(no subject)

[tmcg]

Today I watched my 1989 car towed away forever.

Pragmatic Me: I cannot believe I'm crying. What a doofus! It's an object.

Animistic Me: Objects really do have souls. It didn't want to go.

Pragmatic Me: No va! It does not go! It had to go!

Animistic Me: I gave it a pat and thanked it for never breaking down on me in an unsafe place, for being a home away from home for fourteen years, and that was not enough. It didn't want to be hauled away. I just lost a companion. Watching it get towed was like watching one of my own limbs be wrenched off. Things do have souls!

Pragmatic Me: Oh, stop, for ^&*@%'s sake. It was a car! You'll get a new one and forget all about it.

Animistic Me: It wasn't sentient, but it was alive. Maybe it soaked up some of me. Maybe, like houses, there are good cars and there are bad cars. This was a good car. It looked after me. It never ran over an animal. When I got into it, it felt right and familiar and safe. I'm going to miss it.

Pragmatic (Though Statistically Challenged) Me [plays MegaMillions].

Animistic Me [calling to departed car]: If I hit, I'll come and get you!!!

Comments

[penmage.livejournal.com]

Until I was 9 or so, we had a white Toyota Camry. When we sold it, I cried. We currently have three minivans, and I could swear that each one has its own personality.

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

Yay, I'm not alone!

[kalligraphy.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel. I purchased my first brand new car when I was barely more than a month out of college. I picked it up on July 3rd, 1988. During my time of ownership I had some long commutes and some rather constant needs.

The car finally died in March of 1998, 10 years and 220,000 miles later. There were points during my ownership where I was putting 3000 miles a month on that car. It got me everywhere I needed to go. At times I spent 3-4 hours a day in that car and ultimately ended the day in exactly the same location I started in. And what made it worse, was that I was NOT driving it as part of my job. After 10 years it was a friend and constant companion. I was very upset when I determined that it wasn't worth the $1200 repair bill to get it back on the road. It wasn't easy leaving it at the garage to be draged off and disposed of.

*hug*

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

After 10 years it was a friend and constant companion.

Yes, exactly!

*hug*

Aw, t'anks. Needed that. :) :)

[akaspeedo.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm gonna miss being able to say hi when I walk by :(

[jandersoncoats.livejournal.com]

My shiny new black Camry has no soul. Not yet, at least. Not like the '92 Corolla I just traded, the one that I brought my son home from the hospital in, that came across the country with me, that I spilled so much coffee in en route to college. It's sad to say goodbye.

But the new car as a CD player and a moonroof. I will learn to love it too.

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

I do admit to much anticipation of a the new car, which will have a CD player and air-conditioning and disc brakes and a cupholder and a rear wiper and a lot of other things the old car didn't have. :)

Bringing your son home from the hospital...now, that's a connection, not to mention the college years. Yow.

[jandersoncoats.livejournal.com]

Cupholder. Ohhh yes. See, if I'd have had that cupholder, I never would have had to prop my coffee up with my pack on the passenger side, leaving myself open to all those d*mn spills.

But I'm also rid of all the ground-in cookie crumbs and crayon shavings in the back seat. And that's all good.

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

But I'm also rid of all the ground-in cookie crumbs and crayon shavings in the back seat. And that's all good.

Except...what if you're caught in terrible traffic and need a snack???

:)

[janni.livejournal.com]

I'm just impressed you kept the same car for that long! I've had three in the same time ... admittedly, the first two were pretty much someone else's given-away, no-longer-something-they-felt-they-could-keep cars when I got them, so were never expected to last all that long. But still. :-)

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

My MO (with a statistical sampling of only two) has been to keep cars until they die the final death. My first car was bought used, but I kept it for the remainder of its life. This last car I raised from a shiny new-car-scented baby.

I may try changing that MO this next time around, since I really want to buy a hybrid, but they don't yet make quite the perfect car for me in a hybrid model. I'm going to watch and see if it might not make sense to trade in for one in a couple/three years.

But given how sentimental I get about my Stuff, I make no promises. *g*

[janni.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much been my MO, too. The current car is the first that was acquired while still in good shape (only a year and a half old), so we're hoping it actually will last a bit longer than the others. But repairs are almost always cheaper than new-car payments and insurance and registration fees.

I'm hoping to make my next car a hybrid, too, which I figure is another reason to hold out--the technology and pricing can both only improve given time.

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

I was hoping to do the same, in terms of holding out for an improved hybrid. It's possible I'll still get one, since the Prius comes in a hatchback now, but it depends on how long I can stand sharing my half-loaner car. I may just go splaa at some point and run to the dealership, armed with all that Consumer Reports stuff I printed out.

A nice 0% financing offer wouldn't go amiss, either. :)

Here's hoping your current car lasts till just the right time!