(11:00AM EST – promoted by Nightprowlkitty)
So, okay, we’re in what I call “car hell” and I haven’t talked about it much because, well, it gets all personal and detailed and all that. And, we’ll knock figure it out, like we always do, like we always have.
And now the PBS radio has on Bolero. lol. Dad loved that. That was our nod to “classical music” growing up. heh. Dad was a Barbershop Quartet champ.
Okay, so, cars. I… hmmm … I’m a Honda girl. I want another Honda. DH (Dear Husband in wwwmomland) is a Does It Run? How much $? guy. “Let’s limp along with it for just a little longer.” And, “damn, I could buy xyz with that amount of money!” And, “cars only DEpreciate (not like flutes which Appreciate).”
Okay, but dead is dead. Cars, I mean. Well, people too, sadly.
We have two cars. Both happen to be 1990’s. His was a great find, Used, old ‘Grandma only drove it to Church’, several years ago, maybe 6 or 8, I forget. We got our money’s worth out of that Mercury. But it threw a rod about 2 months ago and there it sits (really not worth fixing, trust me).
Mine, I say “mine”…. I bought brand new in 1990, before we were married but living together. Back then I had a job, a Real Job, and all that. I had owned Used VW, Datsun, Toyota, and Mazda. I researched blah blah blah and bought my awesomely delicious Honda Civic si. At the time, I said I’ll have a note for 5 years but I will drive this baby til she dies.
Well, R.I.P., Black Pearl, yesterday, she gave up the ghost.
So.
I managed to get there before they closed at noon and grabbed a Rental so DH could still get to his weekend gigs and we have to turn that back in Tuesday or maybe tomorrow (Monday).
I talked to my sister in Georgia. I talked to another friend. DH talked to some of his friends. We have researched on the internet and compared and discussed and all the usual things that you do.
In among the advice I hear, I say back… “Oh but, yeah, I got that covered, I already have that figured out” and so on. In particular, I know I can do the financing through USAA like I did the last time, 19 years ago. USAA, its a WWI vet thing for us, and he was an Officer.
Because of Dad.
And I know all about used vs. new and various things you have to consider in all that evaluating and deciding.
Because of Dad.
Haggling? Oh yeah. Dad: “Just pretend you dont care! Walk AWAY.” lol.
After he died, in 1999, my sisters and I were going through his things and we came across this little Photo Album, one of those cheap little flip style Walgreen’s $2 things. Hadn’t ever seen it before. It had photo’s, notes and even the classified ads of every car he’d bought, sold, owned, and I guess, loved. Funny. Packrat… is it genetic?
So. Tomorrow, we’ll go test drive and see what we see. DH is thinking brand new Fit Sport (musician’s car!). I still love the Civic. We’ll see.
I know though, that Dad will be there with me in my head the whole time.
Ya know, I know. It’s just a car. But …
Thanks Dad. Miss you.
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Dad’s the one on the bottom. (You thought I was kidding about the barbershop?!?)
to your father that you’ll be “taking him with you” when you go buy a car.
I thought a musician car would be the Element – my late wife called that one a “Frankenstein car”.
I had a 1990 Honda, bought it brand new, put 300k on it and sold it for a hundred dollars. Oil and gas and brakes.
I don’t think you can go wrong with anything Honda.
bought a new car last year. We have never had car payments, we have bought used usually from a neighbor, band mate of DH, or someone we know. Our beater as we call it was/is a real zippy, Toyota Corrola circa 1989, it still runs great. It is my truck, now and is sitting in front of the house with the back filled with rocks I’m using to landscape. It turns on a dime, is easy to park and has great get up and go. My husband a songwriter, wrote a song to it which is played occasionally on Car Talk. The body may go but it will probably out live both of us.
We inherited some money last year and decided to buy a new car. We got a Toyota, Prius, or Pious as our neighbor calls it. We got it because it was the only Hybrid that had a decent hatchback that his amps and guitars could be hauled in.
My dad loved small sports cars. He had a succession of MG’s, and a really silly car that looked like a an old fashioned baby carriage, named a Singer. My mom in the 60’s complained that he never bought a car that the family could fit in. He went out and bought a huge Crysler Imperial with what looked like a toilet seat on the trunk . It was embarrassing and sillier then the sports cars and it lasted about 2 months. My Dad went back to MG’s.
The homage we had to classical was The Grand Canyon Suite,. My Dad loved music and built a Fisher tuner from a kit on which he played lot of cool jazz, folk (he loved the Kingston Trio and Woody Guthrie, and even the occasional the rock and roll album.) Thanks for sharing about your Dad it made me honor mine in memories past but not forgotten. Yours Dad sounds like an interesting guy, like mine was.
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brand new Honda Fit Sport. sweet.
Im not allowed to drive it yet! lolol