Last month, for my birthday, I recieved a 1988 pontiac 6000. I think it's not a bad car, but I'd like some opinions. It also failed the emissions test (because my grandpa didn't read the directions on the guaranteed emissions test pass kit) and the only thing it failed was the HC.
Who has a car like this, and any tips for a kid's first car?
i had a chrysler le baron for my first car, it was an 87 and it was '98 when i got it. wow nearly 10 years ago. anyway, some tips i would give you are that you should learn all that you can do to do self maintenance on the car, its fun and you will learn a lot and you can carry that knowledge with you to other vehicles.
My first was an Opel Record from 1960...
Yes the first should be a easy one for maintenace...
My second was a Rambler classic '64...
What stability!
My third a VW Golf '80
Ouch bad electrics...
My fourth a Volvo 740 '88
So safe n trusty, but the old ones rust...
My 5 th a Peugeot '92
They dont rust at all but is expesive to maintenace here
mY 6th a Ford escort '94
Rusts...
1ST TIP.DONT DRIVE LIKE A ******.
2ND TIP.TREAT UR CAR LIKE U WANT TO BE TREATED.
3RD. DRIVE SAFE. AND TO ALL THE OLD ELDERLY DRIVERS GET READY TO CHANGE UR DEPENDS.
I think that driving on ice/snow is good for the beginner. You need to be good at handling the car.
Also let the kid try to drave at a race track is good. Also there they learn how the car respond.
If the kid is good at manouvering he has an advantage if a bad situation occours.
My best advice is for you to try to learn how to do your own work on the car, if you have the time or interest. It helps you feel like the car is really yours, and it can save you a lot of money, as well as being a source of entertainment and pride. It also elevates you into a select group of people who actually know how their cars work! You'll be less reliant on mechanics, less likely to get cheated when you do need a mechanic to do work for you, and a lot more capable of fixing your own problems when you break down in the middle of nowhere.
You can start by changing your own oil, and then move on to more complex jobs like changing the brakes and spark plugs and things like that. There's a minimal investment, in a set of good 6-pt. socket wrenches, some good work gloves (I really like my Mechanix gloves), and a few specialty tools, but you save big $$$ in the long run.
My first car was and still is a 1992 Honda Accord 4DR.
| peaceninja wrote: |
| i had a chrysler le baron for my first car, it was an 87 and it was '98 when i got it. wow nearly 10 years ago. anyway, some tips i would give you are that you should learn all that you can do to do self maintenance on the car, its fun and you will learn a lot and you can carry that knowledge with you to other vehicles. |
(sorry I haven't replied in so long, I was banned from internet usage).
Thank you and I will remember that. That will probably save me a #&#*@ load of money too, I bet. 
| 14protoman wrote: |
1ST TIP.DONT DRIVE LIKE A ******.
2ND TIP.TREAT UR CAR LIKE U WANT TO BE TREATED.
3RD. DRIVE SAFE. AND TO ALL THE OLD ELDERLY DRIVERS GET READY TO CHANGE UR DEPENDS. |
Well... That's just common sense. 
| Gagnar The Unruly wrote: |
My best advice is for you to try to learn how to do your own work on the car, if you have the time or interest. It helps you feel like the car is really yours, and it can save you a lot of money, as well as being a source of entertainment and pride. It also elevates you into a select group of people who actually know how their cars work! You'll be less reliant on mechanics, less likely to get cheated when you do need a mechanic to do work for you, and a lot more capable of fixing your own problems when you break down in the middle of nowhere.
You can start by changing your own oil, and then move on to more complex jobs like changing the brakes and spark plugs and things like that. There's a minimal investment, in a set of good 6-pt. socket wrenches, some good work gloves (I really like my Mechanix gloves), and a few specialty tools, but you save big $$$ in the long run. |
That's some of the best advice I've gotten so far, thank you so much. Once I get a job I plan on buying and renting as many books as I have time to read on mechanics, and I'm going to learn as much as I can. I'll remember to set some money aside to get some new wrenches, I forgot that I lost all my old ones, lol. | djcaution wrote: |
| wheres the picture?? |
on wikipedia... | Lobo23 wrote: |
| Gagnar The Unruly wrote: | My best advice is for you to try to learn how to do your own work on the car, if you have the time or interest. It helps you feel like the car is really yours, and it can save you a lot of money, as well as being a source of entertainment and pride. It also elevates you into a select group of people who actually know how their cars work! You'll be less reliant on mechanics, less likely to get cheated when you do need a mechanic to do work for you, and a lot more capable of fixing your own problems when you break down in the middle of nowhere.
