[TWiTCHY]

Yeah, that's right, the BMW isn't actually mine, it's my sis'!

Like any other teen living on the Eastside here in WA, my parents are paying for my first car. I've read all the negative comments posters here at E90Post throw at any teenager they see in sight, and in all honesty I agree with them...parents shouldn't buy their kids their first car for them.

But for me, things are different. Paying for your own car and insurance seems to be an American thing in my parents' eyes...and boy, do they hate the American ways of raising children.

My Asian parents think like this: they support their kids until they get married because they don't understand putting financial stress on a teen who's still in school. A job is strictly prohibited, they want school to be their kids' main priority, what they should be doing all day is studying, getting good grades so they can get into a good college, graduate, and begin the career of their dreams.

...which is why my parents bought my sister her first car, the E90.

I was like WTF a BMW? At that time I was only 14, and I could not wait to see what my parents would get me when it was my turn

But...that time came and gone, and a new set of wheels were nowhere to be found in our garage. It's unfortunate that the economic downturn has affected the automotive industry the way it has...which just happens to be what my dad's job is linked to. If the industry goes bad, his job goes bad, and the income starts going down... and all this started just before I was of legal age to drive. Damn, no car for me!

So I'm driving my sis' BMW one day, since she's off to college and only uses the car during the weekends, and what a surprise...it's almost at 50k miles. I'm all HELL YEAH and start driving it around for no reason other than to increase the mileage, because I know that if the warranty goes out, the car has to go....

Nah I wasn't serious about that, that's cruel But my parents believe that maintaining a European car without warranty is unbelievably expensive, which is what sparked my parents' idea of selling the BMW for my first car...

Fast forward to now and my parents are dying to trade in the BMW before something goes wrong with it and we would have to pay for its repairs. So I start looking for something affordable, and I'm not expecting much out of it. I hit up Craigslist and start looking up 240sx's and 300zx's. Gaawd, I want one. I just love the way the S14 Kouki headlights look, and the 300zx is just sexy. I present my parents with these two cars and they literally have faces that scream "WHAT THE SHIT IS THAT PIECE OF JUNK."

I don't know how to react to it. I'm and at the same time, because I know that that means I wouldn't have a chance at getting one of the two cars that ignited my passion for cars and photography, but it also meant that I would have to go up into some more expensive cars...but that's exactly what my parents want me to have.

You see, there's something about Asian parents and cars. All they care about is how it looks and that shiny emblem on the hood. If it doesn't scream RICH! then it's not for them. What's odd about this is that it only applies to their kids' cars. It's as if the car they buy their kids represents THEM, their financial status and well-being. They want people to look at their kids and think "What good parents that kid must have!"

But just two days ago the search for my first car finally stopped. After test driving a 350z, G35, and 128i (all used) last summer, I was eager to go out and drive some more cars at other dealerships this year. It only took 5 minutes for me to decide - this is the car that I want, this is exactly what I've been waiting for

After dropping off my sis' BMW for service, me and my dad headed straight to Eastside Nissan. A few nights ago when I was on my dad's laptop, I had accidentally hit the shortcut for "History" instead of "Find", and out came that day's list of visited websites. It was hard to ignore the fact that my dad had spent a significant amount of time researching the 370z. Edmunds, AutoTrader, CostcoAuto, NissanUSA; it was all over that list I didn't reveal to my dad what I had discovered on his laptop. I kept quiet about it until the day the BMW was taken in for service, and asked him if we could go take a look at the 370z. HE DIDN'T EVEN HESITATE...he would normally go "Ugh, Jeff!", but I was certain that he wanted to see it too.

