The white Chrysler Cordoba he bought for $350 to transport himself and his friend across the country to BYU, we parked illegally and it was impounded. We couldn't even find the cash to set it free! So we left it there. Nuts. Then he spent all his cash buying a red Z24 Cavalier the summer we were dating. It was a fast car with a very stiff clutch and we enjoyed zipping around in it. Until one night when I was pregnant with Natasha, a man in another lane fell asleep, crashed his car into a fire hydrant that was thrown under our car and totaled it. That was scary.
The weekend before Natasha was born, we purchased the only new car we could afford: a dark green, 1998 Saturn SL. We figured we'd keep this economical car through graduate school, then buy a nicer one. It was bare bones with no power steering or even a tape deck. It became our sole vehicle for as long as we could get away with it--five years. Once I became pregnant with Dane, we knew we wouldn't be able to fit three car seats in the back of the Saturn and had to look for something else.
We tripped onto my dream family vehicle when we set out to buy a minivan (which I hate!). As we were test driving a minivan one night, I saw a white 2002 Ford Explorer XLT across the car lot and sneaked over to drool over it. I couldn't believe that at $22,000, it was cheaper than the minivan we were looking at! I fell in love and we left that night with my new auto. I babied that truck for the next 11 years. I absolutely loved driving it. It was good looking, comfortable, accommodated our growing family well and it was my baby. This year, everything started to change--lots of cracks in the windshield, a constant thumping from the air-conditioning accompanied us on every drive, the back hatch door broke, the radio stopped working and, finally, the transmission gave out. After four months of running it on a wing and a prayer, we decided it was time to find a new car. Before I knew it one Saturday, we were leaving Jerry Seiner GMC with a brand new, fully-loaded, white, 2013 Acadia. It has been 15 years since owning a new vehicle and we have only owned two family vehicles that entire time. (Sure, three years ago we bought Shayne a 1975 yellow corvette for his 40th birthday, but seeing as it has been in pieces for most of that time, I'm not counting it! ;))
It was really fun for me to drive the Acadia for the first few weeks. I parked it way out in parking lots, I threatened the kids to barely breathe in my new car hoping to preserve that new car smell and feel as long as possible--what can I say? I love being having a new car!!
Until three weeks into it when, in a rush, I backed the Acadia out of my garage right into the Saturn!!! And suddenly, my new car had a five-inch ding in it and completely roughed up bumper! I cried the whole night. And Shayne was totally cool about the accident. We got her fixed up at a great auto body shop and she looks good as new. And have I driven her since she came back to my garage?? Nope. Now I'm scared and don't want to enjoy a new car anymore. Crazy, I know. But that's how I roll...I'm sure I'll get over it...someday...
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