The Cars We Love

When Doug and I were dating, we walked, borrowed bikes, bummed rides, and used public transportation to get wherever we needed to go. (That's why most of our Friday night dates consisted of renting a movie and buying bagel sandwiches at Mama's Cafe, and spending the evening on the velvety gold couch of Doug's pink house apartment.) So we appreciate the cars we have owned since then.



By the time we got married, Doug had inherited a VW Rabbit from his brother and sister-in-law, and my parents had handed down to me the family station wagon. You can imagine the comments people made when we returned from our honeymoon, moved into on-campus married student housing (aka. "The Rabbit Hutches"), and drove a station wagon! Since we both lived, worked, and studied on campus, and we didn't want to pay to insure and maintain both cars, we sold the Rabbit. (Well, ok, we practically gave it away. We're much better at buying than selling cars!)



A few years later, the station wagon was starting to show signs of old age, and maybe a little abuse. So we decided it was time to buy something newer. After searching for a while, we found a car we fell in love with:


Our '95 Ford Contour. It was beautiful. Only two years old, low miles, snazzy leather interior, tinted windows (it wasn't until a few years later that my cousin made fun of me for their purplish tint...I hadn't really noticed), and a sporty 5-speed manual transmission! Woohoo! We were going to trade in our station wagon, but when my dad heard what the dealership was going to offer us for it (peanuts, you might say), he decided he wanted to buy it back from us instead. (Uh, yeah...he bought the car from us that he had given freely a few years prior. I promise, it was his idea, not mine! But that's beside the point.)



We loved driving our cool new car. I must say, it was probably a source of unrighteous pride for me. I remember taking my brother for a spin one night soon after we got the Contour. He was so jealous that I had a stick shift, and he didn't. But he made fun of my driving, because I was still getting used to the clutch. Then we pulled over, and I let him drive. Guess who was laughing then!



I also laughed, a few months later, at the Jiffy Lube technician who finished the oil change, tried to pull it out to the parking lot, and got stuck in the middle of a busy road because he couldn't figure out how to get it into reverse. (There is a little trick.)



We let a few of Doug's brothers use it for hot dates during their college years, and I'm told that there were a few historic kisses that took place in our beloved Contour. (I won't name names...) I can't blame them--it was a very swank spot.



Within a few years, it was time to add a second family vehicle, and thus began my life as a mini-van mom. The Contour officially became "Doug's car", but I still loved driving it whenever I got the chance.



Then we moved to Washington, and for the first time, our precious Contour started to give us trouble. In fact, neither one of our vehicles enjoyed this place very much, I guess. The minivan bit the dust back in 2006, and I got my second minivan, but the Contour kept going. She was getting old, and worn down, but she was still trusty. She would go through every little repair like a champ. And even though her trunk got leaky and moldy, and she lost a seatbelt, and she suffered a few exterior scratches, and her driver's seat electronic adjustment buttons started to stick, and she was testy about letting you open her driver side door....She was still a decent drive, if you could look past all that...



...Until recently, that is. Our poor little Contour has lived a good life. She has given so much. But now, she's got a terminal illness, and it's time to let her rest. Farewell, fine friend. We'll miss you. (Well, at least I will. Don't listen to Doug. And don't read the rest of this post...)



So on Wednesday, we brought home Doug's new car. There are a few similarities to our car-buying experience of one decade ago. Doug's new car is two years old. It's got low miles. It's got tinted windows (but they are not purple.) But there's one big difference this decade. We are going Japanese. When we told our mechanic (whom we adore and trust) that we'd get a new car instead of fixing the Contour, he recommended a Toyota, or a Honda. Our new van is a Toyota, and it's been great. And now Doug's driving a Honda.

We were feeling pretty happy about our wheels...for about 24 hours.

Last night, Doug took the van to the Cannery to bring home a large load of food storage. On his way home, he called me. There was something wrong with our van. The van that is a TOYOTA, and less than 2 years old, and just had an oil change 2 days ago, and has run perfectly up until that minute. It suddenly decided it didn't want to leave the Cannery parking lot.

Am I cursed? We now own 3 cars, and only one of them is driveable. What the hey?

We managed to get the van to the dealership. Whatever the problem is, it is certainly under warranty. But they're not sure they can even look at it today. They're booking a week out, they say. At the TOYOTA service department, mind you. And remember, our Ford Contour never had any issues until it was about 9 years old. Something is wrong with this scenario, I think.