My Next Car

I love cars.  I think I was a stable boy in a past life and have, over time, transferred the passion I feel for horses to cars.  I love sleek, sport cars.  I love convertibles.  I love stick shifts.  I know nothing about engines and the things under the hood, anymore than I understand the technology that powers cell phones, the Web, or my iPad, though I use those constantly, everyday, too.

My friends have teased me mercilessly over the years about the endless parade of cars through my life.  Since getting my first car 30 years ago, I have had 13 of them shown below (years are model years, not the year I got the car, and they are estimates):

1974 Dodge Dart, brown (used)

1983 Honda Civic hatchback, gold/beige (first new car)

1990 Nissan 240SX, black (new)

1988 BMW Sedan, dark grey (used)

1992 Nissan Altima, teal (new)

1998 Infiniti G20, red (new—worst car I ever had, never buying Infiniti again)

2000 Nissan Pathfinder, white (new)

2002 Saab hatchback, white (new)

2004 Mercedes E, black (used—tie for worst car I ever had)

2008 Mercedes ML-3, white (new)

2009 VW Beetle convertible, triple white (new)

2010 Eos, hardtop convertible, white (new)

2010 Audi Q5, black (new—best car I ever had and probably the best one I will ever have)

I hated the Dodge Dart.  My mom helped me buy it when I graduated college and I had wanted a smaller car with a stick shift, but all we could afford was the Dart.  It was in good condition for an older car, but it went downstream rapidly and was constantly leaving me high and dry. 

When I was at the first ad agency and feeling like I was starting to make a little money, even though it was a real stretch, I bought the Civic, my first new car.  It was good to me but it was not a lasting love. 

My first love was the sporty Nissan 240SX that I bought after my mom passed away in 1988, though I think I got it in 1990.  What I remember about that was how badly my then husband was behaving at the dealership.  He didn’t want me to spend my mom’s inheritance on the down payment for the car, though he had no problem using it for a down payment on his car or on updating our kitchen.  The dealership owner took me aside and said I was welcome anytime but to please not bring my husband.  The other thing that I remember is that the car didn’t last long—it was the first time I had to give up something I loved for Rachel—she came along in 1992 and her car seat didn’t go easily into the back seat of the 2-door 240SX.

I drowned my sorrows with my first “executive” car, a used, dark grey, black leather interior BMW, stick shift.  It was a good car, but the rear-wheel drive was a bitch in the snow.  I also was convinced people weren’t nice to me when I drove it, assuming I was an a-hole because I drove a B-mer.  No one let me into traffic, no one gave me a break.  Didn’t happen in any car before that, didn’t happen with any car since.  Form you own conclusions.

Next up was the Altima.  I saw another woman driving it and fell in love (with the car).  I got it in teal with cream leather interior.  It was a wonderful car, very reliable.  I held onto that one for a while until the interior started to look worn and my head was turned by the new, red, Infiniti G-20, which turned out to be one of the 2 worst cars I ever owned.

I wanted the Infiniti J-30 (which looked a lot like the mid-range Nissan, the Altima) but went for the low-end Infiniti that I could afford (which looked like Nissan’s low end Sentra).  It was a piece of crap from the word “Go.”  It looked great but rattled like crazy and I lost a lot of valuable time driving back and forth to the dealership trying to get it remedied.  Rather than try to make a lemon law claim, I just turned it in and got another new car, this time a white Nissan Pathfinder, leather interior. 

(Actually, every car that could have had leather interior did.  The only pleathers were the Dart, the Civic and the VW Bug.)

Then came the leased Saab, the only time I leased.  It was white with tan interior.  I liked it but didn’t love it.  What I remember about it was the hard-ass negotiating I did to get it (the sales guy expected a cream puff and got a piranha) and the time I was in the service waiting area and had a nice conversation with a woman who said I should talk with her daughter who worked at Johnson & Johnson.  I thought she wanted me to give her daughter a job. “Oh, no honey, I think she can help you.  She’s in charge of marketing several products there.”  I had lunch with her daughter and the rest is history. 

After the Saab I “upgraded” to a Mercedes, albeit used.  It was a horror show.  Even though I did my homework on the car, it turned out to have one problem after another.  So then I bought, at a great price, a new Mercedes SUV.  At first it was disappointing because it had a number of problems:  unbalanced steering (pulled hard to the right), electronic issues with the gas cap, warning lights coming on for no reason, etc.  But then it settled down and was actually a very nice car.  But never a great car.

While I had the Mercedes, I also bought, for fun, a convertible VW Bug that I nicknamed Digby (Digital Brand Expressions).  I really enjoyed it, but then money got tight during the recession, Rachel wasn’t getting her license as expected, and so I traded both Digby and the Mercedes for an Eos.

That was a mistake.

The kids complained about how cramped the back seat was.  Nobody loved the roof being down but me.  And it was simply too small to have as the only car for a family.

So less than 9 months later, I turned in the Eos, which was one sexy looking car, for the love of my car life, the Audi Q5.  The Audi Q5 is a small SUV.  It’s shaped like an SUV, it has room in the cargo area for “stuff,” but it is a true luxury vehicle everywhere else.  Leather seats, great sound system, “wood” trim.  It’s beautiful, it rides great, and I absolutely love it.  Love it. Love it.

So what is the purpose of this post?  I’m in conflict.  I’ve got the fever again.  I am staring at the Eos’ I see and thinking, “That could be me driving that.”  I don’t want to turn in my Q5, I love that car. 

But then again, I don’t need another car.  But I am working 70 hours a week and I want to enjoy the summer in a convertible.  But I don’t need to spend money on another car.  But I would really enjoy driving a stick shift convertible. 

I could lease it…

Stay tuned.