How My First Car Got Me Into Wrenching (And How I Sucked At It)

**Devar’s Journey: A Car Enthusiast’s Adventures with His First Nissan Maxima**

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### Introduction to the Podcast

Devar kicks off his video by introducing a new podcast he’s doing with Andrew Howell, titled *Wrench Every Day*. The podcast will be released every weekday on the *Wrench Every Day* channel, encouraging viewers to subscribe, like, and ask plenty of questions. The series promises to delve into tools, wrenching, engine swaps, and all things car culture. Devar invites the audience to check out the link below for more details.

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### My First Car: A 1998 Nissan Maxima GL E

Devar’s story begins with his first car, a 1998 Nissan Maxima GL e, which he affectionately refers to as “the start of tomorrow” in his journey as a car enthusiast. The GL e was the top-of-the-line luxury model and came only with an automatic transmission. Devar purchased the car for $6,200 after saving up from his retail job over a year. Despite his efforts, he still needed to borrow a few thousand dollars from his parents to complete the purchase.

A month later, before he knew anything about cars, Devar faced his first major mechanical issue: the transmission needed rebuilding, costing $2,000. It was his father who stepped in and covered the cost, leaving Devar grateful for their financial support. He acknowledges that without his parents’ help, especially in those early years, he wouldn’t have been able to pursue his passion for cars.

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### Learning by Doing: DIY Repairs and Modifications

Devar’s first project on the Maxima was replacing the taillights. Eager to customize his car, he wanted to match the red-clear taillights on the trunk with the existing ones. However, this simple task turned into a three-to-four-hour ordeal when he discovered that the taillights were glued in place. Undeterred, he learned valuable lessons about RTV (room temperature vulcanizing adhesive) and how to remove components safely.

His second DIY project was installing an aftermarket stereo system. Devar humorously recalls struggling with connecting the remote wires and eventually needing to call Kenwood for help. Despite his lack of experience, he managed to complete the installation. Since then, every aftermarket stereo he’s installed has been a Kenwood unit—a testament to their reliability and quality.

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### The First Manual Swap: A Lesson in Grit

Devar shares how his first car taught him nearly everything about car maintenance and modifications. One of his most ambitious projects was swapping out the automatic transmission for a manual gearbox. This swap marked the beginning of his journey into engine swaps and mechanical tinkering.

Devar also reflects on a minor traffic incident where he rear-ended a Nissan Xterra while driving carelessly as an 18-year-old. Fortunately, his insurance covered both cars’ damages, allowing him to purchase a parts car—a white Nissan Maxima with a five-speed manual transmission—for just $800. This was a smart move that saved him money and allowed him to continue his mechanical projects.

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### A Race Car’s Legacy: The Fifth Gen Maxima

The parts car Devar acquired turned out to have a fascinating history. It had been a race car, albeit with a blown engine. Devar jokes about the driver of this Maxima, whom he vaguely remembers as an older man with a mustache, dominating drag strips in Mexico or India. The driver’s “dad mode” and skill behind the wheel left a lasting impression on Devar.

Devar decided to perform an engine swap on his new Maxima, installing a 3.5-liter V6 engine sourced from another vehicle. Despite technical limitations—such as the front-wheel-drive block and lack of variable valve timing—the engine performed adequately. He achieved respectable times at the track, with a best of 13-8 seconds. While the car had its quirks, including wheel hop, it was undeniably fun to drive.

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### Conclusion: A Passion for Wrenching

Devar’s journey with his first Maxima and subsequent projects taught him the value of persistence and creativity in car culture. From trial-and-error DIY repairs to engine swaps and community-driven modifications, he highlights the importance of learning through hands-on experience. Devar expresses gratitude toward Kenwood for their reliable products and acknowledges the influence of fellow enthusiasts like Andrew Howell.

In closing, Devar invites viewers to tune into his podcast *Wrench Every Day*, where he and Andrew will discuss all things cars, tools, and wrenching. Whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast or just starting out, there’s something for everyone in their discussions about car culture and the joy of working on vehicles.

