This was before I put the Vent Visors and Hood deflector and Tonneau Cover on it. The black car behind was the previous ride.
I'm not going to lie: now I want to see you trying to get into the truck. In return, I'll let you watch me squeeze into my car. Yeah, while I do get a little annoyed with getting in and out (especially if I'm trying to bring in groceries), I love my car. It feels like the perfect size, because I can squeeze into parking spaces mid-size cars could only dream of. For me, it's not about power, either, though there's no shortage of that. My little Saturn has 85HP (63.3kw), which is far more than what I need to drive around town, and into the adjacent towns. I've been told by friends that my car is underpowered, but I've never had any issues on the Interstate, where cars usually travel about 65 MPH (104 km/h). What's more, from some rudimentary calculating, I get about 27 miles to the gallon (10.5km/liter) driving in the city, which is better than most newer cars. Now all I need to do is fix my speakers. The front ones are getting bad (they're factory, which means they're 21 years old), and my dad got me a new set last year. I just have to figure out how to get the door panels off. Knowing me, by the time I'm done, I'll have half the car in pieces on the driveway, the other half on blocks, and two completely intact doors sitting off to the side.
Hee, there's no photo of me getting in the truck (thank the gods) but as a compromise here's one of me from a year ago standing next to it, so you can imagine me hauling my short, rotund carcass into it. If the car didn't have those grab bar thingies just by the doors I'd have no chance in hell of getting in. Sven (yes, I named my Volvo) goes through quite a lot of diesel, as you can imagine; he's heavy and has a 2.0 litre engine. I needed a bigger car to haul my three teenagers and the dogs around, and, as I discovered as a passenger in my friend's little 1.3 litre engine Renault, I need the engine power to climb the Devon hills without loss of speed and fear of getting stuck on hilly roads. Seriously, my friend's little car almost didn't make it to Dartmoor because it could barely make it up the steep hilly roads (there's no such thing as a straight, level stretch of road in Devon). Sven has no such issues. The fun part about driving a more powerful car with automatic transmission is that I can outrun little boy racers in their souped up manual transmission cars at red lights and roundabouts. They do not take kindly to being outrun by a middle aged woman in a car with no street cred.
Thank you, I park as far out in the parking lots as possible and try to take care of it. I do all my own maintenance and only use the best oil and parts.[/QUOTE] Surprise! I found a vehicle which I fell in love with instantly. I have decided, as I approach middle age, to go with comfort and fuel economy. This is my new ride:
Comfort and fuel economy were my main factors. Even the small SUVs were not as easy on my less than young posterior. I am only 5'7' and many were made for much taller drivers. The salesman urged me to try it and I fell in love! It is very comfortable (climbing in and out of some SUVs was difficult), not that complicated to use (just enough hi-tech without overkill... it's a car not a video game!) I need 4 doors for times when friends and I go out. My truck meant, in groups, we took anyone's vehicle, but mine. This may be a 4 door car, but it drives like a sports car! Racing is in our family, so performance is a plus. Darn, I'm starting a novella about my new car!!
A 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport. I've seriously never driven a car that was less than ten years old.
Here are our two rides... The Family Truckster, a 2011 Honda Odyssey that I drive. My wives car, a 2007 Honda Fit. A great little car, gets fantastic gas milage and it only has 34,000 miles on it. Will be trading this in soon to get something bigger.
Took my ride in to the mechanic the other day. Wound up buying four new tires, four new sets of brake pads, four calipers, four rotors, new belts, new hoses, new a/c compressor, new spark plugs, new alternator, new master cylinder, new wheels, new stereo, new seat covers, new wipers, complete fluid exchange, and new exhaust. They agreed to throw in a shiny new steel and aluminum package for me to take it all home in. s Old ride: Red 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier 120,000 miles New Ride: Bluegreen 2013 Toyota Corolla S
That is a sweet ride, Captain X! Of course, your rattling off of parts you needed to replace reminded me of Gomer from Andy Griffith, in the episode where Barney buys himself a car.