More pics of my car that i got for my upcoming 16th birthday

Here's my thinking: wait until a part breaks before you replace it. Tires need to go? Hey, that's the cheapest time to buy wheels.

I drove my Taurus wagon until I took a forced 6 month brake from driving. Then got my 100 hp Ranger. WooooO!

Wheels taken off a Scion TC or Matrix/Vibe will fit onto your car perfectly.
It may be very easy to find someone who bought a Scion TC and then added new rims/tires who will sell off the good factory units cheaply.
I think they would look very nice but not dorky on your Corolla. Personally, I think chrome, aftermarket rims look dorky.
Search CList and owner forums for such a deal.
I quickly found these which are just the rims. You would still likely need new tires since these are 17" rims and you likely have 15" or 16" tires now (would need 17" tires.)

Storz wrote: Your first car is a lot nicer than mine was! I got an '85 Olds Calais in '96 for my first Just like this one

I am weird but I would a million times over prefer the Olds to the corolla.

+1 not because you're weird but because I too have a thing for 80's oldsmobiles.

Ok maybe we're weird.

I say don't look a gift horse in the mouth . He got a car as a gift and now he doesn't want it? Seems a little ungrateful. May need some adjustment here. It's not quite like wanting an ipod but getting a Rio either; it's a sweet car!

He's probably gone from the forum now... too bad. I think many of you guys could help to really improve his car if he was willing to soak it in.

-Hamid

Wow, bet the kid is long gone, but here goes.

First off, the painful reality of letting go of ego. We were all kids at some point, what they are piling on and telling you is hindsight from having been there.

The mustang in my avatar is the one I bought in highschool. I would NOT go that route again. Yes, I love the car dearly, but the fact is that I would have been far ahead to have a nice reliable daily to back up having something really cheap to play with on the side. It was honestly too fast of a car for someone at that experience level. I know, you want the best and fastest, but you will be worlds ahead to start slower and work up to it. The Mustang almost got me arrested and jailed. As well, I was constantly on the edge of broke to keep it and keep it running. The advice of not going that route is not some old fogey just saying you don't deserve it. It is someone telling you that it isnt worth the risks and tradeoffs of having it.

Trust me, keep the more mundane car. You can actually drive it in the winter. You can afford gas and insurance for it. You have large expenses coming up in your life (education, post education job hunting).

You will find that the wiser person in motorsports does more with less. There are always those who pull out a wallett and buy the top notch car, but those who had the patience and perserverence to start at the bottom and work their way up end up ahead.

Keep the Corolla, go find some autocrosses to get your feet wet.(we will help you find some events and I am sure we could even find someone to mentor you at events)

Good friends of mine started out in things like Hyundai Accents and Dodge Stratuses and ran them for years before moving on to faster things and every one of them will say they are better drivers for it.

Keeping the Corolla allows you to find an inexpensive project car on the side that you can tinker with and mod to your hearts content without worrying about downtime.

We get it, you got a car and you are excited. Slow your roll (or whatever the new term for that might be).

My mustang is in storage and I drive a Miata when I go racing. Slower cars will make you a better driver. Take my advice, it will really help you.

Has anyone PM'd the kid to unruffle his feathers? I understand he's 15 and thin skinned, but do we want him bad mouthing his only GRM experience?

Or do we just use his info and sign him up for VWVortex?

Kidding .....

Its a school day. Hopefully he'll be back in the PM. I'm sure he understands we're not just being douchebags, but douchebags with his best interest in mind.

What a train wreck this thread turned out to be.

If someone said to me "here, take this low mileage Corolla for FREE!!!" I would all day long and sell my current DD. Are you kidding? It's one of the most common appliance cars in existence and cheap to run.

When I was 16, My parents bought me a $50 broken 1985 Civic with no title. I couldn't get it to work, so I spent my own money on a $400 1964 Buick. It was the slowest land yacht ever made, and it was fun! But I was grateful for the Honda. It taught me where the local junkyards were and how hard it is to register a non-titled car in MA.

This kid seems like a typical "false sense of entitlement" teenager. He gets something for FREE, a FREE CAR that is in nice shape, and doesn't want it. Unreal. Learn to actually drive on a real road and then you can get something more fun to drive later when you know what you are doing. Driving in Gran Turismo and driving on a congested 4-lane road are two different things. Take some Street Survival courses and if after all that you still feel like racing, show up to an autocross with that Corolla just how it is. You will thank me later.

Everyone I am sorry for my Immaturity last night. i am still here i have looked through the forums and i still enjoy it but i am here to stay

Silverfleet. I agree with you. It is hard when someone is given something, a car, a cell phone, a toy and it is not appreciated. My first car was a 800 dollar Toyota Tercel Circa 1980! I saved my dollars for it, drove a number of cars and learned to appreciate the value of money.

