Life: Types of Cars I've Driven

Cars are a big part of life in the USA and certainly in Los Angeles.

What have I been driving?

Well, when I was going to college, I carpooled with friends so I only drove once or twice a week so I borrowed my parent's car. It was a Chevy Monte Carlo. It got something like 9 miles to a gallon!

When I went to graduate school, I drove a Nissan Stanza. It did pretty well for a while but when it hit about 50,000 miles, it started to fall apart with frequent costly repairs.

The next car was a Honda Civic with automatic transmission. A wonderful car! Alas, it got "t-boned" at an intersection at high speed. I was able to walk away from the crash and the car was drivable but was declared a total loss by the insurance company. Thank you Honda for a good design that protected me in the crash. This was pre-airbag days.

With affection for Honda, my next vehicle was a Honda Civic with manual transmission. Loved it! Drove across the USA twice! Went well past 100,000 miles. Alas, one work day, I got into a collision when somebody decided to make a quick left turn at the intersection and I hit the brakes ... The insurance company priced out the repair and determined the car wasn't worth that much so it was declared a total loss.

I bought a used car from a relative. It was a nice Nissan Maxima with over 100,000 miles. I drove it for several years but parking such a large vehicle in the city was challenging and gas milage wasn't so good. But it was the most luxurious car I've driven!

With the American automakers improving in quality but the economy slowing, they offered instant rebates and reduced prices to move their inventory in anticipation for the next year's cars. Thus, I took the plunge and got a Ford Focus 2004 which I drive today. It just past 58,000 miles and so far is doing pretty well.