So I'm just making this topic as a test, I wanted to see if anyone else has this strange addiction to trading cars, spending hours on craigslist, and the transition that we've made from our first car to our current car. Although my transitions through cars by no means are impressive or even good, I've learned from them, how to make decisions and what to look for. (And if you want to see craiglist success check out this kid: http://www.autointhenews.com/teen-trades-up-on-craigslist-from-phone-to-porsche-in-2-years/)

Where I started:

I was 17 years old, virtually zero knowledge about cars and no license (Ashamed) and my parents agree'd to help me buy a car (My 1.5K + Parents 1.5K). My dad's car knowledge was greater then mine but his knowledge and taste lives in the past, and also prioritized fuel efficiency and safety over aesthetics, speed, and handling. The first car they found was a mid 90's Sebring, One look at the car and I respectively decline and asked to keep searching. I then found a slightly damaged 2002 Eclipse, It was a five speed which my father was concerned with as it will be my first car, and he didn't want to get involved with a damaged vehicle, so that was a "No".

Months pass....Not satisfied.

So when my dad picked me up from work one day and said he wanted to show me a car, you can imagine I was skeptical. We pulled into a dealership. Shit...Dealership cars are more expensive, $3,000 isn't going to get me a nice car here...To my surprise he shows me what will be my first car.



1996 Mustang GT

-4.6 Liter
-Cold Air
-5 Speed
-Tinted windows
-Very clean

This car begin my desire to learn more about cars...What did I learn? The first years of the 4.6L Sohc suck, some would say the 4.6L sucks period but I won't go there...Mean while during my journey for knowledge I'm simultaneously demolishing my clutch day by day, never being formally taught how to drive one by the time I got the hang of it, it was too late...Clutch = Roasted.

I wanted something faster, something manual with a functional clutch, and so my search once again begin. What do I find?



1988 Mustang GT (CAR-4-CAR)

-5.0 Liter
-Full off road X-Pipe
-Converted to MAF
-Ported and polished heads
-BBK Shorty equal headers
-State 2 Clutch
-Short shift
-AC Delete
-Etc etc


The car was fast! Well coming from my last. I was happy with the trade and continued to work on the car. I bought a 351w and started fixing it up. Months go by when disaster struck, through a rod...The 351 isn't finished and I don't have a functioning car and I have to get to work, I knew I had to sell it. I managed to squeeze $1,800 out of the car and 351...What a loss.

Missed my Foxbody so much I bought another:

1991 Mustang LX (CASH-4-CAR)

-5.0
-That's about it, didn't even take a picture.

Hated it...Slow, ugly, ran like nuts. About to start college and have a decently far drive to make everyday, I wanted better MPG and more reliable....Again I searched.





1998 3000 GT SL (CAR-4-CAR)
-3.0 Dohc
-5 Speed

I started getting bored with it, the import (kinda) cars weren't really for me...Gotta go back to my roots...Another mustang? Nah...I want something domestic, but different from what I've had. Search mode activated.



1991 Camaro RS (CAR-4-CAR)

-305 (SLOW)
-After market headers
-Clean

I liked the look of the car although it was slow, I decided I was going to keep it for a bit....Once again shit is bound to go wrong in these cars, the head gasket was blown. It was late December, I had no garage to work in and the temp was about 20 degrees. This was the first time I've changed a head gasket and needless to say it took me a couple days...When everything was said and done the gasket didn't seal correctly and I would have to do it again....It was at this point that I decided after I fix the car I was done with it.

Sold it for 3K, back to where I started, well minus all the time, effort, and parts. And on to the next.



1998 Mustang GT (CASH-4-CAR)
-4.6 Liter
-Full exhaust
-SVT conversion
-CAI
-Chipped
-Bama tuned

Regardless of my dislike of the early 4.6 I couldn't pass it up for 3K. The car wasn't nearly as quick as the Black Fox but it wasn't too slow. It was very clean and reliable and sounded so damn mean. Kept it for quite awhile, but my overall dislike of the round body's look and the 4.6 set in and I thought I'd take a glance at what's out there.



1991 Pontiac Formula (CAR-4-CAR)
-5.7 Liter
-Show room shape, in and out
-All original
-Less then 90K miles
-After market off road exhaust

This is the car I have today, finally I'm happy with what I got....Considering doing a LS1 swap at tax time. This all has been done within the span of just a couple years. I'm not looking for people to post such an extensive story but I'd like to hear where you started and where you ended up as a car trader.

