baby you can drive my car
Originally published at jasonackerman.com. You can comment here or there.
Cars. I hate them. I really do. I was hoping that by 2010, we’d be riding People Movers like the old Disneyland attraction, or self-driving cars (C’mon Google, you’re almost there), or maybe even just science-fiction style matter-stream transporters. That would be awesome. Scramble my molecules, shoot them somewhere else, then reassemble them. And if you want to accidentally drop some of the beer belly molecules off into hyperspace somewhere, that would be wicked cool.
Our crappy but awesome Toyota Previa started to have some transmission issues while we were in Memphis, and since Memphis happens to be over 1,000 miles away, we thought it best to leave it there and not try to drive it across Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. So we hopped onto Craigslist (thank you Craig!) and picked up a new crappy but awesome minivan for the whopping sum of $700. It’s not perfect, but it should keep us going for awhile until we come up with something better. The Previa is currently for sale in Memphis, TN.
Then, we got home, and here I am out in the middle of nowhere (ok, actually I’m in the Lowry area of east Denver), and my Honda Passport, our faithful transportation companion for zillions of miles and over 7 years, has decided to no longer move forward. It acts as if the parking brake is jammed on. No matter what the real issue is… it won’t move forward, and I’m tired of it all. So it’s going to get towed to the mechanic for a diagnosis, then it either goes to the scrap heap or on to Craigslist for whatever someone chooses to pay me for it.
Which leaves us with one car. So now the question is… scrape together (another) $1000 for a dirt cheap car, that will be crappy but awesome and also paid for? Or bite the bullet, realize that driving a family around in hoopty wagons isn’t exactly the safest plan in the world, and take on a car loan for the first time since 2003? I’m leaning toward the loan. I really really really don’t want a car payment. It’s been great (and necessary) to not have one in recent years, but this is getting ridiculous. It might just be time to take the pain and hope we can get something decent for little money.
I hate cars.
Our Toyota Previa, in its parking place where we left it for the last time.