A Tale of Two Cars

So I'm gonna jump to the point of the story straight off for those who don't want to read more... we're looking to buy a cheap, reliable car... our only requirement is 4 doors, though Erin is dreaming of a minivan. If you know of any good deals, let us know. Anyway, on to story time.

While living in Pennsylvania several years ago I got the greatest deal on a car I could imagine. It was a '98 Ford Escort with 50k miles, that thing lasted through several years of intense beatings with hardly any repairs. It was ugly, don't get me wrong. It was dark green on the outside, some weird green on the inside and it was an Escort... enough said. But ugly as it was, it was a champ. Unfortunately I learned that the car that couldn't be taken down by quick accelerations, fast stops, and 150,000 miles was in fact vulnerable to one thing... deer.

It was while driving down the highway in PA one night, cruising at around 75 mph (or 65 mph if you're a cop reading this), that a deer just jumped out of the trees on the side of the road and slammed into me. Poor deer right? Wrong! The dang thing got up and ran off while I was stuck sitting there dazed, surprised, and assessing the spiderweb-filled windshield, shattered passenger window, and dented hood/passenger door. (Side note... having liability only on a cheap car is great until your bumper flirts with a deer and drives away heartbroken.) In the end it wasn't worth repairing the whole car so I just got a quick fix to the windshield to keep the car drivable until I could get a new car.

Little did I realize that it would take about four months to get that new car, during which I would brave the cold snow of a New Jersey winter with only duct tape and saran wrap separating me from the frosty air. It took impending re-registration, which I surely would have failed spectacularly, and a great deal on a new leased VW Jetta to get me kicked into gear.

Normally I wouldn't have considered a leased car, I don't like being limited in my driving milage, but I was living a mile from work, five miles from church, and not taking too many trips. A leased car seemed perfect for me, and looking back I'm not sure I would have changed my plans even knowing what I do now. Knowing that after initiating the lease, but two days before I actually picked the car up, I would meet the most beautiful girl in the world and my entire life would change. How could I have known that I'd be spending every day of the next three months driving 30 minutes each way to see her, or that after we were married I'd be driving up to Massachusetts and New Hampshire frequently to see my new friends/family that I didn't have before. Needless to say, I won't be handing over the keys with just 39,000 miles on the car.

My Jetta has been a great car, it's been a lot of fun to drive. It's also seen me through a rapid change in my life... I leased the car as a bachelor with no intentions of dating seriously, and am now happily married and just celebrated my daughter's first birthday. The Jetta's practically a member of the family; except that it's expensive and I can't wait to get rid of it... on second thought, it sounds more like family when I put it that way. ;-) Erin still likes to tease me about the night we met when she saw my car being held together with duct tape and my insistence that I was getting a new car in two days. I was definitely nervous to impress, and apparently the Jetta made that good impression seeing as how we were engaged about a month later.

The Escort saw me through bachelorhood, and the Jetta saw me through the transition to father of a growing family... it's time to see which car is going to take me through the next phase of my life.


No, the passenger window is not rolled down.

Labels: Brett, pictures

posted by Brett at 9:53 PM