So we arrive at the dealership, take a look at the new Z inside and out and ask for a test drive. The guy asks "Manual or auto?" and, unfortunately, auto is the only thing I can drive...oh well, I like paddles anyways, and I was already used to manual shifting in auto. So the guy drives the only automatic Z they have to the front. It's the most basic Z you can buy, besides the auto, but I didn't care, it was a 370z

The guy hands me the keys and I take off with my dad in the passenger seat. I leave the dealership and I can't stop thinking in my head I'm driving a 370z! It wasn't until I turned a corner that I realized how rare these things were to be seen on the streets...and because of that, I felt like everyone was watching me, in fact, as I passed a bus stop, some black dude gave me the hitchhiker's thumb...that, or he was actually giving me the , and I would see people staring and pointing at me from across the intersection at stoplight.

Driving the car, as in, accelerating, wasn't very interesting. Everything about the car besides its looks wasn't interesting to me. That all changed when I approached the first stop. Before leaving the dealership I engaged the paddle shifters. I was driving with them the entire way up to this stop sign and realized that I hadn't downshifted this thing yet. Why is it important to me, you ask?




OH MY GOD the moment I went down from 3rd to 2nd the engine blipped the throttle and made a lovely noise Wanting to hear it again, I waited until the RPMs dropped, then hit the paddle to 1st, and again, it made that sound. I don't remember anything like this on the E90

IT WAS SO ADDICTING! Every time I came to a red light or stop, I couldn't resist the temptation to drive in a high gear then downshift quickly as I approached a stoplight so the engine made a "Vrmm...VRmm...VRMm...VRMM!"

God, I love this car now. Everything about it, I love it!

Then it was my dad's turn to drive it. I've never seen him drive so enthusiastically in a car. It was like he was a kid again!

<-- That was him driving down the Connector at 60mph trying to dodge some roadkill. It was like OMG ROADKILL! *SWERVE* then he was like WOW, it handles pretty good!

We get back to the dealership and the salesman starts throwing numbers at us. Too bad my dad is a patient man. He was making all of these excuses to get out of the dealership as soon as possible, because after all, he would decide whether I get the car or not, not me.

We ended up leaving the dealership empty handed, but I knew that it wasn't over, at least that's what my dad tells me

So here I am patiently waiting for the day to come

Here it is sitting on my driveway. During the test drive I drove it back to the house so I could grab the Canon and snap a few quick pics.


(This is a loooong story because I wrote it for school...assignment is to write about anything, no requirements other than it has to be lengthy!)

[lpphreakx06]

NIce novel...
You need to give me a ride pronto. Didn't we talk about nissans a few weeks ago?

[TWiTCHY]

Hey I don't have it yet
And I don't know how long it's going to take. Hopefully not too long.

[asdflkijd]

Holy shinto! congrats

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by asdflkijd

Holy shinto! congrats

Thanks, I love my parents
My dad's business is getting better now that he has full possession over his company. I'm hoping to be sitting in my new ride before the end of this year...but I'm torn apart between a basic 370z and a used 335i.

I'd go with the 370z if I wanted to have a little fun driving, but I'd probably get sick over the basic speakers and lack of leather seats and navigation. A used 335i will be cheaper than the 370z and come with tons of features like leather, iDrive, Logic 7, etc, but I hear the paddle shifting is slow and lousy (push paddle for downshift, pull paddle for upshift) compared to the 370z. Plus, I just love the look of the E92. 370z might attract too much attention for my own comfort, whereas E92s kind of blend in with the traffic around where I live. I really don't know, but I'm sort of leaning towards a used 335i now...my sis wants the 335i, too (I have to share the car with her since we're going to trade in her E90 for my car).

[lpphreakx06]

I wouldnt get a used 335i...

[TWiTCHY]

Originally Posted by lpphreakx06

I wouldnt get a used 335i...

Why's that?

[lpphreakx06]

Well it depends but I would be EXTREMELY picky id you wanted a 335i. I'm sort of regretting my purchase lol.

[TWiTCHY]

Uh oh...what would you have gotten instead?

[rotelly]

I wouldn't buy a used sport car unless you know the previous owner took good care of it.