Sadly, Matt’s history with cars is mostly a tale of woes and losses. You could also say it reveals his restlessness and impulsivity. Doesn’t 7 cars in 3 years give you that impression? But one thing for sure, cars ate up almost all of his money. As his dad, this was pretty painful to watch —of course even more painful for him.
Matt had worked and saved for years. We had always told him his savings was to be for his future: education, a business, or investment of some kind. Well, after he had gotten his driver’s license at 16, although we were letting him drive our car whenever it was available, like most young bucks, he got the itch to get his own car. But the only way that could possibly happen was if he used his savings. I was resolved to hold to our word and allow his savings to be used only for education, etc. I gave him my speeches about the value of public transportation and how I didn’t have a car till age 21. Well, he proved that his insistence was stronger than my resolve and I finally relented. He promptly spent most of his savings on the coolest car he could afford, a blue 1996 Chevy Camaro…
He got it just in time for his senior prom. He loved it! —but not for long. He sold it just a few months later.
After he graduated, he was working full time for the summer. This meant there was more money to burn in his cars. The details are sketchy, but over the next several months he would have three more cars: a gold 1999 Malibu in August;
a red 1994 Mustang in September;
and a 1998 Lexus ES 300 in November.
I don’t remember how it happened, but by December he had no working car and no money. Obviously I was not his go-to person for advice through all of this. But, I was his go-to person for money. “Dad, I’m done buying junks. I need to get a good car. All I need is for you to co-sign for it.” So, here’s where it gets crazy. I threw out the advice of my father who always said “Never co-sign!” to support my son who had no use for my advice. Matt cyber-searched Chicagoland and found the car of his dreams and on top of that I gave him a dream financing option. I used my first-rate credit to secure a loan for the car in my name. He would pay me directly and get the lowest interest rate of any 18 year old anywhere. His dream car…
a 2003 Infinity G35!
His dream became my nightmare about six months later when we discovered he was using drugs. We assumed it was marijuana, but didn’t know. We insisted on a clean drug test for him to continue driving. He refused. So, I took his keys. I knew he loved that car and was hopeful it would be a motivation for him to lay off the drugs. Instead, it only proved that the drugs had a stronger hold on him than his attachment to his dream car and the six months of payments he’d already invested in it. He never drove it again. With deep disappointment, I sold the car nine months later. Still, I don’t regret giving Matt the chance.
He did a lot of bus and Uber rides for quite a while, but was able to keep working and save enough money to afford another “great find.” So in May 2018 he bought a 2000 BMW from a private party. To his horror, the Secretary of State rejected the title as invalid. It was fraudulent. What a blow! All that money and the car was not legal to drive …or sell! More buses, Uber and rides from friends…and us.
It wasn’t till a year later he was able to get another car from a friend. It was a dark green 1998 Honda Civic. He drove it for six months.
In September of 2019 he bought a gray 2007 Ford Fusion. With hindsight we believe somewhere around this time he started using heroin. He got in a couple minor accidents that got him tickets and his car impounded. That took months to resolve. The disappointing thing was when he finally got his Ford Fusion out of the auto pound, he discovered it wasn’t even drivable. So, he sold it for scrap. This was just a couple months before going into a six-week residential rehab program.
In the months right after completing rehab in May of 2020, Matt started looking for his next car. But drugs closed the door on the next car —and everything else!