When did you start taking care of your car?

[Theroy]

I'm brand new here. Just found the site today. I'm 32 and I never used to care about the appearance of my cars until I recently bought one brand new. My first car was an old Audi with electrical problems ($600). I could honk the horn by pushing on the steering column and the ash tray had to be pushed all the way in or it wouldn't start (no joke). Suffice it to say, I really wasn't worried about how it looked. I washed it every couple of months but never polished it. It was dish soap and a rag. Succeeding cars didn't fare much better.

Now that I've paid top dollar for a brand new (albeit economy) car, I really want to take care of it. Other auto enthusiasts I've met seem to be the type that take care of all their stuff or have always been anal about details. I'm not like that, which made me wonder if I was a freak. Am I the only one who came to car care late? When did you start taking proper care of your cars (detailing, waxing, etc)? Was it a new car that did it or were you swabbing and waxing the old clunker when you were 18?

Glad I found this place!

~Theroy