'72 AMC Gremlin, manual 3-on-the-tree: Dad bought it for me used in '77 shortly after I got my license, told me, "I bought this car for my convenience, not yours. I'm tired of dragging your ass around." It was bright yellow and everyone in town knew it was me when they saw it, and I drove it like an idiot; so much fun!
'84 Mazda B2000 pickup, my first brand new vehicle. I put a camper top on it immediately and had a blast.
yadda, yadda, yadda, quite a few boring sedans, a Jag, a Chevy SUV, a Harley Sportster (was motorcycle-only during my divorce battle), a Ford, a Honda, and now...
'19 Tacoma, finally got my shit together and I'm hoping this is my last, unless I swap it out for off-road. I love this truck.

 

Would love to see some pics of some of these listed beauties! Any pics you all can find of your currently, or previously owned vehicles would be appreciated! Would love to see them! Even if you just have one pic!

 

My vehicle list is kinda boring, but you want pictures, so here we go.

First car was a 1987 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that me and my dad painted back in 2005/6. Sold it late 2006 when we moved to Mississippi.



Second was a 2002 Dodge Neon that I drove for a couple months in 2007 till it got totaled...



Third was a 2004 Nissan Frontier, 4 banger and 5 speed. Drove it from 2007-2011



Traded up to a 2007 Frontier this time around... 2011-2013



Wanted to get back into a stick car, so bought this little 2008 Jetta. 2013-2017. Had this car when I moved back to PA in 2015.



During this time we also needed a truck. In 2016 I found a 1999 S10 base model 4 cylinder, 5 speed for cheap. Drove it from 2016-2019.



Early 2017 I decided I wanted to trade the Jetta up for something faster. Found my 2017 GTI, 6 speed manual in Virginia. First new vehicle ever. 2017-2020.



Also during this time in 2018 I switched jobs and no longer had a company vehicle. I drove the S10 and GTI around, but snow was my biggest issue with the mountain. Still wanted to keep the GTI, the S10 needed to go for a 4wd. April 2019 I found my 2009 Tacoma TRD OR for a good price. First Tacoma as you see. Kept it the shortest time which was 2019-late 2020.



Found myself driving the truck more and more often. The GTI sat in the garage more often than not. When 2020 hit and completely screwed the world up used car prices went up. December 2020 I was able to sell the GTI outright to a dealer and got more than I owed. This left me with just the Tacoma (and a Camry if need be). Tacoma was getting up there in miles, so for shits and giggles seen what the local dealer had...

Week before Christmas 2020 I came home with my current 2021 Tacoma...





An "honorable" mention is my beater car/project car. Bought this 1995 Eagle Talon April of this year from a friends mother. Actually helped put the motor in this thing back in 2006. It's the non-turbo/5 speed manual and still needs work. Mostly rust and oil leak related. It's all of I think 130HP and has a large fart cannon from the previous owner. Also has a Stage II clutch for some odd reason, guess for all that power Does shift awesome though...




So there you have it. My list of shitboxes over the year.

 

1st to last
1996 grand cherokee 2wd took forever to sell
1983 datsun 720 4x4 blew head gasket and sold
1989 toyota pickup 3.0 4x4 traded for the tundra
2001 tundra 4x4 totaled a few days before I got married
2005 4runner 4x4 sold to coworker who still has it
2002 tacoma 4x4 still have
1975 dodge d600 sold
1990 4runner that is now 3.4 swapped still have

 

'63 Buick Skylark
'77 Buick Skyhawk
'71 Buick Electra 225
'89 Toyota Celica GT Coupe
'91 Jeep Cherokee Laredo (family)
'97 Chevy Venture (family), '95 GMC Sierra 1500
'02 Chevy TrailBlazer (family), '00 GMC Sonoma
'06 GMC Sierra 2500HD, '07 Toyota Corolla (150 mile commuter)

Current stable:
'02 Chevy TrailBlazer (passed to daughter)
'19 Honda CR-V (wife's)
'06 Toyota Tacoma
'81 Honda CX500C (storage)

 

1. 55 chevy 150 2 door (standard column shift)
2. Morris Minor 4 door (standard flr shifter) year not remembered
3. 62 VW beetle (standard)
4. 66 Ford Falcon 2 dr (standard column shift)
5. 70 chevy nova 2 dr (auto)
6. 74 GMC 1500 vandura (auto)
7. 78 Chevyvan 2500 (auto)
8. 84 Chev Blazer 4wd 2 dr (auto)
9. 93 GMC Sonoma 4wd pickup cab 1/2 2dr (standard flr shift)

10. 93 Dodge W250 4wd pickup cab 1/2 (Cummins, auto)


11. 97 Olds Cutlass (auto)


12. 2010 Ford Fusion (auto)


13. 2014 Ford Escape SE (auto)


14. 2018 Toyota Tacoma OR DCSB AT

 

Short list for me:
9/06-12/16 - 1999 Volvo S70
1/17-6/20 - 2011 Mini Cooper S Clubman
7/20-???? - 2020 Tacoma




I started noticing Tacomas around '11 or '12 and wanted one as my next vehicle for whenever the Volvo gave up, but when the time came and I saw the price of used Tacomas I went a different route. Seeing the Italian Job reboot as an impressionable teenager, Mini Coopers were my dream car for many years so I went with one of those. It was my first manual car and it was fun to drive. I was hoping to get at least 10 years out of it like the Volvo, but Minis are not known for their reliability. Faced with major engine repairs in summer 2020 I decided to bite the bullet and spend the money on something more reliable and versatile. A Tacoma was the obvious choice since I had been eyeing them for many years and as a bonus they still make them in a manual transmission. Hoping to keep this one at least 10-15 years.