Monday, July 13, 2009

Decisions, decisions

So, our latest bit of news is that Benson's reliable little car is ready to retire.


It began life in 1994 and in 1997, it became part of our family.
Benson drove that car from Seattle to visit me in Utah on numerous occasions when we were dating, but living long distance from each other.

We drove that car from Utah to Chicago the summer when we were going to get married.

It brought us home from the temple on that life changing day when we got married, and drove us to our honeymoon as well!

It was this car that I nearly got a ticket in just days after delivering Sweetie.

It was this car that I drove like a maniac for my very first mothers trip to the ER. (without a carseat... screaming child ready to jump over the seat... that's another story I should tell sometime.)

It was this car that had the radio stolen out of it while Benson was at work one day. It still has no radio!
It was this car that Benson did get a ticket in without proof of insurance, expired registration and expired license.

We've put 120,000 miles on this baby. In addition to the trips across the country, it has faithfully taken Benson to and from work for years. This includes the bank job he had that was an hour and a half away (on a good day), and the current restaurant job that is an hour away. Its been a very reliable car, getting, to this day, 40 miles per gallon on the highway!

Unfortunately, this car also needs a quart of oil with just about every fill up. The driver side door hardly latches shut anymore. The oil , seat belt and brake lights never go off. This car has no air conditioning (never has). It has no power steering. What put the poor car over the edge was that it is in need of a new muffler, and a complete brake job... We've got metal on metal braking now. We got an estimate for getting the car in running order again and just the absolute necessities were going to cost over $2000, doing everything they recommended was over $4000. The blue book value of the car is a pathetic $150. We just couldn't justify the cost of the repairs, especially since it doesn't even address the oil leaking issue or the door able to fly open at any moment issue.

So we say goodbye to the faithful Sentra and hope to find a new used car as reliable as it was. We've driven about a dozen different cars and its SO hard to decide! So far, at the top of our list are

2006 Ford Fusion approx 27K miles
2006 Mercury Milan approx 41K miles
2000 Honda Accord approx 75 K miles

I hate decisions. URG. Wish us luck! (and opinions welcome)

6 comments:

Weston and William's Blog said...

good luck! They all seem like really nice cars! It's amazing what cars are capable of, isn't it?!

Sean and Hillary Monroe said...

I'd go with Honda. We have two (used to have a third) and they've never let us down. Fabulous cars, and since Honda isn't even close to going bankrupt, you'll always be able to find parts. :)
Besides, my Jiffy-Lube man told me to always buy foreign - preferably Japanese.

Corrine said...

car choosing is hard, though I might go for the more reliable less expensive honda accord...I could ask my brother in law who sales cars...which of the three is the better bang for your buck if that would help?

Liz Smith said...

honda honda honda! :P i know we already had this conversation but i had to document my vote....hahahaha.

farewell little nissan. it's funny how sad it can be to let an inanimate object go when you consider all the memories that have been made in it.

Nora said...

I'd say Honda. They last FOREVER!! We'd never buy anything other than a Toyota or Honda again. Good Luck.

Devri said...

I have no idea~ we are trying to get a little car that will take us all the places with only one driver or two, instead of driving the tanks around everywhere. let me know. Good luck! hugs to you!