New Wheels

After years of talking about it, and years of wondering if one of us would end up stranded on the side of the road because we waited too long, we have finally purchased a new car. 

A purchase this monumental cannot be ignored; however the details aren't pretty and to be honest it was a stressful and frustrating process for Justin so let’s just fast forward through the drama and get to the happy ending which is that we now have a reliable, safe, and beautiful car that I know we'll be happy with it for many, many years.  

Justin heading off to work this morning in our 2014 Toyota Corolla

I’ve gotta give a proper farewell (in actuality I’m sure its more of an obituary) to our 1996 Nissan Maxima.  

I wrote this in early January before we’d officially turned it over to the dealership for a whooping $500!  Yes, the car had lots and lots of problems and some wouldn't even consider it 'functional' but still crazy, though not very surprising, that an entire car was worth only $500.  We decided to skip the hassle of selling it ourselves especially considering we couldn’t really vouch for its safety. 

  

We purchased the Maxima 15 years ago, just before we got married, from a neighbor of my Mom’s who owned a used car dealership in Layton, Utah. It has been a great car for us and we are grateful it's served us well for so many years. We've had very few large expenses with it especially in the last few years – truly a miracle. The fact that it has lasted this long really is a blessing. Though there haven't been any major mechanical issues there have been plenty of small annoyances. For example it doesn't always start (though it has been doing better now that we've parked it in the garage). The back seat window no longer stays up and would just fall down at random while driving so Justin has had it taped up for over a year. 

Sometimes the car will not let you lock the doors - frustrating when out running errands. We've had to keep cardboard on the garage floor because it leaks some unknown fluid. The tinting on the back windshield has bubbled up – Justin’s roughly chiseled away some of it. 

The digital features of the stereo system haven't worked in well over a decade so you never know exactly what station you are dialed into and it only has a cassette deck – no CD capability.  

The interior was just gross, dirty, and run down and the occasional air fresher Justin hung from the rear-view mirror couldn’t mask its unpleasant smell.

Over the last 2 years we really have tried to avoid driving it any more than necessary. Justin takes it to work everyday but that's it.  If there's any running around we need to do, even if it’s without any kids or by ourselves, we've resorted to always taking the van.  The Maxima has been a fixed part of our lives for longer than we’ve been an official family and years before having any children.  We know we have been blessed to have it continue to run year after year, after year. We certainly got our monies worth and it is without any sadness that we say goodbye to the Maxima that has served us so well.  Perhaps it will find new purpose in some recycled form.