One of the more important rites of passage a teenager goes through is acquiring their first car. A car is a visual symbol of freedom and independence, of being unbeholden to anyone or anything else (except for gas prices). For adolescents, these are the qualities they have been attempting to have since they have had to come in for dinner before their friends.
But a teenager’s car symbolizes more than independence; for many, it also serves as a signifier of one’s interests and personality. A high school’s parking lot can predict the different cliques and groups present in the school, solely off the different types of vehicles parked there.
A group of lifted full-sized pickup trucks sporting light bars and political bumper stickers usually means a group of young men who come from rural areas and like to drive off-road attend the school. Whereas a group of small all-wheel drive wagons decorated with ski racks and different political bumper stickers is a sign that a group of teenagers who wear Chaco sandals and like hiking are present.
Subarus are a common sight, with many separate groups adopting them, such as the aforementioned Chaco kids, along with groups of teenagers who enjoy listening to music with loud bass and wear flatbrims, among others. These cars are decorated very differently; however, all of them likely need their head gasket replaced within the next 100 miles, which is unlikely to happen from any type of owner.
In Leavenworth, and therefore at Cascade High School, people are not so easily sorted into stereotypes. Due to the abundance of rugged terrain, many teenagers own some sort of off-road capable vehicle, although these are usually chosen purely due to practicality then allegiance to any sort of group.
“[I bought my truck] pretty much because it was a good deal,” said senior Brendan Fallon about his 1989 Toyota Pickup. “… It was just the perfect truck for me, four-wheel drive, and the 22RE engine lasts forever.”
Off road vehicles tend to require more maintenance than cars that spend their life on pavement, which can be a huge cost of ownership. Brendan, and many others at Cascade, prefer to work on their vehicles themselves, instead of driving them to a mechanic. This is both a cost-saving measure and a way of connecting with something tangible, which is ever more important in today’s age of digital media and virtual goods. Having a car from before the advent of computers and microchips can serve as a nice anchor to reality and has the added bonus of being much cheaper to run.
Owning an older car does not always guarantee a cheap and easy repair experience, however, as attested by senior Madison Brewer. Madison’s supercharged 1982 Toyota MR2 is perhaps the most unique car in the school – but ownership doesn’t come cheap. On top of the $14,000 she spent on buying it, when asked about maintenance costs, she gave out a figure higher than the total value of her car: around $20,000. She is quick to say this number does include a lot of replacement parts and modifications, such as new tires and fixed bodywork.
“I really wasn’t into [the car] at first,” claimed Madison, “But I went to go and see it, and I fell in love with it, the way that it looks like a rocket ship.”
Similarly to Brendan, she also does all of the maintenance herself, despite working on a car that looks like it came from the future people imagined in the ‘80s, a time of neon gridlines and pop-up headlights. Interestingly, both her and Brendan’s vehicles were made in the same factory a mere 7 years apart.
Not all teenagers are so in tune with their cars though. Many simply want to go from point A to point B and are happy with whatever their family gives them, such as in the case of junior Dylan Munley.
“My Grandpa wasn’t driving [his car] anymore, so he gave it to me,” shrugged Dylan when asked about his car. “I don’t really know much about cars. It kind of just works.” Dylan owns what is probably the most ubiquitous car in Washington State: a silver Subaru Outback with a bike rack. Despite not being immersed in technical knowledge, Dylan said that he had no regrets about his car and likes not worrying about car problems on top of his already busy schedule.
In such a varied town as Leavenworth, it makes sense that there are many different attitudes toward car ownership among high schoolers. There is less of a divide amongst the cars different groups drive, and more of a scale of how in-depth individuals are willing to get with their vehicles, regardless of affiliation.
While teenagers at other schools might be motivated by external factors, such as their image or fitting into pre-established groups, students at Cascade tend to follow their own path, choosing cars on their own terms. In true Leavenworth style, they have turned their cars from a reflection of a group to an expression of the self.
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