First Month with New Car / Last Moments with Old Car
There's been so much going on lately that I'm going to split this into two entries. I should have made an entry last week before the big trip to Ohio to watch my brother get married, but life got in the way. This entry will focus on the new car I bought as well as what I did with my beloved Geo Metro.
A month ago and after half a year of searching, Nicole and I finally found the car I wanted to buy that would replace the trusty Geo. In my last entry, I talked about the adventure of actually purchasing my new 2012 Mazda3 hatchback and at the time I hadn't received the car. What ended up happening during the following week was kind of bizarre. On the day they told me I'd be able to pick up the car, I phoned them and was told the car wasn't ready because they'd completely forgot to get it ready. I was warned it would be another week. It was very surprising and disappointing. We'd really been looking forward to getting it that day. Thankfully, the manager jumped into gear and had it done just before closing. I got a surprise phone call and we rushed out to pick the car up! It was all happening so fast! I had to go back the next day to get plates and DMV stickers for it but once all that was done, it was all mine. The adventure of finding and purchasing a car was over for now.
The car itself rides nicely. It's easy to drive and all the features are easy to control. There are dozens of buttons and everything is electronic, but the buttons make sense and it's simple to grasp the meaning of things. Very intuitive. I’m also discovering cool features about the car all the time, like a hidden compartment behind the glove box and a forward-sliding center arm rest. I’m so in love with the color and interior that it’s hard not to have an ego about it. I do drive around and catch other people looking my way and I like to think that I’ve got the most attractive car on the road at that moment. Coming off owning a Geo Metro, it really does feel like I’m suddenly driving the most luxurious car ever. And I own it, too! It blows my mind! I can’t wait to drive the stupid thing! I’ve already had it out and about showing off to friends and family and this summer we have several trips planned. It’s going to be great! The only bad thing I’ve discovered about the car so far is that it appears the horn is broken. We know the fuse and relay are good, so it’s just the plastic horn itself. Once I get some free time this coming weekend, I’ll replace it. If that’s the only problem with the car coming off the dealership lot, I think I’ve done extremely well.
Nicole and I drove up to Vista House in the Columbia River Gorge and took a few glory shots of the car to show off to people. Enjoy! (Click for full size)
For every new car, an old one must die. Now that I have the Mazda, I need to rid myself of the Geo. As I explained in a previous entry, several of my coworkers heard that I had a crummy old goofy car to sell and they’ve been impatiently waiting for me to find and buy the Mazda so they could take the Geo off my hands with the intention of destroying it for entertainment. When people first hear about their plan, it is a little scary. But the more I thought about it, it just seemed like the perfect way to retire the car. Instead of unceremoniously handing the keys over to a junk yard or donation site, my goofy coworkers wanted to give me a pile of cash and restore the car so that it could be driven hard until it died. Not only was it the smart thing to do, it was the right thing to do.
The day after I got the Mazda, I made plans to drive the Geo up to Portland to drop it off and sign the paperwork. Those final miles around the area were the last I’d put on that car in the driver’s seat. Right up until the end, the car was trustworthy and ready for an adventure. We signed the pink slip on the hood and I cleaned out my personal effects. That was nearly four weeks ago. Over the following two weeks, the new owner and his friends refurbished the Geo into a rally vehicle. They stripped the upholstery out, took out all the back windows, took out the back seats, painted stripes on the hood, and added a functioning hood scoop air intake. They also welded a large metal shield to the bottom of the engine so that anything kicked up would be deflected. Being as several of them are former mechanics, there were also several repairs they did to the car including fixing the rattling wheels and solving an electrical problem with the radiator fan that had plagued the car for a decade.
Seeing the Geo in action-ready condition was bizarre. On one hand, I swelled up with pride and gratitude knowing these guys really cared enough to fix up my beloved first vehicle. On the other hand, however, I relished in the delicious irony of knowing what doom awaited the poor car. When it was ready to go, they set a date for mid-April and invited us along to witness the mayhem. They loaded the Geo in a trailer and we drove miles out into the Tillamook forest to a campground that doubled as a rock loading site for local construction. Over the next two days, the new owner and his buddies drive the ever-loving hell out of the car until it died. They even bought extra tires just in case. Nicole and I were around for the first afternoon and we saw them put some serious hard miles on the car. It was amazing seeing the car do things I’d never ever dared. I rode along for one last trip and it was exactly like a roller coaster ride. Exactly. Caught some air, too. Too much fun. There’s video and photos but I’ll have those ready in a future entry. In the mean time, here’s a quick photo of the reworked car before being destroyed: (Click for full size)
In the end, the car finally died the following day when the engine plate shield fell off and a rock fractured the oil pan, fatally wounding the car we’ve been lovingly calling Penguin for more than a decade. They towed the car back to Portland and are planning on chopping it into bits to sell as scrap to fund the purchase of their next rally car. It all seems so fitting. I’m just waiting on receiving the license plates which I’ll probably frame or something. And so the epic story of my 1990 Geo Metro comes to an end. She was a good ship. (Click for full size)
A month ago and after half a year of searching, Nicole and I finally found the car I wanted to buy that would replace the trusty Geo. In my last entry, I talked about the adventure of actually purchasing my new 2012 Mazda3 hatchback and at the time I hadn't received the car. What ended up happening during the following week was kind of bizarre. On the day they told me I'd be able to pick up the car, I phoned them and was told the car wasn't ready because they'd completely forgot to get it ready. I was warned it would be another week. It was very surprising and disappointing. We'd really been looking forward to getting it that day. Thankfully, the manager jumped into gear and had it done just before closing. I got a surprise phone call and we rushed out to pick the car up! It was all happening so fast! I had to go back the next day to get plates and DMV stickers for it but once all that was done, it was all mine. The adventure of finding and purchasing a car was over for now.