FifthGear, if you are still around and want, need, or are just seeing what this thread has brought. Come back. Let us know you are still out there. I have been on and off of this forum for IDK how many years. The people are fantastic, and knowledgeable. We are here to help, and pass on experience.

My step-son, saved his money for the honda civic he really wanted, then wadded it into a ball in two days. My ex-wife then bought him a car, he wadded that one in a month. He didn't learn, and didn't want to learn. I think FifthGear, you want to learn, that is why you found us.

Just saying no matter what choices are made. No one is judging.

I am still here and I will be for a very long time to come.

Good. I'm glad to hear you are sticking around. These guys are really giving you good advice. If you look at many of our garages you will see we have good reliable cars and "race cars" weather they be junkers or fancy track cars. Keep that in mind as you read.

In reply to FifthGear2014:

Great!!! I'd like to see the path you choose to take. My first car was a rusty 1971 Datsun 240z that I got from my uncle (this was when I was about 17, in 1993, so the car was still pretty old). While it was a great car, I nearly killed myself many times due to not understanding car control. I think it's awesome that you have a Corolla and you should stick with it for a while. It could prove to be a great sleeper.

-Hamid

I am going to keep the Corolla its a great car it fits my personality plus its really nice and nothings wrong with it for now

OK, since you're still here:

A lot of what you said comes across as a sense of entitlement that some of us really resent, I'm not sure if you meant it this way, but since so many of us got it, you may want to look at your reaction a little critically to make sure you appreciate that someone gave you a car.

Next, stop buying things for it. Period. Stop.

I drove an 81 Camaro for my first car and it was a slow, poorly handling pig that I spent more time working on than driving. Don't do that. Just drive what you have. Find an Autocross and some driving schools (Doug Herbert has or had some excellent programs since the death of his sons) and learn something.

This is important. Life is expensive. That's not easy to see at 16. Having a 100% reliable car appliance is pretty valuable. It's hard to make money without a way to get to your job. Don't mess it up! Learn to drive on it, and when you learn you'll find folks who can guide you and teach you. Maybe you'll get a ride along or two and see something you like. Chances are it will be something other than a convertible Mustang you wanted for ten seconds.

We're ready and willing to help. Maybe you'll find some behavior you want to fix on the Corolla, maybe some swaybars or bushings or whatnot will help. Get out there first. Heck, see the many threads from DaewooOfDeath to find out just how far some of us go with very much the "wrong" car.

Trust me. Go to Corner-Carvers and type your first post in there and see how many of them respond favorably. We like folks around here. Just trust stuff you hear, even if you don't want to hear it.

Welcome back!!!

Thankyou! It feels very good to be back.

One additional detail. You don't know who most of these guys are. I am not speaking for myself, but there are folks here who have been there and done that in more ways that you can imagine. Not too long ago someone here asked about suspension settings for some obscure Chrysler (?) car and Peter Brock responded with some tips and they had a conversation. Some of the resumes on this place are staggering, and no, I don't include myself among that elite crowd.

Also if I remember correctly, the GRM guys did a corolla build up. It may have been a 2008 or so model. But you will be amazed at what they were able to accomplish with the same car that you have.

Can anyone remember that build? I read some of it. Great work and great information on what is available for the Corolla.

Mike

In reply to Mike924:

Are you confusing it with their ill-fated Camry?

Hey, if I can find a decent auto-x suspension and finish midpack at nationals with a friggin Kia, anything CAN be done. Doesn't always mean it should though.

Was it a Camry? Possibly. But whatever it was. It showed the possibilities of the 'Yota as a platform.

I thought I was the best driver in the world when I was a teenager.
Then I went autocrossing.
I also thought I was good at working on cars...
and then I bought a beat up old Toyota.
I also thought girls cared what car I drove, but driving a nice old Trans Am didn't do anything for my love life either.

You're about to be 16. Seat time, seat time, seat time. Go autocrossing as often as you can and enjoy hauling your buddies around in your nice comfortable appliance, but don't do anything that'll get your freedom to drive taken away or get anyone killed. Make friends with car people and help them whenever possible. Get a part time job as an lube and tire guy or mechanic's apprentice. Then save up a good chunk of change and buy whatever old car strikes your fancy and build it into your dream car. People who will matter most to you won't care if you have a beast of a new Mustang, they'll care what kind of person you are and what kind of knowledge and skills you have. New Mustangs are nice but they don't come with any of those things. You can buy performance, but you can't buy character or skills. It's hard to see when you're a teenager, but it's always better for people to like you for you than for what you have.

EDIT: also I don't know if it's been posted, but read this thread: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/post-your-rose-tinted-1st-car-stories-within/77523/page1/

Most people don't like their first car, but I don't think there's a car guy out there that doesn't secretly still wish he had his.