You can start by changing your own oil, and then move on to more complex jobs like changing the brakes and spark plugs and things like that. There's a minimal investment, in a set of good 6-pt. socket wrenches, some good work gloves (I really like my Mechanix gloves), and a few specialty tools, but you save big $$$ in the long run. |
That's some of the best advice I've gotten so far, thank you so much. Once I get a job I plan on buying and renting as many books as I have time to read on mechanics, and I'm going to learn as much as I can. I'll remember to set some money aside to get some new wrenches, I forgot that I lost all my old ones, lol. |
Well, one thing I forgot to mention is the importance of a good service manual. I have a real shop manual for my GS-R (OEM from Helms), and it is an amazing resource. Conversely, I have a Chilton for my 90 Legacy and it is crap. It was totally wrong about half the stuff it said about the brake job I was doing. The information was very generic for imports in general, and might as well have been written for a Honda or a Toyota.
Example: on Hondas you need to screw in the rear brake pistons to get the brake back on the disc during reassembly, due to the setup of the parking brake. On a Subaru, you can just push in the piston with a clamp. The manual made it seem like I could damage the piston by clamping it (like on a Honda), which isn't true on a Subaru. Fortunately, I knew that, or I would've really been lost on what to do. At least the pictures matched.
The Chilton manual will be OK for me, but it's a lot harder to use if you have less experience on cars. It's worth it to try to get a specific OEM shop manual (diff. from the owner's manual) for your particular year, make, model. It's worth the extra $30-60 for sure. Alternately, you could get a .pdf of it on Ebay, probably, for only a couple bucks. I did that for a while for my GS-R before I finally sprung for a real one.
If you're really strapped for cash, you can probably find Chiltons or Haynes manuals at the local library. Also, a shop manual could be a good thing to ask your parents for on your birthday or an equivalent gift-giving holiday if you're really interested in doing your own car work. Your folks will probably feel a lot better about getting you a manual and some tools than a new video game or two, and that loosen their wallets some!I dont know man. My first car qas a Peugeot 206 creamfields. I still have it. And its a good car.
My first car is a vw golf 1 from 1983
actually i have a ford focus turnier from 2001 can you post some images of your car here.
First car was lada 
if you know, know is audi A6 
more better than lada but between lada I had Opel and other vechiles my first car is my baby a 1994 honda prelude.
I'll chime in and say that my first car was a 1981 VW pickup. I bought it with 160,000 miles and then sold it on ebay at 275,000 miles. It was a good car/truck. By now, someone has it and probable dropped a diesel engine in it.
my family's first car was a fiat padmini..........which used to get embarrased by sitting in............. and they bought maruti zen and then i finally bought a ford fiesta ... my first own income car
Mine was (and still is) a 1989 Austin Maestro city 700 van. 1.6 litre 4 spd.
Failed a warrant of fitness in it just yesterday - on no headrests, a tiny bit of rust and a bit of play in the steering.
In the process of buying a 1987 holden commodore berlina 2.0 auto and a 1990 holden commodore GTS 3.8 auto together with my older brother.
my first car?? I know what i'm getting. 1990 Hinda Accord. I think those are good cars.. lol. Theres still alot of them around still. In my neighborhood I see em alot. And everywhere else i go in canada. lol.
my first car was a Peugeot 404 (a french oldtimer), a really good car..Now I drive german 
My first car was old Ford Scorpio 1985 GL. It's a large car and it was difficult to park it.
Here is a photo before repainting:
I have fully repaired the engine, suspension and fully repaint a body. 2003 Audi A2 1.2 TDI (3L engine). An extra extra car
| draganuta wrote: |
| 2003 Audi A2 1.2 TDI (3L engine). An extra extra car |
I am agree with you friend! It's nice bird! | alyer wrote: |
My first car was old Ford Scorpio 1985 GL. It's a large car and it was difficult to park it.
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I learned to drive in a chevy suburban. That was hard to park!my first car was a tatty old 1 liter ford fiesta which only lasted one year and then it got scraped.
| web_harman wrote: |
| my family's first car was a fiat padmini..........which used to get embarrased by sitting in............. and they bought maruti zen and then i finally bought a ford fiesta ... my first own income car |
Hey, wth is a fiat padmini? Never heard about it... My first car was a Fiat 124, from 1968. I was just one year older than the car when, turned 18, I started driving it. My dad's idea was that there is no way a youngster can keep a car "untouched" for long. And you can bet he was right! Five days after I got my driving license (it was the Christmas night of 1985) a BMW just drove into my back when i braked too heavily to avoid people suddenly crossing on pedestrial crossway. I was right indeed, but my dad was right too! It was a fantastic car, double-body carburator, with an impressive horse-kick when the second carburator was opening (pedal pushed way down)! I can imagine that for US standards a little engine of 1.300cc is like a baby-car, but I can ensure you that running down the highway at 180km/h (is it about 130-140mph?) was as smooth as silk.
