The car that fits you
I have owned several cars over the last 43 years. There are some I was glad to get rid of and some that I hated to go. The same goes for other other material things I have accumulated over the years. For this article I will talk only about the cars since I recently had to purchase a newer one.
The first vehicle I had to drive was the family car, and I was glad to hand it down to my younger sister. It was a greenish brown panel-sided station wagon. It drove great, but it was the size of a land barge. It felt like you were driving on air. One minute you would be pulling out of the driveway and the next minute you unknowingly reached a speed of 70 miles per hour. There is nothing like a V-8 engine to get you down the road, but it sure was a gas guzzler.
I moved up to my own first car at 21. It was a 1979 Ford Thunderbird with t-tops. I loved my first car but did not realize how important it was to have the oil changed. It was a learning experience. Although I learned to always change the oil on time, it cost me my first car I ever owned.
After the Thunderbird, I decided to get a more conventional and economical car, a Buick Sierra. Anything I could do to get better gas mileage was perfect for me because work was at least 35 minutes away. Even after a few minor damages and several thousands-of-miles, it held up to be a great car for a few years. Then it died one day, never to be revived again.
My father-in-law found me a cute blue Pontiac Cutlass Supreme shortly after I got married. It was perfect for our little family. I have many memories in that car. It was a great family car until a lady rear ended me.
As years passed, I ended up switching to driving a company car. When I started looking for my daughter, Emily, a vehicle I actually found one for myself as well. My brother-in-law Bradley owned a used car lot, so we started our car shopping journey there first. He had several cars, but I noticed they were a little too pricey for the quality. However, I scanned the lot while he was trying to sell me one of his newer cars and under a covered garage there was the car I thought Emily would like, a 2001 Lexus 350 ES. I took it home to let her look it over, but being a picky sixteen year old she wanted something like an SUV, not a sedan. It wasn’t for her, but I fell in love with it. It had 103,000 miles on it when I bought it. I drove it for seven years until one day I was sitting at a red light and a lady rear-ended me. It totaled my precious car. The car that I never wanted to get rid of, that I never had any issues with, that my daughter and I took to all of her high school games, and the car I never expected to part with so soon. As silly as it may sound, I wanted to cry when I found out that it was totaled. The car of my dreams was gone. But, I got lucky and found another just like it and one year newer! I put 145,000 miles on that car in five years. I decided it is time for a newer car with fewer miles.
I’ve learned that cars are special and important aspects of our life. In fact, they are often staples in some of our favorite memories. It can hurt and it can be healing but it is always bittersweet to trade in an old car for a new one. Here are to all the new memories I will make in my newer car.