My Introduction To Junk Cars
Some would call it a classic, but my first car turned out to be a junk car.
It was a 1971 Volvo P1800 that was sitting in my parent’s driveway under a tarp. It needed a good amount of love to get it to run and a lot more to keep it running.
I recall the mechanic at the time telling me that you don’t know when something will break on cars that old. He was right. It got me from A to B just fine, but getting back to A was frequently in question.
The P1800 was a cool car. It had a 4-speed manual transmission and was a ton of fun to drive. I broke a sweat when I parallel-parked it thanks to its manual steering. It burned enough oil to keep the street lights of a small city lit for a week, which wasn't ideal.
This is a pristine Volvo P1800. Imagine this car making a baby with a buck of rust. That was my car.
It was an expensive car to keep running for a 17-year-old high school kid. I put my summer savings into it until it needed new brake rotors on all 4 wheels. That was the straw that broke the high school kid’s bank.
In the end, my parents paid (I spent all my money fixing the car) a junkyard to tow it away.
Fast Forward 30 Something Years
I’ve spent much of my career helping folks manage their relationship with their cars, including car insurance, working with the DMV, and now navigating how to sell their junk car.
If you find that you have a car or truck that is getting more and more unreliable to drive consider getting rid of it.
Unlike my 17-year-old self, you can get paid to get rid of your junk car.
Nick Musica
Publisher
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