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car thoughts?
May. 10th, 2006 08:15 pmi've got a 1997 jetta jazz. it leaks oil and antifreeze, but that's honestly not the problem. if i took care of it, kept filling it with oil & coolant, it would probably last another 50,000 or so (it's around 160,000 now.) the biggest problem i have with it is that it's just not comfortable for me. when i had a 15-minute commute, it was liveable, but now that i have a 40-minute commute, i'm in pain when i get to work, and pain when i get home.
so it's time to find dani a new car. i can think of one time when i got the car i really, really wanted - everything else has been by default. my first car ('83 olds omega) i bought because i needed my own car before i was allowed to get my license. that died when i was in college. when i quit school, i needed a way to get around, and i wanted something that wouldn't give me problems. i bought the cheapest thing i could find, a new '97 cavalier. had that for a few years until i couldn't afford it anymore. sold it for *just* enough to cover what i owed, and started driving a hand-me-down from my mom, a '90 escort. i drove that car until the last leg of the *second* transmission i put in it (it literally died as i pulled into the dealership), when i went to a BHPH place (my credit at this point was horrid) and got an '89 cavalier. damn, i loved that car. it was the first (and, until this point, only) car i chose on my terms, with noone's input. as a matter of fact, my fiancee at the time didn't want me to buy it. i bought it just because i liked the way it drove. i drove that until...you know, i'm not entirely sure what happened to that car. i couldn't afford to fix whatever was wrong with it, and the last time i saw it, it was parked behind my exes' garage. (leave it to me to lose a *car*.) when i couldn't fix the cavalier, i fixed my (now-ex) gf's truck instead and learned to drive stick. fell in love with the truck, and drove it until i cracked the engine block on a rural highway the day before thanksgiving 2003, five minutes after my wallet being stolen. two days later, my mom took me out, financed the jetta for me, and here i am today. i owe about $500 on the jetta still, and trading it in (since it's financed in my mom's name but both our names are on the title) will be tricky.
but damnit, this time it's my show. i want a pickup. manual transmission, low mileage, comfy. i want to love driving again.
so, any suggestions? i've yet to do any browsing irl, but i've looked online at some tacomas and S-10s. the biggest hurdle i seem to be hitting is that it's freaking impossible to find anything that's not an automatic these days.
so it's time to find dani a new car. i can think of one time when i got the car i really, really wanted - everything else has been by default. my first car ('83 olds omega) i bought because i needed my own car before i was allowed to get my license. that died when i was in college. when i quit school, i needed a way to get around, and i wanted something that wouldn't give me problems. i bought the cheapest thing i could find, a new '97 cavalier. had that for a few years until i couldn't afford it anymore. sold it for *just* enough to cover what i owed, and started driving a hand-me-down from my mom, a '90 escort. i drove that car until the last leg of the *second* transmission i put in it (it literally died as i pulled into the dealership), when i went to a BHPH place (my credit at this point was horrid) and got an '89 cavalier. damn, i loved that car. it was the first (and, until this point, only) car i chose on my terms, with noone's input. as a matter of fact, my fiancee at the time didn't want me to buy it. i bought it just because i liked the way it drove. i drove that until...you know, i'm not entirely sure what happened to that car. i couldn't afford to fix whatever was wrong with it, and the last time i saw it, it was parked behind my exes' garage. (leave it to me to lose a *car*.) when i couldn't fix the cavalier, i fixed my (now-ex) gf's truck instead and learned to drive stick. fell in love with the truck, and drove it until i cracked the engine block on a rural highway the day before thanksgiving 2003, five minutes after my wallet being stolen. two days later, my mom took me out, financed the jetta for me, and here i am today. i owe about $500 on the jetta still, and trading it in (since it's financed in my mom's name but both our names are on the title) will be tricky.
but damnit, this time it's my show. i want a pickup. manual transmission, low mileage, comfy. i want to love driving again.
so, any suggestions? i've yet to do any browsing irl, but i've looked online at some tacomas and S-10s. the biggest hurdle i seem to be hitting is that it's freaking impossible to find anything that's not an automatic these days.
