Today was a milestone kind of day. I had to bid farewell to my 1998 Suzuki Sidekick.
We got her new back on June 9th, 1998. She was baltic blue in color and only had 12 miles on her. The circumstances of getting her was a rough one. At the time I was serving on jury duty in a double murder case in Raleigh. I was driving down to the courthouse in morning traffic a few days before. The light turned red, the pickup in front of my Dodge Neon stopped, I stopped and then glanced in my rearview mirror. The pickup behind me wasn't going to stop! I could see that, there was no where to move my car, so I prepared for the impact. The Neon was totalled. Good news, the insurance covered what we owed on it. Bad news, it was only a few months old - also bought new. So, we had to buy a car with no trade-in and we needed to make a fast decision. That's when the Sidekick caught my eye.
After the accident, I wanted something higher up. The Sidekick fit the bill nicely. Over time I was able to add a six disk CD changer to it (a birthday present probably in 1999 or so). We paid the Suzuki off in 2004. When we traded it in today, it had 121,616 miles on it.
It was a good car - a really dependable car. Nothing ever really went wrong with it until about a week or so ago. I was running by the post office on the way home and tried to open the door from the inside. I heard a crack of plastic around the handle, and then a small copper spring popped out. After that, no opening the door from the inside. No problem, really. I could just roll down the window and reach out to open it from the outside handle. That worked fine for a few days. Then, last Monday, the motor on the driver's side window died - with the window fully rolled down. Well, that complicated things a lot!
Luckily my in-laws live twenty minutes away and they have an extra vehicle. So, they let me borrow their Suzuki Grand Vitara for as long as I'd need it. They actually bought it from the same dealership as I bought my girl. Kind of fitting. Still, it had no CD player and rode a bit rougher than mine.
Terri had been looking for new cars for a few weeks now anyway. Maybe my Suzuki knew what was going on. Maybe that's why the window motor went. Not sure. Anyway, this just forced Terri to be more proactive this weekend. Today she managed to find her replacement car - a BMW 325I. So, she got a new car, I inherit her Ford Explorer and I had to say goodbye to my old car.
You'll be missed, old girl.
3 comments:
Martin, sorry to read about your car finally going--but I enjoyed the tale, you're a good writer.
(BTW, I think I know you pretty well, you're such a friendly, kind guy. How come your profile photo doesn't show that trademark smile?!)
Your pal, apachedug
Martin, my car is a 1993 Geo Tracker (same car as Suzuki Sidekick) and it has 126,000 miles on it. It's been paid off forever, and now that our 2003 PT Cruiser is about to be paid off and we need a bigger vehicle for hauling our daughter around, I'm trying to persuade my wife to trade in the PT Cruiser instead of the Tracker. I know exactly how you feel!
Doug, I tried for a better picture - one where I'm smiling at least. Hope that helps some. Thanks for reading!
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