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This article captures Devar’s experiences and passion for cars, showcasing his growth as a DIY mechanic and his appreciation for the community that surrounds car culture.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhow's it going guys my name is devar and today I'm gonna show you a snippet from a new podcast I'm doing with Andrew Howell called wrench every day now we're gonna be posting this every single weekday on the wrench every day channel so be sure to subscribe like and ask us lots and lots of questions because we're gonna be talking about tools wrenching engine swaps and everything having to do with cars and car culture so check it out in the link below my first car was a 1998 Nissan Maxima GL e so GL e was the top-of-the-line luxury model that was automatic only I bought the car for $6,200 I worked in retail for a year and saved up and I still had to borrow money from my parents I had to borrow a few grand from them and I bought that car and about a month later this is before I knew anything about cars a month later I needed a transmission rebuild oh that transmission was rebuilt to the tune of $2,000 hmm and I feel like I'm almost familiar with transmission issues yeah so that that transmission was after it was rebuilt and thank you very much to my father who paid for that because I did not have the money to pay for that oh yeah big big ups to my parents also for helping me a lot financially in the early years because I couldn't have done it without them to be honest I'm very fortunate to have parents that were like hey we can help you with that yeah so that car was the start of tomorrow as a car guy I learned how to do everything on that car and what I mean everything I mean absolutely everything the very first thing I did on that car was taillights and I had to do I was doing red clear taillights which is they had like a red and amber taillight from stock but I wanted I wanted them to match the red clears on the trunk so I got red clear taillights and what ended up happening was it took me three to four hours to change out my taillights because I didn't know that there were there was this RTV on it there was this you know there's glue and I'm like why aren't they coming out and I'm trying to pry it and everything this is the level DIY that I was second thing I did was a stereo install and it got to the point where I didn't know what her remote wire was so I was wondering why this thing wasn't turning on I'm like the power and ground has run all that stuff and like and then we actually ended up calling Kenwood we called like the kind of and we're like what this thing isn't turning on and they're like yeah the other remote hooked up and we're like what's that so that that was that I think that literally every aftermarket stereo install that I've ever done in any car I've ever owned was a Kenwood yeah yeah Ken what makes Ken what makes good stuff yeah they do so shout out to Kenwood Big Ups oh yeah big up to the Kenwood yeah so I did a lot of stuff on that car I learned I did my first manual swap on your first car my first car man it was you dug in it was my only car and it was it was it was an interesting thing because I ended up rear-ending somebody well not not rear-ending somebody sort of wasn't paying attention was a stupid 18 year old kid and I grazed some Nissan Xterra so I like to screwed up his bumper Rowe Nissan Nissan it's a Nissan Nissan crime that's right so I screwed up his bumper is like it's like a plastic thing my I had full coverage at the time again thanks to parents and the the insurance paid for my car and his car but instead of my car going to the body shop I just found a parts car and the parts car was a white Nissan Maxima like mine was a little bit older the paint wasn't exactly the same shade but I didn't really care so it was a white Nissan Maxima but 5-speed so I said I can kill two birds one stone yes so they're giving me you know 1,500 bucks for insurance what I can do is I can buy this car for like 800 bucks and then I can pocket the rest or you know give it to my parents or whatever so I end up doing that I bought this car that apparently it was actually a pretty prominent race car I know there's not a lot of maximum race cars but because actually a pretty prominent prominent car it just had a blown engine I've seen video of an older guy destroying a Porsche I think on a drag strip with a manual Maxima right yeah that's like how we're shifting like I feel like he's gonna snap the the I you think I think he was it was like a Mexican looking guy or at Indian looking guy I can't can't remember he was definitely definitely looked and there he was sweet mustache oh yeah yeah he's like he's like mid-40s Oh complete dad mode and he's just ripping it yeah absolutely absolutely ripping it yeah so that was a maximum Oh turbo there's the other guy that that was a fifth gen maxima I had a fourth gen there's a few guys that did fortune máximos that did nitrous and they got into the tens and that was a huge deal for the Maximo community because nobody ever had that's a huge deal period like that's a fast you owe me two in certain quarters no not for the GTRs and su prison blob blob like how much ram how much is a Maxima compared to one of those no yeah that's true so this Maxima I did the five speed swap I did a 3.5 liter swap from a I I always would say that oh it's the same block as a 350z technically it's correct but it's not because it's a front-wheel drive block I had different different heads I had different intake and it didn't make as much power didn't have variable valve timing for for the intake and exhaust through fifties he did but for all intensive purposes you know I would say go through the xeroderma Maxima and I had 3.5 in there it ran sort of good ish you know good enough I got like a 13-8 at the track which was which was fine yeah tunnel wheel hop but it