Lust

I've been lusting lately.  After my dream car.

 

I'm a Honda junkie.  When I turned 16, my parents were generous and gave me a car under the stipulation that I had to get a job to put gas in it.  This was not the nicest car.  It was a 1995 white Ford Taurus.  It was ugly, but it ran and I was grateful.

 

A little under a year after my parents gave it to me, the transmission died.  Because it was a Ford.  We like to play musical cars in my family, so as a result of my dead car, I got my dad's car and he bought a new car.  Not too long after that, my brother's car died, so he got my dad's car and my dad bought a new used car.  The car I inherited at this point was a 1998 gold Ford Taurus.  It was ugly, and it ran, and I was semi-grateful.  It had even more issues than the taurus whose transmission died.  It needed a new radiator and a new alternator.  It got some work and I took it off to college.

 

Around Thanksgiving of my freshman year, my brother totaled his car.  We played musical cars again.  This time, my brother got my car, I got my dad's car, my dad got my mom's car and my mom got a new car.  I was ecstatic because I got The Purple Putter.  She's a 1999 purple Honda Accord.  She has been the greatest car.  She's got 200K+ miles, an oil leak, and several love dents, but she's been a great car.  She's been to Baton Rouge, Tuscaloosa and Panama City.  She has had many different passengers and has provided a great time for all. 

 

Unfortunately over the last year and a half or so, she's needed a lot of TLC.  The window broke and wouldn't roll up.  Fixed it.  The wiper motor went out and my wipers would get stuck in the rain (no bueno).  Fixed it.  The oil leaked.  "Fixed it" (it still leaks, no bueno.)  I've loved her.  M endearingly named her the Purple Putter. 

 

She's been reliable.  I love that she's purple because very few people have a purple car.  I love her.  But I've been lusting after a new car.

 

I know Hondas are fairly indestructable, but at 200K+ miles with an oil leak and other minor repairs looming, I know she won't last forever.  Eventually I'm going to get to the point where it's not worth putting more money into her. 

 

Several weeks ago, M and I went to test drive cars, for him.  He test drove my dream car.  Yes, I know I'm sad, my dream car is not a hot sports car or souped up luxury sedan.  My dream car is a brand new Honda Civic Hybrid.  Light blue with leather interior, heated seats, power everything, 6 CD changer, and ipod jack. 

 

Isn't she puuuuuurty?

 

 

How lame am I?  But I don't currently have heated seats, so that'll be a major bonus.  I can only play 1 CD at a time, which I realize isn't that miserable, but I get sick of a CD after two times through, and it's dangerous to be flipping through CDs to change it while I'm driving.  I want and ipod jack so I can listen to my ipod on shuffle.  Solves the 1 CD at a time problem. 

 

Plus, a hybrid would a) perpetuate my wanna-be hippie-ness, b) be environmentally friendly, and c) save me money on gas.  I live in a suburb south of Nashville and I work north of downtown.  With a hybrid that gets 43 mpg highway, I'd save a lot on gas money.  Nashville have HOV lanes which require 2 passengers in the car between 7-9am and 4-6pm, OR a hybrid (yay, faster commute!)

 

It's just a win-win. 

 

As I'm driving to and from work, I pass my dream car all the time, and I pout because I'm stuck in my still decent car.  So I'm saving.  I'm going to save my tax return, and as much of my new paychecks as possible (still living on what I was making at my old job) to have enough for a down payment by the end of the year.  I will succeed.  I deserve a brand new car.  I've never had one and I think I would take better care of my car if I'm the one paying for it.

 

What's your dream car?  Have you ever owned it, or at least test driven one?