Carmaker, carmaker, make me a match...
So let's go back to the beginning of the last few weeks...
My baby girl is gone. It's official; Sugar is totalled. I loved that car. I bought Sugar (so dubbed because of the license plate letters) in 2004 before leaving a long-term relationship. She was a great car; she was freedom, independence, just so much wrapped up in a silver 2004 Honda Civic. I remember driving home with her, opening up the roof and feeling the sunshine come through during what was a hugely crappy time in my life, hoping that things would get better in a few months. Oy. I miss her. Have I mentioned that I loved that car? I mean, loved that car?
The day before the wedding, Steph (maid of honor) and I were driving in downtown Seattle, and a guy pulled up next to me and said, "Miss! Your tire is going flat!"
A side note: never, EVER do this to someone. You are not helping them. You are distracting them, mmmm kay? I am not saying that the accident is the guy's fault, nope, the accident is my fault and mine alone. But if someone's driving, let them pay attention and drive instead of having them staring at you trying to figure out what the hell you're saying to them and pointing to on their car. If the tire's flat, then they'll figure it out soon enough on their own.
Back to the story. We were rushing to pick up my wedding dress before the beach party, and I started to flip out thinking that I needed to get to a gas station right away. A minute later I drove through a series of green lights, failing to notice that the last light in the series was red. Bam. I nailed a bus starting into the intersection. Thank goodness no one else was injured in the accident; all the passengers and the bus driver were fine, no pedestrians were involved, and Steph was fine.
That day was a series of firsts: my first car accident, my first time on a backboard, and my first ride in an ambulance. I hit my head against the window, so I had to go to the hospital to make sure I didn't have a brain hemorrhage since I'm on blood thinners for the blood clots in my lungs. That was the last time I got to see my baby gal. Scott and Bob (Steph's hubby; I didn't call her matron earlier b/c she hates that title) cleaned out the car, Steph went to the hospital with me, and my aunt and uncle picked up the dress.
They totalled the car while we were in Hawaii, and now Suggie-Sugs is headed off to a salvage yard. I totally wanted to go to the yard and do some sort of ritual to say goodbye to the car, but that's bordering on the silly. Besides, I don't think my insurance company would look kindly on paying further impound fees to hold onto the car for a car burial, y'know? I think that might be the easiest way to get myself dropped, and since my insurance rawks, that would be very baaaaaad.
Oh well. As Steph pointed out, Sugar was instrumental in ending that former part of my life and helped me launch this phase. I know, it's weird, but hopefully someone out there is also attached to his/her car and gets this post. And if not, then more points for me on the weirdo front. :-)
So, new marriage, new car! This weekend it's off to car shopping. We're considering a Subaru Outback, a Honda Civic, or a Toyota Corolla. Any suggestions? Tomorrow, more on the wedding!
My baby girl is gone. It's official; Sugar is totalled. I loved that car. I bought Sugar (so dubbed because of the license plate letters) in 2004 before leaving a long-term relationship. She was a great car; she was freedom, independence, just so much wrapped up in a silver 2004 Honda Civic. I remember driving home with her, opening up the roof and feeling the sunshine come through during what was a hugely crappy time in my life, hoping that things would get better in a few months. Oy. I miss her. Have I mentioned that I loved that car? I mean, loved that car?
The day before the wedding, Steph (maid of honor) and I were driving in downtown Seattle, and a guy pulled up next to me and said, "Miss! Your tire is going flat!"
A side note: never, EVER do this to someone. You are not helping them. You are distracting them, mmmm kay? I am not saying that the accident is the guy's fault, nope, the accident is my fault and mine alone. But if someone's driving, let them pay attention and drive instead of having them staring at you trying to figure out what the hell you're saying to them and pointing to on their car. If the tire's flat, then they'll figure it out soon enough on their own.
Back to the story. We were rushing to pick up my wedding dress before the beach party, and I started to flip out thinking that I needed to get to a gas station right away. A minute later I drove through a series of green lights, failing to notice that the last light in the series was red. Bam. I nailed a bus starting into the intersection. Thank goodness no one else was injured in the accident; all the passengers and the bus driver were fine, no pedestrians were involved, and Steph was fine.
That day was a series of firsts: my first car accident, my first time on a backboard, and my first ride in an ambulance. I hit my head against the window, so I had to go to the hospital to make sure I didn't have a brain hemorrhage since I'm on blood thinners for the blood clots in my lungs. That was the last time I got to see my baby gal. Scott and Bob (Steph's hubby; I didn't call her matron earlier b/c she hates that title) cleaned out the car, Steph went to the hospital with me, and my aunt and uncle picked up the dress.
They totalled the car while we were in Hawaii, and now Suggie-Sugs is headed off to a salvage yard. I totally wanted to go to the yard and do some sort of ritual to say goodbye to the car, but that's bordering on the silly. Besides, I don't think my insurance company would look kindly on paying further impound fees to hold onto the car for a car burial, y'know? I think that might be the easiest way to get myself dropped, and since my insurance rawks, that would be very baaaaaad.
Oh well. As Steph pointed out, Sugar was instrumental in ending that former part of my life and helped me launch this phase. I know, it's weird, but hopefully someone out there is also attached to his/her car and gets this post. And if not, then more points for me on the weirdo front. :-)
So, new marriage, new car! This weekend it's off to car shopping. We're considering a Subaru Outback, a Honda Civic, or a Toyota Corolla. Any suggestions? Tomorrow, more on the wedding!
3 Comments:
We're a Subaru household. I have an Outback Sport, Dave has a Tribeca (we'll be trading as soon as Cate is in a forward-facing car seat, since the Tribeca has the flip-down DVD player for passengers in the back). But my Outback Sport will be 6 years old next month, and other than routine maintenance, it's never needed any major repairs. I did have to get all new tires last year, but that's because I'm a moron and didn't know that you're supposed to have them rotated periodically. Oops.
But you know, every other car I've had has been either a Honda or a Toyota, so you can't really go wrong there either. The main perk of the Subaru is that all models have four wheel-drive, which is sort of handy around here with the hills.
I bought a 1998 used Subaru Legacy/Outback....3 and a half years ago for $9000.......and it's been the best car ever.....I love the AWD....and after last winters wintery mess I'm glad I had that....for me the biggest thing was the 5 speed w/ cruise control...I had know idea that you could have a standard with cruise control.....anyway that would be my pick....oh yeah it also has two lighter plug in thingys which is great for traveling since I have a satellite radio and a plugin cooler.
Supposedly you can't kill Corollas. They are supposed to be THE reliable, affordable option on the market today... and yet, I killed one. I got it used at 35,000 miles, but it was Toyota Certified so it should have been fine blah blah blah.
I don't know how the previous owner treated it. I do know it was repossessed, because CarFax said rrso, but for me it was a lemon. That experience kind of soured me (har har) on Toyotas.
You know I've been through this car totalling thing myself, and all I can say is it really, really sucks.
I ultimately went with a Suzuki Aerio for my brand new car last fall. It's almost identical to the Toyota Matrix in every way, but 's about $4,000 less brand new. It also has a 100,000 mile warranty, compared to Toyotas 60,000 mile warranty AND the Suzuki warranty is transferrable to a new owner if you sell it before 100,000 miles.
It handles great in sleet, snow, rain, and a tornado touchdown yesterday. It's not supposed to be as "well made" as a Toyota, but Joel's 2001 Suzuki Aerio (yeah, we're the matching car couple: barf) hasn't had any major problems outside standard maintenance.
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