was it was a fun little car and then I ended up getting rid of it I sold it to one of my friends who also had a maxima and then I had youhow's it going guys my name is devar and today I'm gonna show you a snippet from a new podcast I'm doing with Andrew Howell called wrench every day now we're gonna be posting this every single weekday on the wrench every day channel so be sure to subscribe like and ask us lots and lots of questions because we're gonna be talking about tools wrenching engine swaps and everything having to do with cars and car culture so check it out in the link below my first car was a 1998 Nissan Maxima GL e so GL e was the top-of-the-line luxury model that was automatic only I bought the car for $6,200 I worked in retail for a year and saved up and I still had to borrow money from my parents I had to borrow a few grand from them and I bought that car and about a month later this is before I knew anything about cars a month later I needed a transmission rebuild oh that transmission was rebuilt to the tune of $2,000 hmm and I feel like I'm almost familiar with transmission issues yeah so that that transmission was after it was rebuilt and thank you very much to my father who paid for that because I did not have the money to pay for that oh yeah big big ups to my parents also for helping me a lot financially in the early years because I couldn't have done it without them to be honest I'm very fortunate to have parents that were like hey we can help you with that yeah so that car was the start of tomorrow as a car guy I learned how to do everything on that car and what I mean everything I mean absolutely everything the very first thing I did on that car was taillights and I had to do I was doing red clear taillights which is they had like a red and amber taillight from stock but I wanted I wanted them to match the red clears on the trunk so I got red clear taillights and what ended up happening was it took me three to four hours to change out my taillights because I didn't know that there were there was this RTV on it there was this you know there's glue and I'm like why aren't they coming out and I'm trying to pry it and everything this is the level DIY that I was second thing I did was a stereo install and it got to the point where I didn't know what her remote wire was so I was wondering why this thing wasn't turning on I'm like the power and ground has run all that stuff and like and then we actually ended up calling Kenwood we called like the kind of and we're like what this thing isn't turning on and they're like yeah the other remote hooked up and we're like what's that so that that was that I think that literally every aftermarket stereo install that I've ever done in any car I've ever owned was a Kenwood yeah yeah Ken what makes Ken what makes good stuff yeah they do so shout out to Kenwood Big Ups oh yeah big up to the Kenwood yeah so I did a lot of stuff on that car I learned I did my first manual swap on your first car my first car man it was you dug in it was my only car and it was it was it was an interesting thing because I ended up rear-ending somebody well not not rear-ending somebody sort of wasn't paying attention was a stupid 18 year old kid and I grazed some Nissan Xterra so I like to screwed up his bumper Rowe Nissan Nissan it's a Nissan Nissan crime that's right so I screwed up his bumper is like it's like a plastic thing my I had full coverage at the time again thanks to parents and the the insurance paid for my car and his car but instead of my car going to the body shop I just found a parts car and the parts car was a white Nissan Maxima like mine was a little bit older the paint wasn't exactly the same shade but I didn't really care so it was a white Nissan Maxima but 5-speed so I said I can kill two birds one stone yes so they're giving me you know 1,500 bucks for insurance what I can do is I can buy this car for like 800 bucks and then I can pocket the rest or you know give it to my parents or whatever so I end up doing that I bought this car that apparently it was actually a pretty prominent race car I know there's not a lot of maximum race cars but because actually a pretty prominent prominent car it just had a blown engine I've seen video of an older guy destroying a Porsche I think on a drag strip with a manual Maxima right yeah that's like how we're shifting like I feel like he's gonna snap the the I you think I think he was it was like a Mexican looking guy or at Indian looking guy I can't can't remember he was definitely definitely looked and there he was sweet mustache oh yeah yeah he's like he's like mid-40s Oh complete dad mode and he's just ripping it yeah absolutely absolutely ripping it yeah so that was a maximum Oh turbo there's the other guy that that was a fifth gen maxima I had a fourth gen there's a few guys that did fortune máximos that did nitrous and they got into the tens and that was a huge deal for the Maximo community because nobody ever had that's a huge deal period like that's a fast you owe me two in certain quarters no not for the GTRs and su prison blob blob like how much ram how much is a Maxima compared to one of those no yeah that's true so this Maxima I did the five speed swap I did a 3.5 liter swap from a I I always would say that oh it's the same block as a 350z technically it's correct but it's not because it's a front-wheel drive block I had different different heads I had different intake and it didn't make as much power didn't have variable valve timing for for the intake and exhaust through fifties he did but for all intensive purposes you know I would say go through the xeroderma Maxima and I had 3.5 in there it ran sort of good ish you know good enough I got like a 13-8 at the track which was which was fine yeah tunnel wheel hop but it was it was a fun little car and then I ended up getting rid of it I sold it to one of my friends who also had a maxima and then I had you\n"