I'm used to every once in a while flipping my cars over to CarMax then getting a newer one from there. Having said that, I had an '02 Nissan Altima GLE (nice car) that had sort of a trans problem I couldn't identify causing me serious mpg issues, so instead of putting yay money into it, I traded it in in August 2006 for an '03 Impala LS. Again, nice car, but the wife and I found the front passenger seat extremely uncomfortable to travel, especially long trips (other than that, car was great). So one day in April 2007 as I'm out in the driveway washing her, I decide afterwards to go to CM for ***** and giggles just to see what they would give me for her. Needless to say, I got a payoff amount offer for the car, took the deal, then went walking around the lot to see what could catch my eye, then POOF, there she was, SLE trim with a color I had never seen before on a BV. Took her for a ride, checked out her features, and the rest is history : )

wow thanks guys for telling ur stories. pretty interesting seeing how everyone came across their cars. mine was a total surprise so i didnt have that whole process of visiting dealerships and all. i had a black1997 plymouth breeze that got flooded about 2 days after my rents gave me the monte. talk about luck. but the breeze survived the flood and has over 280,000 miles on it and still runs decently somehow

my story is simple,

when my ex-wife wrecked my new Z24 cavi i got a rental that was an 05 bonnie SLE since then i wanted a bonnie! well 3 years later i saw one looked at it real quick told the guy i'd give him $3500 out the door and he said ok it was only after i got back from another month on the road that i got back to her and then i realized what i bought didn't even drive it before i bought it let alone new what trim level it was. i was happy when i i finally drove her for the first time a month after buying her

Well when I was 12 and moved up out of the hood with my parents we would drive my brother to school in the mornings i was in 5th grade and remember that there was always this cool bronze car with the most unique tail lights i have ever seen. 6 years later im 18 and looking for my first car. I didnt know about auto trader or classifieds so me and my dad would drive around looking for cars.... well after a couple of weeks of looking we couldnt find anything.. then my friend texted me about a shooter in a college called virginia tech and i was shocked. We arrived at a mechanics and on the corner was a 1998 pontiac grand am in white. I was fed up with looking i wanted a car and my dad asked if i wanted it.... i said okay, but i really wsnt all too inlove with it. After a while i started to fall inlove with it, but it had leaks all the time. The trunk as full of power steering fluid bootles i thought that wierd. anyways the car burned... we sold it to a scrap for 200 bux. with the deat of the rand am i had a love for pontiacs and wanted another grand am... we found a 2000 grand am gt which my dad was gonna buy me for 3k this was a year after the other grand am, but the guy sold it! it was nice looking too, well i got on craigslist and searched pontiac i had 2900 bux that i had saved and i didnt want my dad to waste his hard earned cash so i was gonna buy th car on my own with the money i saved in a year from my part time. the first thing that popped out was a 2000 bonneville SLE in white with 195k miles on it. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL and i remembered the tail lights from when i was little and remembered this was the cool car i loved as a child. I called the guy in haste and told him i was a college student with only 2700 in cash... AND HE AGREED i told my dad i found a car and i was in love so we did the 1 hour drive (the guy drove an hour south) me and my girlfriend arrived with my dad in his ford f-350 dually turbo diesel and we talked to the guy test drove it a mech checked it and it was perfect and for 195k miles no lie it looked brand new the guy took very good care of it and he was the original owner. I gave him the cash put my moms plate and we were off.... my dad stepped on the gas in the highway and i tried it out too and it kept up and i felt the over drive fr the first time my face burned and i got tingles in my spine! when we got hom my dad said "Ese carro es rapido estaba se tra de mi quando accelere" (that car is fast it kept up with me after i accelerated" then he called my mom and him and her took it around the block (I bet he gunned it) then i carefully parked her stood out side and just stared at it for 10 mins then me and my gf sat in it and played with the controls for a while... i wanted to drive her home in it but my mom said no :( but i was happy i had my new car <3 its been over a year since and i still look at it like i was that little 12 year old kid getting driven to school.

My freshman year of college, someone totaled my Mercury Sable while it sat in my parents' driveway. So, while I was stranded at school, my mom visited a couple local dealers with the insurance payout and a little bit of savings. After a few days, she drove me over to a dealer where she had picked out the Bonnie. She had leased a red '98 SE in the past, and decided that this one would be good for me, because it was cheap ($4250 with 71k on the clock), I drive like a bat out of hell, and the Bonnie is built like a tank so I couldn't kill myself with it.

I took the title when I moved out after college, and thanks to you guys, she'* still running like a (faster) tank.

I was sitting at home, minding my own business and my Dad called and asked me if he and my Mom could come over. They had my 50th birthday present for me. So...they pulled in with their 2000 SSEi and tossed me the keys. It needed some body work and a little TLC, but it ran great and felt just as good.

Received the 98 bonny in my sig through my parents divorce. Totaled it and moved on. 5 years later I was car shopping for my youngest daughter and found my 05 GXP in the lot. Brought it home 4 days later and haven't looked back. Absolutley loved my decision and the wife'* back is happier since the trade up from the 04 Blazer Extreme.

When I went to work for my father in law last April when it came in ,at the time we were selling used cars,She had no grill,interior was trashed,seem to run real well for having 215k at the time.I didn't have a ride.I like a challenge. So we agreed to $500. Didn't pay for it. Would end up working it off. Around I guess it was begin of December I found a parts car,exact same color inside and out, put her back together. I bought parts car for $300 sold it after i was done $200. So I've got $100 into her. Recently replaced a couple of sensors and thta'* about it. Gas & oil changes.

Mine is an interesting story. So I had a 93 dodge shadow convertible. The car was a glorified go-kart. I was about to go back to school from winter break and the car just died and I mean dead. Cracked the head and the piston rings shattered. So for a couple of weeks I drove my mom'* Intrepid (blah). SO one the weekend home to find a car my mom new a guy the had a ford Taurus for sale that ford forest green and a first gen Taurus. I was not happy. So rents and I roamed around jersey. I my dad wanted to go to a specific restaurant. My mom and dad started arguing how to get there usually this ends up with us going home. Instead we just kept driving.
We eat and second bout of fate we couldn't get out of the parking lot, so we found the truck entrance and there she was my Bonneville. I told my mom to stop the car and I ran out and looked her over. I called the guy up and test drove her then bought her. $1850. Never looked back oh and yeah they were asking $2100 for the crap ford *shivers at the thought*

Mine was givin to me from my parents. Hand me down my dad bought it for my mom a while ago and she drove it to work only. Then one day my dad buys a new truck my mom takes the impala and they tell me i get the Bonnie... a nice upgrade from my 93 nissan sentra . Now it may be only a winter car... Im looking at picking up a stang for the summers