So long, Susie Q
I bought my little blue beauty, Susie Subaru, in 2003. She had only 10 miles on her.
Now, almost ten years later, she has over 230,000 miles racked up.
Throughout that period, my home/work combination has required my to commute, from living in the mountains (45 minutes just to get to town) to my current situation of traffic heavy drives up to South San Francisco each day. And Susie Subaru has been a faithful car throughout it all, putting up with me and my so-so driving and occasional neglect, with only a few expensive fixes along the way.
I've been babying her a bit more lately due to her advanced years. But recently she's been making a strange sound, kind of like metal on metal. I took her in and found that she has contracted a fixable, but expensive problem, which left me with three options: 1) fix Susie, 2) trade Susie in as down payment on a new car, 3) sell Susie and use the money to buy a used car.
Each option had it's pluses and minuses. I didn't want to keep investing money in Susie with her at the ripe old age she's at, even though I know she could probably last several more years (if I wasn't driving so much). I also didn't want a car payment. It took me seven years to pay off Susie, and I can't really afford another bill right now. But the challenge with buying and selling used cars is the time it takes to shop around and meet with people, time which I don't really have.
Fortunately, a perfect opportunity presented itself. My sister had a baby this year, and has been planning to sell her two-door Chevy Cavalier in order to upgrade to a larger, family car. Her car is in great condition; I know its history; and I don't have to deal with the hassle of searching and talking to potentially shady characters. Also, I get to take hold of the car now, allowing me to sell the car at my leisure. Hurrah!
It's a kind of surreal to be driving my sister's car. She's had it for ages and I still associate it with her, and she's as sad to see it go as I am to see my Susie go.
I posted on twitter today about possible names for her, and wintersweet (wintersweet) offered the fantastic name, La Maupin (who was also a rocking opera singer and sword fighter in 17th century France). I love it! But I can't pronounce it. LOL.
I still like the regality of the name, however, thus I dub thee, Lady Cavalier! (Or My Lady, for short.)
.
Out of curiosity..., how attached do you get to your car? Do you name them?
Now, almost ten years later, she has over 230,000 miles racked up.
Throughout that period, my home/work combination has required my to commute, from living in the mountains (45 minutes just to get to town) to my current situation of traffic heavy drives up to South San Francisco each day. And Susie Subaru has been a faithful car throughout it all, putting up with me and my so-so driving and occasional neglect, with only a few expensive fixes along the way.
I've been babying her a bit more lately due to her advanced years. But recently she's been making a strange sound, kind of like metal on metal. I took her in and found that she has contracted a fixable, but expensive problem, which left me with three options: 1) fix Susie, 2) trade Susie in as down payment on a new car, 3) sell Susie and use the money to buy a used car.
Each option had it's pluses and minuses. I didn't want to keep investing money in Susie with her at the ripe old age she's at, even though I know she could probably last several more years (if I wasn't driving so much). I also didn't want a car payment. It took me seven years to pay off Susie, and I can't really afford another bill right now. But the challenge with buying and selling used cars is the time it takes to shop around and meet with people, time which I don't really have.
Fortunately, a perfect opportunity presented itself. My sister had a baby this year, and has been planning to sell her two-door Chevy Cavalier in order to upgrade to a larger, family car. Her car is in great condition; I know its history; and I don't have to deal with the hassle of searching and talking to potentially shady characters. Also, I get to take hold of the car now, allowing me to sell the car at my leisure. Hurrah!
It's a kind of surreal to be driving my sister's car. She's had it for ages and I still associate it with her, and she's as sad to see it go as I am to see my Susie go.
I posted on twitter today about possible names for her, and wintersweet (wintersweet) offered the fantastic name, La Maupin (who was also a rocking opera singer and sword fighter in 17th century France). I love it! But I can't pronounce it. LOL.
I still like the regality of the name, however, thus I dub thee, Lady Cavalier! (Or My Lady, for short.)
.
Out of curiosity..., how attached do you get to your car? Do you name them?