Your best bet in a used car will be a well-maintained American car. I don't want to get into the U.S./rest of the world "discussion" being held on other threads. I'll just say that proper maintenance has more to do with a car's trouble-free operation than where it is made. Right now, there are some decent American cars out there, but perception has not caught up with the reality, so American cars suffer more depreciation than many foreign cars. As a buyer of a used car, you can take advantage of that. Some of the cars you might want to look at include the Ford Taurus, or just anything midsize or larger from GM. I'm guessing that, since you got to the age of 16 without being a "gearhead," you mostly want a comfortable, reliable car. These will do the job. They shouldn't cost a fortune for insurance, either. Mikie is right -- even if you're paying for your own insurance, it will be cheaper to piggyback on your parents' policy than it will be for you to go solo. Ask about discounts if you get good grades in school or are willing to drive only a certain number of miles per month, etc. Finally, what else I wish I'd known about cars at your age? Having a car is a joy and a privilege -- and a responsibility. As a teenager, you have the benefit of quick reflexes and (I hope) formal training. You can be an excellent driver. But there's no substitute for experience -- especially at night in the rain and on icy roads. I knew how to steer out of a skid -- until the first time I found myself in one and narrowly missed a fence as I spun into a farmer's field. It's different when it really happens. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that you're immortal (every teenager thinks so; so did I). You're in control of almost two tons of metal and glass and plastic, so be careful. When I was 16, nobody had cell phones and we were lucky if the car had an FM radio, nevermind multi-channel stereo systems and iPod links and the like. I know teenagers are better at multi-tasking than they used to be, but you still have one primary task in a car -- driving. Don't be distracted by fiddling with the stereo or talking with friends. It's okay to concentrate on driving. Professional auto racers do. Have fun! Getting my first car was a blast. I hope you find one you really like and have many happy miles with it.

Look at a repair manual for your car. A general approach, not necessarily applicable for all models: 1. Reove the seat. Its fastneing method varies with the car. On some, the seat is held down by clip-in arrangement. You depress/push the seat in a certain direction to unclip it and then lift out. 2. Look inside the trunk to try to discover how the seat back is held in and proceed from there. 3. I should have mentioned this first. Look inside the trunk at the construction behind the seat back. you may find a formed sheet metal bracing that spans the area behind the seat and this will defeat your project, because after the seat back is removed, that bracing will still be there and is part of the body work. 4. Your best bet would be to get a model that has fold-down rear seats. The work is already done for you. Just fold down the seats to increase the rear cargo space. This feature is more likely to be found on SUVs: For example, a Jeep Cherokee or a Honda CR-V. * * * * * * * * * * * If you intend to haul stuff on a regular basis, why not get a small pickup or a SUV in the first place?

Thank-you for the compliment. The thing is I'm not alone out here, and I know a lot of guys that are even better techs than I am. Let's say that's one of the reasons that when I see sham stories like Danielle's on TV I simply don't roll over and let her say what she wants without challenging her. " what do you think of buying a new car and when the warranty is about to expire trade it in" People that do that enable the dealers to build the castles they sell the cars out of. One of my customers had a stroke about seven years ago, and has been disabled since then. He had been to the shop only hours before and I had done a pre purchase used car check for him, and at the same time I was fixing a battery cable on his Celebrity to cure a no-start. Of course it turned out that they needed the Celebrity to run, and suddenly they were not in a position to buy another car. Time passed, and while DV is still no longer working, the kids have made it through college and they have moved to a smaller house and are getting by quite nicely. About three years ago the Oldsmobile Aurora that was still a relatively new car for them when DV had his stroke lost the head gaskets. It's a 3.5l DOHC aluminum block known as the mini Northstar, so that means you drop the engine and tranny as an assembly out of the bottom. Every headbolt pulls the threads out with it, and that means I had to buy a special tool kit which rebores those bolt holes, and installs threaded inserts into which the headbolts thread back into. Combine that with some other service issues that were due to be performed and the total bill was close to $3700. This car was worth nothing in a trade since it was over 130K miles. I gave them their options, anmd let them decide what they wanted to do. If you "assume" payments of around $400.00 a month for a new car, then at ten months to a year they are essentially at the break even point. Except for the little detail of depreciation of the new car the moment you drive it off the lot. Every month past that is a bonus. There is always some risk in any decision. Have an accident with this, and it's gone and you don't see your money for the repairs back. Buy the new car, and while it's not likely that you get a bad one it is possible, and with your current car at least you do know what you have. Today she still makes the "car payment" to a savings account exactly as I outlined earlier. She of course since she was doing that had the cash available to go ahead and decide to fix the Oldsmobile. If the transmission failed on it today, she could very comfortably choose to fix it or go ahead and buy a new one with cash. When she hit 190K miles, she was in for basic services and asked me how much further will this car go? She still loves the car. My answer was basically what I said earlier, it can keep going till the day she decides she does not want to go further with it, or until I tell her it's time. Frankly, I don't think it's any time soon. At least not in the next five years anyway.....

Look in the ceiling fan department for a medallion. Lightweight plastic. Home Depot usually has better selection than does Lowes. And search online. Was this drywall hole created after the house was initially completed? NEC requires that gaps between the box and the drywall greater than 1/8" be repaired with drywall compound. This post was edited by bus_driver on Fri, Jul 26, 13 at 20:29