Recently, both our vehicles started to go on the fritz. And as we looked at the mounting repair bills we realized this was one of those “Dark Blessings” times. I try to live my life looking at everything as positively as I can. So when our cars decided to act up, we took this as a dark blessing. Here is our story!
I don’t mind change, but I do get comfortable with things I like, and luckily, David (my hubby) is the same. We paint a room and like the color, so when its time to repaint, we keep it that color. We hold on to dish sets, flat ware, bedroom linens, towels for years.
We are like that with cars as well. We both bought semi new cars nearly a decade ago. He bought a Tiguan Volkswagen and I bought a VW Golf hatchback just a few months apart from one another. The Tig and Volks became like family members.
We’ve gone on adventures in both, and weathered snow storms in both, and carried precious cargo in both. Our cars became an extension of our families.
The Tig brought us on many adventures over the years: kayaking along the Mohawk River, camping up in the Adirondacks, Yule Tree hunting, numerous ferry rides across the Long Island Sound to visit loved ones on Long Island, and wonderful trips towing our Little Guy Forevermore down to Tennessee to visit my (our) kin.
Likewise, Volks lived up to its name and took us to see many ‘folks’ we love throughout New York and even into neighboring states. Volks gave me independence, confidence when getting from one place to another. It was zippy, and fun, and safe. I always felt safe.
Yes, we’ve traveled all over the East Coast in our Tig and Volks, but lately they’ve both grown older and have been very tired and cranky.
After taking the Tig into our local mechanic, we learned that he was more than a little cranky. He’d undergone some serious issues that were going to cost A LOT to repair. So we decided to it was time to trade him in and use that money as a down payment on a new car.
By the end of that week, Volks decided that if Tig was going, so was he. Two cars, major repairs. Life altering decisions about to be made. Tig was still in the shop, so we figured we would consider trading in Volks first, and I would get the new car that would hold us over til we could replace Tig.
We spent a Sunday afternoon walking around the Subaru lot and picked out a couple of cars we liked. I liked the look of the Impreza, but I’d always wanted an Outback. (Yes, I liked the look but I loved the name.) But then we saw the Crosstrek. It was as if the Volks and the Outback got together and made a baby. It was the perfect size, perfect price, and it had great towing capacity!
In less than a week, Jon at Subaru had us in a new car. THANK YOU, JON. You are amazing!
It was difficult saying goodbye to Volks. I have to admit, I shed a tear or two. But I have pictures and great memories and I will always love that car.
So, NOW we have a very cool looking car that is sure to bring us lots of fun. This will be David’s car for now. We decided to fix the Tig and we will be trading that in when I figure out what I want.
Meanwhile, here’s David and his new buddy-as yet unnamed. Congratulations, babe. You deserve this!
From test drive to towing, David couldn’t wait to get the new car home and try it out. Forevermore loved it! I think they are going to be a happy match! Now I want to go camping again!
Next line of business will be getting me behind the wheel to drive and then try out towing. Wish me luck!
When our car situation fell apart last week, I’d been working full-time from home, with going into the office about once a week. So temporarily being a one car family wasn’t too big of a concern.
However, the day after we went down to one car we learned I’ve been called back into the office. So now we’ve got to get a bit more serious in figuring out my next ride.
I’d like another Crosstrek, but the Impreza is running a close second. Stay tuned for an update in the near future.
So while, yeah, we don’t like change, and while being free of car payments was a happy thing of the past for a while, we’ve got a new ride. And hopefully another new ride in the near future. That’s definitely a blessing, any way you look at it.
As I sign off on this for now, I have the Beatles song echoing in my head.
You say goodbye, and I say hello. Hello Hello. I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello!
I’m looking forward to saying hello to my next car, whatever that may be.
May all your adventures be happy ones!
Love,
Janina
Janina Grey 