the first major purchase me and shaun made as grown ups was my car. a 2001 Xterra. When we bought it we were newlyweds. new to the city in our little duplex on Cooper and I-20. I have a long history of being hard on cars....
when i was 16 my parents bought me a car. a nice boring 1990 2 door black grand am. not exactly cool, but relativiely reliable. it overheated just often enough to scare me into not driving places i wasnt supposed to be. I drove a little bit too fast with the windows down and bad rap music blaring. A few days before graduation and 2 weeks shy of my 18th birthday it died on the feeder road on Hwy 6. Right in front of the Dairy Queen I worked at. I didn't think much of it. Used cars are supposed to break down. My dad called the next day and informed me that I blew the engine. I am not 100% sure what that means but i do know that we had to put it down.
For my 18th birthday and my graduation I got an equally boring car. A 1992 grey Taurus...or what I like to refer to as the grocery getter. The stereo wasnt nearly as good, but it had power windows and 4 doors. I did not look a gift horse in the mouth. I had been given not one but two cars. Now days I would just be thrilled if someone offered to pay for a tank of gas or change the oil. This was my college car. It took many trips around the Loop and even occasionally out to the strip. On my way to Mo Ranch I dropped the transmission, once again I am not quite sure what that phrase means……but it meant I was stuck in some scary town waiting for my dad to drive the 4 hours to rescue me.
Car #3 was supposed to be my college graduation present + my life savings of 6,427 dollars. It came a year and a half early, I can't remember what car malady was responsible but this time I had a much newer, less soccer mom 1996 forest green Jimmy. This car was unlucky and slightly possessed. My roommate backed it into a car across the street twice in only a matter of months. My roommate, not me because I wasn't know for my driving skills ( however I never backed into anyone….hmmm) My happiest moment in this car was driving ( or riding, because shaun was really driving) away from my wedding reception. Here in DFW I had a very unwelcome. On my first day of work someone slammed …and I do mean slammed into me at a stoplight. My back has never quite been the same since. The car also had an electrical short…which meant that the inside lights would just randomly turn on…usually in the middle of the night …meaning I would wake up to a dead battery. I drove a rental for almost a month…….and then a few weeks after getting my wrecked car back, someone else rearended me. This time I took the insurance check and hit the Nissan dealerships.
Buying a car is not quite like buying anything else. The first place we went to took my car keys to see what kind of trade in value and the little Asian salesman refused to give them back until we agreed to buy a car. Let's just say this tactic did not work, and I was glad to have a little bit of my dad in me. I drew a crowd while I yelled at the man to give me back me keys. Shaun and me finally found a slightly less pressuring salesman and got the car we wanted. I remember thinking, that I might have kids in this car ( not literally in the car, but while I owned it) and it would need to be kid friendly ( ie, have a backseat unlike my mom's new corvette). I drove Owen home from the hospital in it. FYI sitting in the backseat after a C-section is a bad idea. The baby will be just fine ( or scream wheter you are in the front seat or the back seat). I have always wanted a car w/ a sunroof. Well I finally have one, but now I never use it. Actually the seal isn't quite right and it makes this really really annoying whistle when you drive over 70. I have learned to tune it out but it drives Shaun crazy. As for accidents, there was an accident that involved me and an ATM machine and a door that will never quite close right….but that is about it. It was paid off in November. It has taken me to the mountains, moved me into my first house and more than one trip to the beach. Yesterday on the way home from Cooks Urgent Care Center and Owen's first breathing treatment it rolled over the infamous 100,000 mile mark. The blue popsicle that the ER nurse gave him was dripping all over the seat and I felt very much like a grown up. A grown up that didn't drive a minivan.
when i was 16 my parents bought me a car. a nice boring 1990 2 door black grand am. not exactly cool, but relativiely reliable. it overheated just often enough to scare me into not driving places i wasnt supposed to be. I drove a little bit too fast with the windows down and bad rap music blaring. A few days before graduation and 2 weeks shy of my 18th birthday it died on the feeder road on Hwy 6. Right in front of the Dairy Queen I worked at. I didn't think much of it. Used cars are supposed to break down. My dad called the next day and informed me that I blew the engine. I am not 100% sure what that means but i do know that we had to put it down.
For my 18th birthday and my graduation I got an equally boring car. A 1992 grey Taurus...or what I like to refer to as the grocery getter. The stereo wasnt nearly as good, but it had power windows and 4 doors. I did not look a gift horse in the mouth. I had been given not one but two cars. Now days I would just be thrilled if someone offered to pay for a tank of gas or change the oil. This was my college car. It took many trips around the Loop and even occasionally out to the strip. On my way to Mo Ranch I dropped the transmission, once again I am not quite sure what that phrase means……but it meant I was stuck in some scary town waiting for my dad to drive the 4 hours to rescue me.
Car #3 was supposed to be my college graduation present + my life savings of 6,427 dollars. It came a year and a half early, I can't remember what car malady was responsible but this time I had a much newer, less soccer mom 1996 forest green Jimmy. This car was unlucky and slightly possessed. My roommate backed it into a car across the street twice in only a matter of months. My roommate, not me because I wasn't know for my driving skills ( however I never backed into anyone….hmmm) My happiest moment in this car was driving ( or riding, because shaun was really driving) away from my wedding reception. Here in DFW I had a very unwelcome. On my first day of work someone slammed …and I do mean slammed into me at a stoplight. My back has never quite been the same since. The car also had an electrical short…which meant that the inside lights would just randomly turn on…usually in the middle of the night …meaning I would wake up to a dead battery. I drove a rental for almost a month…….and then a few weeks after getting my wrecked car back, someone else rearended me. This time I took the insurance check and hit the Nissan dealerships.
Buying a car is not quite like buying anything else. The first place we went to took my car keys to see what kind of trade in value and the little Asian salesman refused to give them back until we agreed to buy a car. Let's just say this tactic did not work, and I was glad to have a little bit of my dad in me. I drew a crowd while I yelled at the man to give me back me keys. Shaun and me finally found a slightly less pressuring salesman and got the car we wanted. I remember thinking, that I might have kids in this car ( not literally in the car, but while I owned it) and it would need to be kid friendly ( ie, have a backseat unlike my mom's new corvette). I drove Owen home from the hospital in it. FYI sitting in the backseat after a C-section is a bad idea. The baby will be just fine ( or scream wheter you are in the front seat or the back seat). I have always wanted a car w/ a sunroof. Well I finally have one, but now I never use it. Actually the seal isn't quite right and it makes this really really annoying whistle when you drive over 70. I have learned to tune it out but it drives Shaun crazy. As for accidents, there was an accident that involved me and an ATM machine and a door that will never quite close right….but that is about it. It was paid off in November. It has taken me to the mountains, moved me into my first house and more than one trip to the beach. Yesterday on the way home from Cooks Urgent Care Center and Owen's first breathing treatment it rolled over the infamous 100,000 mile mark. The blue popsicle that the ER nurse gave him was dripping all over the seat and I felt very much like a grown up. A grown up that didn't drive a minivan.
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