Before I got my driver’s license, back in the 90s, my dream car was a Chrysler LeBaron. It had to be red and it had to be a convertible. I mean, just look at it! Is there a more perfect convertible?
It even had the rims that I liked. The ones that looked like a 5-pointed star.
I never got that car. I didn’t even try. And I’m pretty sure they stopped making them not long after I decided it was the perfect car.
Instead, I paid my mom 500 dollars in cash and bought her Ford Escort from her as my first car. After I blew up the engine on that car–not my fault, I was trying to be safe and get to the next exit on the interstate so I wouldn’t be stranded. To be fair, the engine was smoking and I did eventually abandon that idea and did stop on the side of the road. A state trooper came and parked behind me while I waited for the tow truck.
My next car, incidentally was also 500 dollars. Paid to my mother-in-law’s neighbor. Honestly, that may have been my favorite car. It was a 1988 Pontiac Grand Am. It had super plush comfy seats. My mom had gotten me a stereo and speakers for it. That stereo was nice! It even had a remote. Yes, a remote for a car stereo. There was no need to lean forward to mess with the buttons on the dash.
Of course, that car had a litany of problems, not least of all was something that messed up in the transmission that ultimately prevented it from going in reverse. I had to get pull through parking spaces everywhere or park on an incline so I could roll backwards. It was cushy and nice driving it though…when it wasn’t randomly shutting off at stop signs and red lights.
Maybe my favorite car was my husband’s Ford Escort that I drove after the Grand Am died for good. His was two doors with a hatchback versus mine that was four doors. The joke was that we had met in a Ford Escort chat room, since that’s what we both drove when we first met. I really liked that car. It was a stick shift and let me just say, you don’t feel like you’re really driving unless you’re driving a manual transmission car. That one wasn’t perfect either. The air conditioning made the car drag and not have as much get-up-and-go. And if I remember correctly, by the time we had to replace the clutch a second time, we just decided enough was enough with it.
I’m going to go ahead and skip over the Dodge Stratus I had next. As soon as that thing was paid off, everything that could go wrong with it did go wrong. Rain water collecting in the doors and soaking the carpets kind of wrong, for example.
That brings me to my current Kia Optima. You know what, maybe I haven’t had a favorite car that I’ve actually owned. My Kia is definitely not my favorite. Remember how I feel about it? Don’t buy a Kia!
My husband is toying with the idea of trading in Christina (my Kia, so named after the daughter in the movie “Mommie Dearest”. She was abused in that movie. My Kia has been abused quite a bit too. Have I ever told you about Car-maggedon that happened in my school parking lot one time?)
He would like an SUV type car. We’ve never had one. Trips to Ikea, camping trips, driving on the beach kind of trips would all be possible with a bigger car like that. Who knows, maybe that one will end up being my favorite. I’m almost certain it will be better than any of my other previous cars.
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