My New Ride

Out with the old and in with the new they say... My old car, a 1991 Chevy Caprice Classic (pictured above) was reaching the end of line. Although the car served me well for the past three years, was really starting to become problematic and high maintenance. At 147,000 miles, gremlins ravaged the electronics leaving me unable to open the driver's window (and the window behind it), the radio, rear window defroster and the wiper fuses would blow. In the last six months I had the thermostat replaced, the heater fixed, gotten new snow tires, and replaced the starter. The car was bleeding anti freeze and spewing white smoke. Other words it was being held together by two bolts, one nut, a roll of duct tape and a wad of bubble gum for good measure. Once I gotten an estimate for $900 to get the manifold replaced, it was time to let The Beast go...

The search for a new car wasn't an easy task... Searching for the right car to fit my budget and dealing with the bank loans was a major headache. A 1999 Ford Taurus (43,000 miles) and a 2001 Mercury Sable (110, 000) were considered and rejected by the bank. Frustrating! A trip across the border to Antioch proved to be fruitful...

We looked at 2010 Nissian Altima that was 22,000 miles and FULLY loaded. (I wouldn't be surprised if there a cappuccino maker stashed there somewhere in the truck) The monthly payments on that would have given me a heart attack. While there, a light shone through the clouds and the heavens sang as we were shown this car below....



A 2007 Chevy HHR LT. This baby has a four cylinder engine, front wheel drive, power windows, loaded with safety features AND a working radio/CD player. It has 62,000 miles on it and gets up to 35 miles per gallon. Rides nice and smooth and handles the road well. The price was reasonable and the payments I believe I could manage.

I signed my name on the dotted line and left the Caprice behind...