The car itself rides nicely. It's easy to drive and all the features are easy to control. There are dozens of buttons and everything is electronic, but the buttons make sense and it's simple to grasp the meaning of things. Very intuitive. I’m also discovering cool features about the car all the time, like a hidden compartment behind the glove box and a forward-sliding center arm rest. I’m so in love with the color and interior that it’s hard not to have an ego about it. I do drive around and catch other people looking my way and I like to think that I’ve got the most attractive car on the road at that moment. Coming off owning a Geo Metro, it really does feel like I’m suddenly driving the most luxurious car ever. And I own it, too! It blows my mind! I can’t wait to drive the stupid thing! I’ve already had it out and about showing off to friends and family and this summer we have several trips planned. It’s going to be great! The only bad thing I’ve discovered about the car so far is that it appears the horn is broken. We know the fuse and relay are good, so it’s just the plastic horn itself. Once I get some free time this coming weekend, I’ll replace it. If that’s the only problem with the car coming off the dealership lot, I think I’ve done extremely well.
Nicole and I drove up to Vista House in the Columbia River Gorge and took a few glory shots of the car to show off to people. Enjoy! (Click for full size)
For every new car, an old one must die. Now that I have the Mazda, I need to rid myself of the Geo. As I explained in a previous entry, several of my coworkers heard that I had a crummy old goofy car to sell and they’ve been impatiently waiting for me to find and buy the Mazda so they could take the Geo off my hands with the intention of destroying it for entertainment. When people first hear about their plan, it is a little scary. But the more I thought about it, it just seemed like the perfect way to retire the car. Instead of unceremoniously handing the keys over to a junk yard or donation site, my goofy coworkers wanted to give me a pile of cash and restore the car so that it could be driven hard until it died. Not only was it the smart thing to do, it was the right thing to do.
The day after I got the Mazda, I made plans to drive the Geo up to Portland to drop it off and sign the paperwork. Those final miles around the area were the last I’d put on that car in the driver’s seat. Right up until the end, the car was trustworthy and ready for an adventure. We signed the pink slip on the hood and I cleaned out my personal effects. That was nearly four weeks ago. Over the following two weeks, the new owner and his friends refurbished the Geo into a rally vehicle. They stripped the upholstery out, took out all the back windows, took out the back seats, painted stripes on the hood, and added a functioning hood scoop air intake. They also welded a large metal shield to the bottom of the engine so that anything kicked up would be deflected. Being as several of them are former mechanics, there were also several repairs they did to the car including fixing the rattling wheels and solving an electrical problem with the radiator fan that had plagued the car for a decade.
Seeing the Geo in action-ready condition was bizarre. On one hand, I swelled up with pride and gratitude knowing these guys really cared enough to fix up my beloved first vehicle. On the other hand, however, I relished in the delicious irony of knowing what doom awaited the poor car. When it was ready to go, they set a date for mid-April and invited us along to witness the mayhem. They loaded the Geo in a trailer and we drove miles out into the Tillamook forest to a campground that doubled as a rock loading site for local construction. Over the next two days, the new owner and his buddies drive the ever-loving hell out of the car until it died. They even bought extra tires just in case. Nicole and I were around for the first afternoon and we saw them put some serious hard miles on the car. It was amazing seeing the car do things I’d never ever dared. I rode along for one last trip and it was exactly like a roller coaster ride. Exactly. Caught some air, too. Too much fun. There’s video and photos but I’ll have those ready in a future entry. In the mean time, here’s a quick photo of the reworked car before being destroyed: (Click for full size)
In the end, the car finally died the following day when the engine plate shield fell off and a rock fractured the oil pan, fatally wounding the car we’ve been lovingly calling Penguin for more than a decade. They towed the car back to Portland and are planning on chopping it into bits to sell as scrap to fund the purchase of their next rally car. It all seems so fitting. I’m just waiting on receiving the license plates which I’ll probably frame or something. And so the epic story of my 1990 Geo Metro comes to an end. She was a good ship. (Click for full size)
