The Car Saga (5.23 column)

Mondays have not been too kind to me lately. But then again, neither has my car. Cars and I have a mixed history. My first car was a 1984 Plymouth Horizon, more commonly referred to in our household as a rat on a roller skate. The little four-cylinder was purchased for a run-around car for my mother long before I got my drivers license. My brother refused to drive the thing so two years later it became my shuttle to school every morning. Although it was not exactly a “cool” car, it got great gas mileage and drove like a go-kart. The poor little thing met its match with a large doe one December evening. Then it was on to my Olds Cutlass, a traditional and rather unexciting car for a high schooler.

When it was time for me to go off to college, I needed something more dependable. I had been eyeing the forest green Grand Am owned by one of the school administrators for a while when lo and behold he offered to sell it to me at a fantastic price.Despite higher mileage, I loved that car. It was trouble free and perfect for the times.

But my senior year of college, I had a good job working on a dairy farm and money burning a hole in my pocket. With a road trip to Louisville looming, I took out a loan for my current car, a newer Grand Am with lots of features. I left my trusty green car with my parents since they had helped pay for it. In this new car era, the ride has not been smooth. An alignment problem cost me few sets of tires before the problem was found. The intake gasket went bad. A wheel sensor was on the fritz. This winter I started to miss my green Grand Am still parked at my parents, now with almost 200,000 miles and no engine problems.

But never did I miss it so much as lately. My car has been towed twice in the last 10 days. The first incident was on a Monday in Colby. I went to a meeting and when I came back, the engine would turn over and over, but never fire up. I hitched a ride back to the office to borrow a car to make it home for the night, then called the shop in the morning. Along with a laundry list of little things I knew about, the fuel pump wasn’t working. Although it did start, there was no guarantee how long it would stay running. A few paychecks later, the problem was solved.

Or so I thought. This past Monday after dropping Jacob off at day care, I returned to my car to find the same problem: the starter would turn, but it just wouldn’t fire up. So it was another trip on the tow truck (which I believe my car may have a crush on) for more tests and analysis. The car did start at the shop, and no problem was found. To be on the safe side, for now I’m limiting my driving to a 30 minute radius from home just in case my car gets temperamental again.

In the meantime, Nate and I have started talking about possibly replacing it, but we haven’t agreed on what kind. He thinks he’s being brand loyal. I think he’s being close-minded. Either way, does anyone want to buy a car?

Update: My car refused to start Wedsneday and has been sitting in front of the house since then. We checked did a little vehicle shopping Thursday and found a Trailblazer, but I actually like the Equinox better. However, Nate doesn't think it looks manly enough, for some reason. More arguing to come, I believe.