Here it is: I AM A TERRIBLE CAR PURCHASER!  AND MY MR.Z IS JUST AS TERRIBLE, or perhaps just BAD but somehow TERRIBLE with my influence!  I don’t know how it happened…I didn’t grow up in that kind of family…they were very loyal to the cars that they owned and stayed with them until the very end.  They made a commitment and kept it.

Here is my tell all about my relationship with cars…I’m naming names people!

My first driving experience alone was an old Oldsmobile station wagon I think…thinking back, that could have been a fun car if I redid the interior and painted it orange!  Why didn’t I save my hard earned dollars for a Maaco paint job instead of silly clothes!  I guess it did have problems…it would do this backfiring thing that was SO embarassing!  After it would backfire and people would jump and look, I would kind of have to floor it so it wouldn’t die…well one morning I nearly ran over a senior because I had to floor it…I did yell for her to look out – then “SORRY!”.  Not long after my friend and I laughed all the way home on a flat tire(can you say CLUELESS??), wondering why the steering wheel was shaking like that – Dad found another car for me…

Then, Dad found a great little pea green Maverick with only 700 miles on it…no kidding!  I had no idea what a great little car I had – it still smelled new inside!  I beat that little car all to hell!  I think once I even put power steering fluid in the oil spot – how did my dad stay sane???  The stereo was loud enough and the back seat held all the shoes I didn’t want to wear in the summertime…I drove that car until it was time for student teaching in Houston…just wasn’t safe enough to make it all that way…

The Caprice that I borrowed in Houston doesn’t really count because I borrowed it from my wonderful parents so I could go far far away to student teach.  The notable mention of this car was that it was my safe haven on rainy days while I drove around to escape some pretty bitter women I lived with:)

My first car purchase was a wonderful decision…the only exception!  My white little Honda Civic…great little car that served me well!  That little car drove South to Texas and North to Iowa many many times.  I traded it for my first bad decision…

The Infiniti QX4…people, this was a beautiful SUV..pearly winter white…tan leather interior, blue lights on the dash – whoooeee I did love it…nice to drive…however, the leg room left something to be desired, the payment was someone’s rent, the gas was, well, bad…and when you looked around inside…after awhile you began to realize that you might as well have been driving a sedan!  As soon as I realized this, my QX4 had to go…a year hadn’t even passed!  Can you say upside down???  I didn’t care – wanted out – found a sucker!  He had what I decided I wanted!  a ….

Black Passat turbo wagon!  Oh did I love this car!!!  So amazing to drive!  I would be driving it today, or another one just like it, if my children hadn’t had this habit of slapping at each other when they were close together, and if there hadn’t been an issue with three car seats across not fitting quite right…couldn’t it have been a bit bigger???  So when the undercarriage cover fell off when I was driving, I took this as a sign that it was time to bite the bullet and buy a minivan(I did not have to bite this bullet!  I could have gotten a VOLVO VOLVO wagon – as opposed to a FORD VOLVO wagon and driven the wheels off!).  So I did…

The blue Town and Country 2003 was great except for the breaks squeaking and the funny electrical panel messages…this was a used car and they couldn’t seem to fix it, so I didn’t want to get stuck with a lemon AND the only way I could get all the money back that we paid for it was to buy a new van from them – twice the price of this one!!  An accountant I am not, stubborn I am…get the $2,000 difference back while spending double, or eat it and look elsewhere hmmmm oh yeah!  let’s spend double and feel bitter!  Great decision yoga girl:)

So the 2006 Town and Country came to pass and we still have it…it is a fine van and no complaints really.  I just don’t like the price tag of a brand new vehicle. 

When I write it all out, it doesn’t seem like that many…I guess it is because at the same time, my Mr.Z went through a:

old blue Toyota, burgundy newer Toyota, newer still Ford F150, OLD BMW, newer blue jetta, newer still white GMC mowing truck, an Impala lease, and now the Rover Discovery beast that just screams, “Hey – we didn’t read the reviews and like to throw our money to Aristocrat Land Rover for fun”.  It is fun to drive though and the novelty of two sun roofs is worth something, right?

All this just does not sit well with my groovy yoga chic minimalist home grown peaceful being…hmmmm

ride on:)