Personal Narrative: The Day I Get My First Car

The day you get your first car is like christmas morning for a kid. You are so ecstatic that you almost can not control yourself. But when you do get a car, you know, freedom is at your fingertips. This memory start in the middle of May. I have had my permit for a few months then, so I could drive. My dad said he wanted to help me get a car if I paid for gas and insurance. That is when I started searching Craigslist. I knew I wanted something with four wheel drive, and something that got decent gas mileage. I really liked old Ford Broncos at the time, but they got horrible gas milage, so that was off the table. My next choice was a 1985 toyota 4runner. They had great gas mileage, and good four wheel drive. I happened to be at my aunt and uncle’s house when my uncle said

“if you like four wheel drive, then why not look for an older Jeep Wrangler”.

So I did. I found a couple of each car to go take a look at, and so they next day me and my dad headed out to go look.
The first car we looked at was the 85 4runner. It was just under 4,000 dollars, and had only a little over 100,000 miles on it. We got in and drove it around. At the moment I though this is a fair first car. Liking it but not as much as the car I have now. We told the dealer that we were going to keep looking, thinking that we may come back to my first car. After that we went to look at the next car. It was a late 90’s Jeep Wrangler. Before hand I knew Jeeps were always a cool looking car, so I was excited to take a look at this one. When we pulled up we saw the the images on Craigslist were much better than the actually car, like most four wheel drive cars. After seeing it from the car window we still decided to walk around the vehicle and talk to the seller about it. He claims it was

treated well, but we instantaneously knew he was lying. The Jeep has obviously seen some major off roading. After learning that we were not going to buy this car, I still wanted to see the interior. Right when I sat in the Jeep I knew, my first car had to be a Jeep. The rig was amazing, the Jeep felt so rugged. When I was sitting in it, I almost felt as if I was in some type of action movie due to the ruggedness of the Jeep. Everywhere you looked in the Jeep, you would see it was not built for comfort, but for utility. There is two bolts and the door is off, only a few more bolts and the windshield folds down. The interior also had small plugs in the bottom of the floorboard so water can drain out. Exterior wise was even better, every hinge is mounted on the outer side for quick removability. Everything about this Jeep screamed; “I am not a Prius”. After sitting in the Jeep for awhile I looked at my dad and was about to tell him that I wanted a Jeep, but he already knew.
After sitting in the rugged Jeep we still had one more car in line for us to look at. It was the same year Jeep Wrangler. The seller was an old retired mechanic, and his daughter drove the Jeep through college. When we arrived, I looked at the car and saw that it had been taken care of well. It was kept to excellent maintenance, and was never taken off road. It had just been driven to work and back by the mechanic’s daughter. We took it for a test drive, it ran beautifully. There was no rust, dents or anything bad about this car. The engine was perfect too, no leaks or squeaks. Even the interior was in prime condition, which is unusual for a car like this. We knew this Jeep was solid. He was asking five thousand dollars, which was a miracle because Jeeps in this condition easily go for over ten thousand dollars. What made matters better was that the mechanic took forty five hundred dollars. This was probably one of the most grateful and exciting times of my life. We got it back to the house, and I washed it and cared for the Jeep like it was my newborn baby, even to this day I still do. I am so grateful that my dad let me get such an extraordinary vehicle, so I thanked him as much as I could. And so to this day I know, that this Jeep Wrangler is the perfect first car for me. And that getting a first car is one of a sixteen year olds, meaningful time. Not just because they get a car, but because it is a start to freedom.