Car #9: Aug. 1998 - May 2001
1995 Dodge Stealth

I ACTUALLY OWNED THIS LONGER THAN 6 MONTHS

I sold Camaro #3, unable to register it, and laid low for a year driving around the trusty Ford van. It took a decade of cars thus far but I was finally starting, barely, to see the futility of driving hot rods on an extremely limited budget. I resolved to live with the fact that a person with my credit rating would surely never, ever get another car loan anyway. And then... "HAVE A JOB? BAD CREDIT / NO CREDIT? COME ON DOWN!!" "Hey, I've got a new job... my income's not so bad..." I was approved for the loan at a whopping 14.9% (ARGGHH!!!), and I scraped together a $1000 down payment, and using the power of hypnosis, I also tricked them into accepting the Ford rustbucket van as an additional $1000 trade-in value. I gleefully blasted the new stereo all the way home. It was so nice being able to listen to a CD after a whole year of nothing but AM radio in the van. Three top-notch years of driving brought a few tranny-related difficulties (not my fault; mid-'90s Dodges are apparently notorious for their faulty gearboxes) that cost a couple thousand dollars, but thankfully, it didn't break me. Not quite, anyway. DAMAGE INFLICTED: Blown transmission (twice) but no accidents!