I currently own a 1996 Toyota Corolla and I am quite happy with it. I debated whether or not to buy a new car after I started my engineering job, but for me a penny saved is a penny earned. Why get into debt as soon as you get out of college? Even if you can afford the monthly payments is it really worth it? In the end, I’ve always felt that cars are only a means of getting from point A to B.

My story actually starts with a 1990 Toyota Celica that my dad bought for me back in college. He bought it used from an ad at a Japanese supermarket. I think he paid $2,500 for it. He then rented it out for 4 months to a colleague and made $2,800. Now that’s what you call a capitalist. Well he gave me the car after he rented it out and I drove it around for about two years. During one winter, there was a weekend when it was pouring cats & dogs. My friends and I were driving back from a church retreat and we were having some trouble because parts of the streets and freeways were flooded. We made it back to within a few blocks from our church and I thought we had finally made it home. There used to be a big dip (I say used to be because they’ve flattened it out now) right before turning on to the street that my church is on, and I realized that my car might not make it through because it was completely flooded with water. I stopped in front and contemplated whether I should turn around or if I should gun-it and see what happens. Well, I found out that the dip was bigger than I had anticipated and didn’t make it through. My engine flooded and my car instantly died. Oops! I had to get out in thigh-high water and push my car out of the dip. I was pretty heart-broken because it was my first car I ever owned and because I knew that I’d probably have to spend money and get a new car. It turned out that the repair costs would be too expensive for it to be practical so I started my search for a new used car.

My budget was $5,000 and I looked online on Cartrader, Craigslist, Cars, etc. I quickly found out that the popular cars like Civic’s and Integra’s sell out very quickly, usually within a few days. The ones that stay unsold usually have had some sort of damage, or have had multiple owners which sometimes indicates a lot of problems. I signed up for a 30-day Carfax subscription and I definitely recommend others to do the same. Most listings will have the vehicle’s VIN number and you can quickly see the car’s history. I narrowed my search down even more to private sellers who were the single owners of the car (no auction cars please). Earlier I had tried going to car dealerships and used car lots but I had some bad experiences so I dropped that option. Buying from a private seller will get you a better price but it will also lengthen your search period. I think I took about three weeks to finally find and purchase a car. I must have called like 50 people and a lot of them were dead-ends. I found a Corolla that I liked and went to go check it out. I had read that it was prudent to have a mechanic do a visual inspection to check for any potential problems. Maybe it was unnecessary but for me it was peace of mind. So I asked the lady if I could meet her at a Toyota dealership the next morning to have it inspected. She agreed and I was stoked because I was pretty sure that I was going to buy her car. I called the next morning and she informed me that she had just sold the car to someone else who paid her on the spot. Jeesh. So my search continued. I found another Corolla that I really liked and this time I had success! The inspection checked out and I went with him to the bank and cut him a cashier’s check for $4,500 (We used Kelly Blue Book and negotiated with the private seller price). This has been my biggest purchase to date! (Next year my wedding banquet spending might be $15,000). I’ve been very happy with my purchase and love the fact that I usually get 30 mpg. I bought it at 96,000 miles and I hope to make it last until at least 196,000 miles. (No more fording rivers!)