Originally Posted by QuasiMondo

Buy an old Mitsubishi. Buy a Factory Service Manual for that Mitubishi. Try to keep that Mitsubishi running trouble free for one year. You will learn more about cars than you ever care to know trying to keep that Mitsubishi running.

I owe all of my current automotive knowledge to the two Eclipses and Galant I owned (yes, I was a glutton for punishment).