Goodbye Blu. Hello, “New to Me” Car…

As of Tuesday, 10-9-12, I’m finally driving my “new to me” car.  Yay!  My old blue car had too many problems to see me through another winter.  She had a long check list of issues including: No heat, the power steering fluid leaked so bad, you had to top her off every-other day, and the last straw?  She wouldn’t go out of “Park for me.”  Yes.  It makes it hard to drive her when she refuses to leave the driveway.  She was a quick car, but stubborn!!!  The little snot will go out of park for my hubby.  No idea what he’s doing different.  She’s been my car since 2010 and I drove her almost everyday.

Old Blu started her life on the spoiled side.  Her first home was a good one.  Her family took care of her, made sure she got her oil changes on time, and kept her engine clean.  She had her own garage.  They didn’t expose her to many salty roads and such in the winter.  When she was sold, the next owner used her like a “work truck.”  He gouged her hatch and back bumper with a ladder, knocked off her passenger side mirror, dripped paint in her cargo area, got in a few fender benders, and left cigarette burns on her seats.

I paid cash for Blu, got her for less than she was worth because her outside looked so worn.  But…her engine was still clean, and she had the heart of a race car, even if she she didn’t look like one.  Blu and I got along very well, but she never fully recovered from her working car days.  She complained a lot.  Check engine light would mysteriously go on…then just as mysteriously turn itself off again.  Mechanic said she had a bad sensor, but not anything to worry about.  “Door is ajar” lights did the the same thing.  Lights go on.  Lights go off.  Older cars have their own quirks.  Unfortunately, she’s not a flashy car, even when she was new.  No one’s going to invest any money into restoring her, including me.

Now I’ve never owned an actual “new” car, and I doubt I ever will.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the smell and feel of a new car, but…I’m cheap.  I can’t stand the idea of how quickly a new car’s value depreciates in the first couple of years.  Besides that, new cars are almost too prissy for my tastes.  I don’t want to own a car that I have to fuss over.  If I had a new car, and it got a scratch on it, I’d be upset.  I don’t want that.  I don’t want to freak out because there’s a coffee stain on the carpet.  I don’t want to have to worry if I forget to lock my car’s doors.  I just want a reliable car that will haul my garage sale treasures and get me from point A to point B.  She doesn’t have to be the prettiest girl at the dance but I think she should have a good personality.  😉

Anyways, a couple of weeks ago, we stumbled across Blu’s replacement.  She has some miles on her, but she’s only known one other family.  They spent time with her, and it shows.  Yes, she has her quirks.  All old cars do!  Hubby has been driving her for the last  couple of weeks, just to get a feel for her.  Once we sell off Blu, we’re going to put new tires on the “newer to us” car.  I know we won’t get much for Blu.  We might have to scrap her.  Sad, but I know I gave her a good home in the end.  It is, what it is.

I haven’t named my “new to me car,” yet.  Blu always felt like a used car, right from the beginning.  This new car feels…retro.  Don’t ask me what the difference is, besides personality and maybe engineering.  My new car was built in the 1992, but I swear, she feels like something out of the 1960’s.  She’s not too big, but she’s boxy, in a good way, one of those “so ugly she’s adorable” cars.  The engine hums.  It sounds a little like a sewing machine.  She has a clock on the dashboard with hands, not digital.  I think that’s charming!  She’s the first “foreign” car we’ve ever owned.  So far…she’s a lot of fun to drive, though part of me feels as though I should invest in some big Jackie-O style sunglasses and a scarf when I drive around in her.  He! He!  She makes sense to us, and we see a lot of her “cousins” in the Ann Arbor area.  The bohemian in me likes her!!!  🙂

I need to find 4 matching hooded sweatshirts.  They either need to be old, or washed a bunch of times, so they’re a little faded and comfortable.  A friend of mine had this idea for using hooded sweatshirts to make seat covers, so I can’t take credit for it.  My new car is the first car we’ve owed that would look good in them and the first car that has inspired me to sew for it.  Weird!  If I ever get around to making them, I’ll be sure to post pics.  The headrest will poke out the neck hole and the hood makes a pouch to put things in.  If it has a pocket in the front, you can stick a little pillow though it as a lumbar support.  Hubby thinks I should just buy already made seat covers, but where’s the fun in that?  I’d rather go without for awhile.  OK…so I’m stubborn, too!!!  LOL

Have a great day!

Juli

*As an addendum, Hubby swears Blu will go into drive for him consistently, now.  I don’t know what dark pact the two of them worked out and I don’t want to know!  LOL

Also, I DO own a headscarf, but I’ve never worn it because it doubles as a board game, Mademoiselle’s Manhunt, 1963.  I got it at a garage sale for a quarter.  He! He!  It’s hilarious!!!

I also own a pair of Jackie-O style sunglasses, but I don’t know what I did with them.  Ooooh!!!  Maybe I could wear a beret?  Yeah, I have one of those, too.  Eclectic much?  Yup!  😉