Holly’s Happenings

Yes, I know that probably sounds kind of strange, but just stay with me here! When I first got my drivers license I was almost 19 years old. I was really fortunate in the fact that all of my friends were already driving and none of them minded picking me up when we all wanted to go do something, so not having my license was never a big deal, even after graduation.

When I finally did get my license I had grand thoughts about what my first car would be! I wanted a candy apple red Corvette, complete with some sweet looking Corvette rims. I imagined myself spending my free time washing, waxing and polishing my car, I also imagined myself being the envy of all my peers and that they would be standing in line for a chance to ride around town with me in my Corvette!

I was in for a very rude awakening when I discovered that my first car was going to be a 1979 Ford Pinto…LOL! It wasn’t that my Pinto wasn’t a decent looking car, it really was compared to most of the other ones I had seen! It had a shiny pearl white paint job and nice looking rims, but come on, wouldn’t you rather have a Corvette for your first car instead of a Pinto?

I didn’t have my Pinto very long though, after driving it for just 6 months I had my first major accident and totaled it! As much as I disliked the thought of having a Pinto, I cried when I got out of the hospital and went to the junk yard to collect my personal items out of it. Gone was the shiny white paint job, it was replaced with a crunched up front end and a thick layer of dirt and dust. It may not have been my dream first car, but it served me well in the short time I had it!

To this day I still have grand visions of some day owning a candy apple red Corvette with shiny chrome rims just like these Those are exactly the type of rims I dreamed of having on my Corvette! I think the style is very simple, very classy and I LOVE chrome!

**SIGH** Maybe some day!!

I’m still blown away about how well my van made the trip to Baltimore and back, other than the problems with the transmission. It was the first trip we’ve made with it since we bought it back in February and I was a bit apprehensive about how it would do.

My van is a 1995 Ford Aerostar and we got a really good deal when we bought it. Although it’s 13 years old it had previously been owned by a school district and it appears as if they maintained it to a “T”! It also had very low miles for being as old as it is, it had just passed 103,000 miles. I’ve owned several other Aerostar’s over the years and they are, by far, my favorite mini van and I was really bummed when Ford stopped making them!

This one has been a gem since we bought it and I have to admit that I was tickled when we found out that the A/C unit worked beautifully, mostly because it’s the older system which can be a hassle when it comes to having it serviced or charged. And I was never more happy to have an auto air conditioning unit that worked than I was on our trip because even with the windows down, it got VERY warm! It’s been quite a few years that I’ve had a vehicle with a working air conditioning unit, I’m used to using the 4/60 method of A/C in the summer. You know, 4 windows down, 60 MPH….LOL! And when we make the trip back out there at the end of the month, something tells me I’m going to be even happier about having A/C in the van!

You know, I know that there are many things that I take my husband for granted for.  We’ve been together for 16 years and over the years I’ve just gotten used to many of the things he does.  But one thing that I’ll never get used to is the amount of money he saves us on vehicle repairs!

In the 16 years that we have been together there have been only 2 times where I have actually had to take my vehicle to a shop to have work done on it.  The first time was shortly before our oldest child was born.  I was driving a Ford Escort at the time and the clutch went out.  Now, he could have easily replaced the clutch, but the reason he didn’t is because he simply didn’t have the right tools or somewhere to do it, because it required being able to lift the motor out of the chassis.  The other time was a time that we were separated and my van broke down, so I had to pay someone to fix that.

As you may (or may not) know, I drive a VERY old Honda station wagon that has almost 250,000 miles on it.  It’s been an awesome car that has had very few problems.  A few weeks ago I noticed some problems with the transmission.  It’s an automatic and it would do things like jerk into gear while I was cruising down the expressway at 65.  It finally got to the point that it just couldn’t be driven a few weeks ago, so we made arrangements to purchase a vehicle that my sister and her husband had for sale, which they were going to allow us to drive before we paid them.

Anyway, to make a long story short, the problems with the transmission on my Honda turned out to be computer related and not actual transmission problems.  My husband was able to locate a “new” computer and installed it this morning and I am THRILLED to say that Rhonda the Honda is back to her old self again!  I know how silly it seems to put money into a vehicle with almost 250,000 miles on it, but I LOVE this car!  Besides, if it was possible to fix my Honda that made it not necessary for us to sign a contract on a “new” car and have car payments, which, to me, is a HUGE plus!

Well, what I hope to be my new ride…LOL! As I posted last week, we’ve decided that it’s time to break down and get me a new car. I’ve narrowed it down to a very sweet Chevy Malibu! And although it’s a great car as it is, I can’t help but look at things that I can buy for it to make it look a little better. Something that I’d really like to get for it is a car spoiler. I think the ones for the Malibu’s are really sweet looking!

Guess?  Go ahead, I’ll wait while you think about it!

All right, I’m tired of waiting, man, you are SLOW!;)  I’M GETTING A “NEW” CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!  The word new is in quotes because it’s new to me and not brand new, but that’s OK because everyone knows how badly the price your brand new vehicle is worth drops once you drive it off the lot!

I’ve searched online for what seems like MONTHS for a new to me vehicle!  I knew what I REALLY wanted, but I also knew that since we really don’t have any credit history, that it would be nearly impossible to get what I wanted.  So I shopped around with an open mind.  The biggest thing that I NEED is simply a vehicle that is going to be reliable, but it also has to be within my price range with a payment that we can afford!

Today I test drove a Saturn L series wagon, a Ford Windstar, a Mazda 3, and a Ford Taurus.  I didn’t like the Mazda at all, the Saturn was really cool, but the engine light was on, the Taurus ended up being WAY out of our league, and I LOVED the Windstar!  But with as creative as they had to get in order to finance us, even though the Windstar was less expensive than what we’re probably going to get, it was a year older than the company that we’re financing through would allow.  So, unless something happens between now and next week (when I’ll have the downpayment), I will be the proud owner of a white 2004 Chevy Mailbu Classic.  Although I’m not a fan of Chevy’s the company that we’re going through for financing requires and provides a complete warranty on the vehicle for the duration of the loan/lease, which will help me feel better about buying a used car.  They even provide a loaner car if your vehicle ends up in the shop, which is a huge plus to me, that way I don’t end up having to find transportation back and forth to school and work in the event that the new car does break down on me!  What does worry me is having car payments for the first time in over 16 years!  But I’m excited!

Here is a picture of the actual vehicle from the dealership’s website:

She’s pretty, and she’s in MUCH better shape than my Honda!  And I don’t think the kids will be embarrassed of my car any more, do you?  LOL!

I can’t for the life of me remember if I told you this or not. About a month or so ago my husband was driving home from shopping with our 12 year old and managed to hit a deer. Unfortunately the deer didn’t survive, nor did the front grill on his truck. He’d been driving the truck around without a grill the past few weeks, but over the weekend, while he was looking at truck accessories, he finally found a replacement grill that he liked. So now he has a shiny new grill on his not so shiny old truck…LOL.

I’ve been looking around at “new to me” vehicles to replace my 1991 Honda. As much as I love my Honda, I’ve driven it for a VERY long time and am ready for something newer. I decided that I’m either going to go with an SUV or a mini van. I found one mini van that I really liked, but apparently it had been used previously as a utility vehicle and had a van rack on the top of it. Now, I have nothing against van racks, I know they come in handy at times, but I’d prefer if I could find something without them. So I’m still shopping around, but I haven’t written off the mini van that I found in spite of the van rack.