Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Back in the Saddle Again
In case you didn't know, I've been driving my truck a lot. I don't want to drive my truck again for a long time.
I went to a used car dealer determined to get Garrett a car. Get it over and done with. Upped my price range and went to buy a used Camry and came home with a deposit on an Accord. (No CD player.) One owner, who lived in Peabody. Did a CARFAX check, and well, it was in some sort of accident in 2001. I arranged to take it to my mechanic to check it out. After the CARFAX report, that was a given. Diagnosis was similar to the one on the much cheaper Dodge - it was due for plenty of work. Also, the accident repair was shoddy and wasn't going to last much longer before rusting. Once it was pointed out, it seemed so obvious. How could I ignore the trunk not fitting right? (Probably because I own a Chevy truck.) I got my deposit back and walked away. I've now spent a total of $186 on mechanic inspections to not buy two cars for Garrett.
The mechanic, sensing that I was in the market for a good cheap car, said he had a Volvo. What a POS it looked like. Needed a lot of work, but they were going to do it first. I don't have a favorable opinion on Volvos. My mechanic assures me that this was the last of the good years for Volvo, before, he hated to say it, Ford bought them and reliability took a dive. The price was right. Alice second-guessed the decision up until the moment we took delivery. (She probably still is, but hasn't mentioned it lately.) They installed new tires and new brakes and they fixed the non-working ABS. They even replaced the missing side molding. The driver's door handle sticks. He says it will get better now that it is lubed, but I doubt it, and they'll probably end up replacing it.
We surprised Garrett by picking him up from lacrosse practice in his 1997 Volvo 850 with 114K miles. It has a CD player and premium sound system. It has heated leather seats and a normally aspirated 20-valve 5-cylinder. (How Audi-like.) It has a hole from the trunk into the back seat through the arm rest (I suspect it is missing a ski sack there) for his lacrosse stick. It has adequate power to get out of its own way (lacking in a Volvo 240, which I briefly considered because it meets the standards of a parent of a teenager - safe and slow.) It will need a new timing belt in another 6,000 miles, which may be a year or two given the use Garrett will put it to.
I'm back in my Audi again. I'm driving it fast just because it feels secure and safe to do so. No need to slow down for that turn in this baby! (Oops. Well, maybe a little.) I'm listening to Incubis, or whatever weird crap Garrett left in the CD player. He's not one to clean up or ever retrieve it, so that CD is probably mine now. The truck can now sit (now that makes me happy!) until the next time I have to tow to the race track.
I used to wonder why people bought SUVs instead of cars, until I bought one for myself. Now I wonder even more. It feels good to be back in a car again.
In case you didn't know, I've been driving my truck a lot. I don't want to drive my truck again for a long time.
I went to a used car dealer determined to get Garrett a car. Get it over and done with. Upped my price range and went to buy a used Camry and came home with a deposit on an Accord. (No CD player.) One owner, who lived in Peabody. Did a CARFAX check, and well, it was in some sort of accident in 2001. I arranged to take it to my mechanic to check it out. After the CARFAX report, that was a given. Diagnosis was similar to the one on the much cheaper Dodge - it was due for plenty of work. Also, the accident repair was shoddy and wasn't going to last much longer before rusting. Once it was pointed out, it seemed so obvious. How could I ignore the trunk not fitting right? (Probably because I own a Chevy truck.) I got my deposit back and walked away. I've now spent a total of $186 on mechanic inspections to not buy two cars for Garrett.
The mechanic, sensing that I was in the market for a good cheap car, said he had a Volvo. What a POS it looked like. Needed a lot of work, but they were going to do it first. I don't have a favorable opinion on Volvos. My mechanic assures me that this was the last of the good years for Volvo, before, he hated to say it, Ford bought them and reliability took a dive. The price was right. Alice second-guessed the decision up until the moment we took delivery. (She probably still is, but hasn't mentioned it lately.) They installed new tires and new brakes and they fixed the non-working ABS. They even replaced the missing side molding. The driver's door handle sticks. He says it will get better now that it is lubed, but I doubt it, and they'll probably end up replacing it.
We surprised Garrett by picking him up from lacrosse practice in his 1997 Volvo 850 with 114K miles. It has a CD player and premium sound system. It has heated leather seats and a normally aspirated 20-valve 5-cylinder. (How Audi-like.) It has a hole from the trunk into the back seat through the arm rest (I suspect it is missing a ski sack there) for his lacrosse stick. It has adequate power to get out of its own way (lacking in a Volvo 240, which I briefly considered because it meets the standards of a parent of a teenager - safe and slow.) It will need a new timing belt in another 6,000 miles, which may be a year or two given the use Garrett will put it to.
I'm back in my Audi again. I'm driving it fast just because it feels secure and safe to do so. No need to slow down for that turn in this baby! (Oops. Well, maybe a little.) I'm listening to Incubis, or whatever weird crap Garrett left in the CD player. He's not one to clean up or ever retrieve it, so that CD is probably mine now. The truck can now sit (now that makes me happy!) until the next time I have to tow to the race track.
I used to wonder why people bought SUVs instead of cars, until I bought one for myself. Now I wonder even more. It feels good to be back in a car again.
# posted by Jack @ 4:29 PM 
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Hey I am in the first non-volvo car in twenty years (I have the Acura TL). I was in one really bad car wreck that I walked away from, and gave up my last volvo (1992 960 GL) reluctantly. They used to be good cars. If you have a thing against windows not working or other miscellaneous not performing, then you will not enjoy their "drive like shit forever" motto. I did. Good for Garrett.
What a shame. Your blog reminds me I don't drive for fun anymore. My little putt-putt Saturn is getting 31 mpg in town and that makes me happy. And it has a ten disc CD changer that my wife bought me as a Christmas present. But it is utilitarian (no fun).
Peggy is tiring of the Maxima's size, but I'm not sure we want to afford a new (used) car at this time. Maybe if I get a lot of energy and start shopping, I'll find something.
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Peggy is tiring of the Maxima's size, but I'm not sure we want to afford a new (used) car at this time. Maybe if I get a lot of energy and start shopping, I'll find something.
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