A Weird Sentimental Note About a Car... [Written July 9, 2018]
(Disclaimer - this is so weird and random cuz like...it’s a car >_> but I’ll take my inspiration were I can lol)
2013 was a weird year for me. I had been in my 3rd and most
severe car accident in three years, I had a huge falling out with a close
friend, and I left my first adult relationship that had lasted three
years. I was 20 years old and I felt very unsure of every decision I had made
up to that point and would inevitably make in the future - and to be perfectly
honest I was afraid to drive.
At the time I was driving a pretty run down 2-door Chevy
Cavalier and I hated it. I felt cramped and too small on the road to be noticed
which made me feel like at any moment I could be in another catastrophic car
accident. Car shopping was hectic, I was getting a lot of help from my mom, but
with me working a 9-5 us being able to go look at cars at the same time was
difficult. After a few months, a friend of mine noticed a PT Cruiser not far
from my apartment. This was a car few people I knew had much experience with,
most of my family had never even driven Chrysler vehicles. Despite my
trepidation, my friend strongly encouraged me to go for it, and my mom helped
me check it out and make sure it wasn’t another beat up vehicle. It was a nice
car, 11 years old, clean, luxury package, and a good price with moderately high
miles, we bought it, but I think everyone was pretty nervous my track record of
A Car Accident A Year would make us regret the choice.
In my first year of ownership I noticed an odd clunking
sound in the front end no one but me seemed to be able to hear. Multiple
mechanics convinced me to do thousands of dollars of repairs, but the clunk
persisted. I dealt with many flat tires (I eventually learned resulted from
alloy rims being destroyed by road salt causing the rims to eat my tires). I
spent one evening on the side of the freeway waiting for a friend's dad to save
me (immediately after this incident I added Roadside Assistance to my car
insurance package). I got a dozen compliments on my old rims, and eventually
the new ones (which was funny to me cuz I bought the cheapest ones I could from
Discount Tire). Numerous oil changes, windshield wiper replacements (most often
needed on inconvenient winter days), brake replacement, and strut replacements.
A few more big mechanic bills, some slow leaking fluids resulting in me keeping
a "kit" of sorts in the back of my car with oil, antifreeze,
transmission fluid, a jump start kit, and a small air compressor. A few
afternoons spent on the side of the road praying my car wouldn't overheat and
be damaged beyond repair before I could get it home or to a shop, eventually
leading to a new radiator. A terrifying moment of smoke coming from the
steering column due to a faulty blinker switch, but I was never left entirely
stranded.
We went on a few long trips, to Lima, OH, to Lansing, MI and
to various questionable places in Pontiac and Detroit. It made a friend
"feel like royalty" during a late night beer run. It was the vessel
of many a yard sale haul and dumpster dives. It floated me across drifts of
snow during many mornings of my parking lot at work being poorly plowed. It
brought me safely home in a few different blizzards when I had no business
being on the road.
I got my life on track while having this car; including, but
not limited to actually getting the title, registration, and insurance in my
own name after I turned 21. And while these things probably would have happened
regardless of the car I had, I am so thankful to have had a reliable vehicle
for 5 WHOLE YEARS! So after 5 years and tens of thousands of miles, it's time
to move on from my 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser. It's been a good ride.
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