janie and her cars

because of my recent history and experience with vehicles, i thought it would be entertaining if perhaps i shared the story of our cars.

in 2003 I bought MY first car. it was a dream, especially for a first car. a red ‘89 vw cabriolet convertible with white leather seats and top with standard transmission. that meant i had to learn to drive stick in order to drive my car and over about a two week period, i finally got the hang of it. again, the BEST first car, ever!

i hope to again own a little cabrio, at least for night drives with the top down. AMAZING! anyways, the poor thing  burned up after some tough use and was then replaced with a vw jetta in ‘04. this was an awesome second car. black with grey cloth interior. not leather and not a convertible, but awesome none the less. especially with the sunroof and standard transmission, again.

that car was good to me, except when it wasn’t. supposedly a ‘96 anything from vw is somewhat of a lemon (know that now), especially if you ask adam! later on the window and sunroof motors went out and smaller things kept coming up, so that was enough for adam to decide it needed to go. i actually taught adam how to drive stick in this car, all around the uga tennis parking lot one afternoon. what can i say, he’s a fast learner!

when adam and i got married, i also inherited his (formerly manda’s) white ‘90 corolla.

it’s also a great car that keeps on trucking! well, in feb ‘08 we sold the jetta to some poor soul in need of a vehicle and said goodbye to vw’s for good (with adam at least).

but this left a void in transportation…which leads to the event of my mini van.

there i said it (admitted it), MINIVAN! and purple, no less. although not attractive in my opinion, the van was a life saver. my in laws were generous enough to offer it to us after they purchased their toyota highlander. *thanks, again y’all*

the plum ‘96 plymouth voyager (no longer made) was that of an interesting car, but very useful none the less, and appreciated by all, even the canines. and though it was a handsome ride, we were still trying to find a more fuel efficient vehicle to eventually replace it. this was a very long and drawn out period of time, in my life. especially when i am a nanny, driving a large portion of the time.

{i was always so excited to drive the van}

over the course of six months (feb-aug) we searched high and low for any economy sized, fuel efficient, slightly attractive vehicle to drive, but were pretty hard up when it came to the combination of mileage, price and model of the car. we are not the types to go buy a new car and make payments. no no no! we pay cash for the perfect used car that speaks to us. and when my parents friend’s offered their burgundy ‘99 vw passat for half price, we plunged back into the vw trend in july’08.

the passat was a beautiful car. it was an automatic, but still fun with a turbo engine! it also sported the sunroof which pleased me and at the same time worried me (it WAS a vw, you know). but all together, i loved this car.

but the dreadful day of august 13 came and the brand new (to me) car was taken away from me. after being t-boned, the pretty passat was no more. TOTALED. which meant…back to the minivan, again. but like i said and always will, what would i have done without the van? but my friends insist that the van was jealous of the passat and caused the accident, right? oh well.

so we got back into the habit of searching for ANOTHER car…and then four months later, right before thanksgiving, adam spots a lexus for sale in augusta. and just so you know, there is NEVER anything for sale in augusta, let alone a luxurious vehicle like a lexus. after seeing it, we knew it really was meant to be.  so we now have a black ‘95 es 3o0. with a sunroof and leather interior, it was like a dream. especially when the van had started making squeaky noises soon before that!

as of january 2009 we owned a ‘90 corrola, a ‘95 es 300 and a ‘96 voyager. three cars should have been plenty for a young married couple (with zero kids), right? but the in-laws insisted we “keep” (which to adam meant “sell”) the van. so we had two cars in our driveway and one on the street…until the day we were in athens and found a burgundy ‘96 toyota land cruiser being sold for half of its value.

after adam, aaron (bro-in-law) and i checked it out we of course bought it on the spot. all i can say is that i was ALL for it. secretly, land cruisers have always been my dream car, but i would had never dared to ask for one! it was a super nice, luxurious car. and a truck! the perfect vehicle for our dogs to travel around in and also the perfect hauler of furniture (*wink wink*)!

so yes, for a short period of time we owned four cars between the two of us. but it was not intentional…we needed to downsize and we knew it. so we cleaned up the van (washed and vacuumed) and threw it on craigslist (LOVE, by the way, also another story) and sold it two days later.

now we had three cars. one more to go. and unfortunately it was going to be adam’s corrola! so we did the usual (wash and vacuum) which i believe had yet to be done since the day he bought it in july ‘04! but afterward, it looked like a new car…sort of. newer, i guess!

we then found someone interested in buying it, but because of title problems (not finding the title) we didn’t sell it as soon as we had wanted. but this is another exciting part of the story…

i was driving the cruiser earlier THIS week (it being march 2009) and was t-boned (yes, AGAIN) driving home one night. this lead to it being towed, insurance companies being contacted and adjusters appraising the damage. well, the poor (and just barely owned) cruiser was declared TOTALED! the poor thing is no more. fortunately we were taken care of right away (unlike the previous wreck we are still waiting for $ with…but that’s another story) and got a check TODAY. this check more than covered the cost of the car, taxes and cost of a rental (we DO still have that third car).

so in closing, all is well. i am fine, aside from headaches/frustration of having to find another car, AGAIN. we are pleased with GEICO (tell your friends) and the service they rendered in our behalf and in such a quick amount of time.

we now have to look for another car, but it’s something we look forward to doing very soon and with the cash in hand, perhaps we can find a “keeper” this time. adam’s thinking a 4runner (more fuel eff than the cruiser) it being a truck like vehicle that we have come to appreciate.

so we shall see. wish me luck…