I was going to talk about my sons this week, mostly because
I' haven't bugged them for a while. Sometimes though, the act of writing takes
you down another path that you didn't see before.
Nope, this week it'll be all about cars. Don't worry - I'll
still get a few digs in at Son Number One, mostly because he's been driving the
last two times we've had big trouble.
A friend of ours was giving us a hard time one day. She
found out that all of our vehicles were stuck in the 90's. At the time, we had
a 1993 van and a 1991 Toyota. We thought we were being very avant garde when we
picked up a 1999 sedan a year or so ago!
Our friend just laughed and said that we should really try
to enter the 21st Century, so I asked her about her wheels. She a
fairly late model SUV that ate gas and cost a ton to insure. I didn't ask her
how much it cost to purchase because no one really buys cars anymore. They just
rent them for a couple of years and then try to upgrade.
The most I've ever paid for a vehicle in the last ten years
was about seven grand, for the aforementioned van. It took a while for my
darling wife to convince me we needed it, until I drove the van she had been
using to move the kids around. When I discovered that it took all the braking
power in the pedal plus the emergency brake as well as putting the van in
reverse to stop at a light, I figured it was time to upgrade.
It hasn't been all roses. Here's where I get to bug my son.
He was driving the van out of town when a loud knocking started up in the
engine. When I got up to him, we started it up and when I heard the sound, we
stopped as soon as we could. Yeah, in the immortal words of the Blues Brothers,
we threw a rod.
Not to worry. It was way cheaper to put in a new engine than
to buy a new(er) van, so that's what we did.
Then we picked up a 1983 Chevy Citation for five hundred
bucks, to get us through the winter. Eight years later, we were still driving
it. The mechanics had equal parts of excitement and dread when I pulled up for
service. It was great to work on an old car with few computers, but it was
getting hard to find parts.
Next was a 1992 Honda Civic. Remember, this was in 2008.
Again, not much money to purchase and it ran like a top for years. I sold it to
my brother when we had a chance to buy the 1999 Toyota. The Honda promptly blew
a rad hose then the water pump. I think he got about a hundred kilometers out
of it. Good deal for me!
The 1999 Toyota we picked up for an amazing price. The
person was moving to the coast and didn't need a car anymore, so we got it for
a steal. Extra tires, driven only on Sundays, that sort of thing.
Finally, we were close enough to the 21st Century
to get our friends off our back.
Then my son was using it one day, heard a knocking in the
engine and called me up. Not to be repetitive, but when I got up to him, we
started it up and I heard the sound and we stopped as soon as we could. Yeah,
in the immortal words of the Blues Brothers, we threw a rod. Again.
So I'm not too sure about these newfangled cars. It seems
when I pay over a thousand dollars for a vehicle, I end up paying big bucks for
repairs. Every car I've had that cost me peanuts has lasted three times as long
as the newer ones.
If anyone knows of an 80's or 90's vintage vehicle that's
for sale, give me a call. I'm interested.
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