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This is a guest post from Brian.

Most people can agree that one of the best feelings in the world is driving a car for the very first time. Nothing beats that feeling of pressing your foot on the accelerator and pondering just how fast the car can go. If you live in Canada, you get the joy of winters. Winter brings icy roads for you to slide right into two foot snow banks. Anyone ever have the pleasure of pushing your own car out of a snow bank? I have.

Although the feeling of driving a car for your first time is hard to beat, I find that nothing tops the feeling of owning your first car. The freedom is what captured me. Being able to cruise anywhere you want at any time. Not having to ask your parents to borrow their car anymore. Not having to stare at the gas gauge of your parent’s car wondering if you should fill it up or not.

My first car (as well as my current) is a ‘99 Toyota Tercel. Just over a year ago I paid $6,000 for it. It was originally listed for $7,200, and then was dropped to $6,400. With my brother helping out the negotiations to get the car down to $6,000. I now realize a year later how much of a steal my car really is.

$6,000 bought me a ‘99 Tercel with a few less than 104,000km on it. Keeping in mind that this is a Toyota, with proper care I’m willing to bet I can get this beauty to last until 300,000km. The single most awesome fact about my car is the fuel economy. I’m just like most of you, I drive in rush hour to and from work 5 days a week. Only instead of sitting in the seat of a $60,000 monstrosity of a truck getting 15mpg, I’m going the same speed with a car that was a tenth of the cost, and I’m getting 40mpg+ in the same traffic. Take me out to the highway and I can break 50mpg.

Now there are a few drawbacks of my ride. For example, I have a mere 93 horsepower driving two wheels. That’s right, 93hp for both wheels, not per wheel. My car can hit 140km/h if need be, it just takes some time to get there. With a manual transmission I’m usually in 3^rd gear by the time I’m out of most intersections, and I easily hit 5^th gear many times a day.

However I didn’t have to take out a second mortgage for my car, and I’ve never had the pleasure of spending more than $35 on a full tank of gas that gets me ~600km. The point I’m trying to make is I don’t understand why people put themselves in so much debt just to have a cool ride. Sure I would love to drive a brand spanking new Subaru Impreza WRX. However, I also like having extra cash to buy other stuff. For your next ride, take a look at the fuel efficient side of the market…perhaps you’ll find something enticing.