Goodbye Old Van!

I have some news that makes my heart sad. Remember my van, the one that JUST made it past 200,000 miles? Her brake line failed on Thursday, Aug 16th, 2018. No one was hurt. It was pretty scary stuff. I was going 50 miles per hour when it happened and heading for a busy intersection. So…yeah. I thought about blogging about it sooner, but honestly, the entire situation had me in knots.

The thing is, I had taken my kiddo back to school shopping the day before. What if he’d been in the car when it happened? What if we’d both been in the car driving on the expressway going 70 miles an hour?? What if? What IF? What if? There wasn’t any warning. The brakes felt solid…until they didn’t. From what I understand, this is a fairly common scenario with brake lines that fail, especially if you live in a place where they salt heavily in the winter—like Michigan. The undercarriage of the cars are prone to rust, and if the brake lines rust through…it’s not good!

Anyway, the cost to fix my old van was far too expensive, more than the value of the van itself. I’ve chosen NOT to resuscitate the old girl. She’s been a good van. I’ve had her for three years, but it’s time to say goodbye.

I bought a newer-to-me van this weekend—my former van’s “younger sister.” I might name this new-to-me van, Marilyn. (She just seems like a Marilyn.) I’m afraid to jinx it, but I felt instantly comfortable driving Marilyn, like we’re already friends. I’ve had a LOT of used cars. Some of them are like that, you click with them right away. And…some are just cars, with little emotional attachment on my part.

So, today was another scary day, but this time in a good way. I transferred the title and plates this afternoon. Marilyn is officially mine. My last van was an “easy-keeper.” She never really asked for anything. Hopefully, Marilyn and I will have a few good years together, too.

xo Juli