Great thread!

some of mines in my profile.

first car 83 tbird (later traded for 82 olds cutlass)
second (sort of it was dads but he had another truck and i drove this while the tbird was tore up) 91 nissan hardbody 4x4 pickup
third 99 camaro 3800 v6 (sold for the 4x4 s10)
fourth 00 ext cab s10 4x4 (hit a horse and totaled)
fifth 82 olds cutlass brougham (sold to a buddy later on)
sixth 99 mazda protege (my dd)
seventh 01 ext cab s10 2x4 (traded for 01 buick regal)
eighth 01 buick regal 3800 nonsupercharged

currently have the 99 mazda protege that i drive to work and the 01 buick regal which is my wifes dd. i have a few pics in my photo gallery of a couple of them http://forums.d2jsp.org/img.php?i=290099&a=3





This post was edited by JDH on Jan 12 2013 05:37pm

Back in the day my dad and I switched cars a lot, from about 14-present 23 years old

1969 VW bug, spindles and nice rims, all OG (couldn't drive at this time, sold it)
Started with an awesome 1996 2 door GMC jimmy, small lift. Great first car
2000 Chevy silverado single cab, rims, stereo exhaust, roll pan (sold)
2005 Dodge Magnum, one of the first driving around (rims, exhaust, stereo)
200x? Isuzu Axiom, just a nice looking comfortable SUV (had a problem with the lien on the title, got it boughten back for 1,000 more than i bought it for
2005 Dodge SRT-4 (loved it, but a nightmare for reliability)
2007 Cobalt SS (traded in)
2007 Nissan Titan quad cab (still sits at my house)
2004 BMW 525i, everything breaks lol (traded in)
2007 Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 cc mean streak (too cold to ride it, sits in my garage)
2008 Infiniti G37s coupe (current DD)

Stopped with the car thing for now, looking to buy my new house! I will try to dig up pictures.

Well I'm just curious...How did that happen?

2001 Ford Taurus

2003 VW GTI 1.8T

2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe

2008 Caliber SRT 4

2003 Nissan 350z

2006 Lancer Evolution MR

unfortunately I am also into pissing away money on trading cars.

First car:

2006 Mazda 3, parents paid for it and told me it was mine for 10k, pretty damn good deal for my first car.

Economical but too girly for me, had been looking at upgrading cars once I could afford to.



Ended up selling to my sister for the 10k before my freshman year, best decision I ever made.


Second car:

2003 Nissan Tree Fiddy Z. First car I ever paid for completely by myself, and first car in my name. Also first car I ever had which was manual. Bought it at the end of my freshman year as to not tempt myself to drive drunk lol.

Paid 17.5k cash with 33k miles on it which was a pretty good deal for the mileage at the time (now their not worth dick lol).



Ended up buying the tahoe while I still owned the Z (Minor loan). Put up the Z for sale a year and a half after I bought it with 55k miles on it. I ended up breaking even but only after I vinyl wrapped and threw new rims on it, so wasn't much of a 'break even'


Third car:

2007 Chevy Tahoe. Wanted something a little larger as it enabled me to work the nice shifts at work since movement of equipment was required, and the Z couldn't even fit a damn sign it LOL. Ended up killing it at work and got a great deal on the tahoe while the market was super shitty. Got the entire pedders USA police tahoe suspension/drop setup. 3 x 10 inch JL w3 subs in a custom ported box which was integrated into the factory deck with an ipod hookup which sounded amazing. 8 speaker stock system was pretty good so I didnt even fuck with it. Loved the look of rob dyrdeks matte black tahoe so I ordered some vinyl and decided I'd do it myself after getting quoted 4-5k for a shop to do it LOL. Also had 5% tint all around except 20% on the windshield, until I got 3 tint tickets in 1 week haha, was the only time in the 5 years I got busted for it. Still have the tahoe today and am considering selling so I can mod the shit out of the mustang and have a good lump of cash for when I graduate.

final product:



Fourth car:

2013 Mustang GT (posted above since only 3 pictures are allowed per post). First ever brand new car I had in my own name. Got a killer deal on the mustang and could not refuse the offer, and have been in love with the feel/power ever since. Coming from the 350z this thing pulls like a mother fucker. Liked the new body style with the shelby look alike front end and the LED headlights/tail lights on top of 420 hp stock w/ warranty was all I needed. Don't drive the mustang all the time as I have the tahoe to Daily, but everytime I drive that car I get a smile on my face. Still only has 3k miles and I haven't gone too crazy on the mods yet (still trying to hold onto the warranty until I know there aren't any defects such as lemon, etc). Car has an Airaid Intake (got for free to test out water seeping into the hood vents and soaking the intake). Next absolutely neccessary mods were new rims/tires and lowering springs. Traction was a major issue for me on the stock tires, so I went wider and bigger. On top of that and the drop the car sits like it should from the factory.

Hopefully I'll hang onto these cars for awhile, but I'm not gonna lie, a used c7 corvette may be in my future sometime down the road.

somebodies fence was down. their horse got out on the highway. i come along cruising at 60mph and its dark and slightly foggy. see the horse at the last second and plowed right through it. it was either just standing there and walking slowly across the road it wasnt running.

2002 Ford Focus Sedan(never drove, just sold) - traded a dirtbike + $
2001 Saturn sl1(drove it into the ground) - Bought with focus $
1997 Mustang Gt(current car) - Bought with $

This post was edited by robperry12 on Jan 13 2013 11:38am