“you don’t have to be beautiful to turn me on / i just need your body, baby, from dusk till dawn”

[larryhammer]

Our second car has reached the vehicle life-stage of junker. It’s 28 years old, sun-weathered with a paint job best described as “former,” but even if sold for (increasingly costly) parts it’s worth way less than the cost of repainting it. The roof is rusting, the upholstery is starting to fray, and a couple door latches don’t work from one side or another. Eaglet hates riding in it, partly from embarrassment (see: is twelve) but in all fairness, the never very strong a/c is now so anemic it doesn’t reach the back seat.

So, yeah, old, and honestly not a great car: a Geo Tracker, from the last year Geos were sold before its assets were split between Chevrolet and Suzuki, the companies that collaborated on the models. A cheap ride, from a line with a deserved reputation of being cheaply made. I describe it as a put-put class SUV. Locks and windows are fully manual, as is the conversion between 2- and 4-wheel drive (you have to get out to lock/unlock the wheels). When asked to maintain highway speed on an uphill with the a/c on, it can manage two out of three at best—but it got us through many roads where high clearance 4WH is a hard requirement. We did a lot of back-of-beyond camping out of that car.

Though not these days: it’s nowhere near large enough for three people + gear, and we don’t fully trust it for long distances anyway. Heck, the back row isn’t really big enough for a baby seat, thus the Subaru Forester bought the week before Eaglet’s arrival.

But the thing is, that Tracker still runs. The body is wearing out, but the driving is fine, around the city. We keep expecting it to break down any week now, but it hasn’t, nor has it ever needed repairs more serious than an oil or refrigerant leak. Certainly, our finances would appreciate it holding on for another couple years—and frankly, it just might. For a cheap-in-many-senses thing, it has done remarkably well.

Some sort of metaphoric point could be made from this, but I’ll let others codify exactly what.

---L.

Subject quote from Kiss, Prince and the Revolution.

Comments

[moon_custafer]

A few months ago I saw a comedy from 2001 in which there’s a running gag about the main character driving a Geo, to the embarrassment of his teenage son.

[larryhammer]

I feel called out.

[oracne]

Impressive that it still runs! And think of the car payments you're not making while it lasts!

[larryhammer]

We are totally thinking of that. At least once a month.

[swan_tower]

You handily beat our Prius, which is closing in on 19 years of age. We did have to replace the hybrid battery about nine years ago, it too suffers from a/c that has become more of a suggestion than an effective feature, and my sister memorably described the trough carved into the floor of the driver's side as "you're a few inches from yabba-dabba-doo," but it still goes! And for as long as it does, we're going to keep it, because it's useful to have a second car that trundles along without us having to pour money into monthly payments.

(We lovingly call it Hobo Car, on account of the decaying paint job and its fan club of spiders who love to festoon its exterior with webs.)

[larryhammer]

Heh, yeah, the Tracker has a few webs on its underside. We don't look closely at who's making them.

BTW, congrats on the Hugo!

[swan_tower]

Thank you!

re: spiderwebs, it's because the car lives in the driveway behind the house. Out front, there are many fewer spiders, but they apparently really like to hang out in the alley.