The End of Two Eras

My father loved cars. He really loved buying cars. You never knew what he was going to drive up in since he bought new cars so often. One time my mother had a Buick that she really liked, but my father read in one of his many obscure car magazines that there was some mystery transmission problem with her particular model that would disable the car from going into reverse.

No sooner had my father read this did her car have that same affliction. Thank goodness they lived on a cul de sac. So my father drove that car to a Nissan dealership, where he assumed they did not read the same random car magazines he did. He pulled the car up to the front of the showroom in the parallel position.

He walked into the manager’s office and said that he wanted to buy the newest Z car they had on the lot and he wanted to trade the Buick parked in front. He told they guy the year, make and model and the mileage. He announced the amount he wanted for the Buick and the price he would pay for the Z car and that he would write them a check. Then he threw in the ‘ole Ed Carter wrench. “You have 20 minutes to prep the new car so I can drive it right now.”

It was the last day of the month, at about 4 in the afternoon, so my father new that the manager would be most interested in selling a car to make his monthly numbers. The guy said, “I need to pull your car into the shop to check it out before I can give you a price for the trade in.”

My Dad did not object to that, but said to the guy, “I want to know right now if you want this deal and can have the new car prepped or I am going across the street to the BMW dealer.”

The manager said yes and had the paperwork and car prep done in 19 minutes, never once even looking at the odometer of the Buick. My Dad was zipping down the road home before they could have figured out the car did not go in reverse.

This was not an unusual story for my Dad, who spent lots of time in car dealerships. I, on the other hand, did not inherit any of this interest in buying cars. Don’t get me wrong. I love cars. I still can identify every make and model from both the front and the back for the years 1969-1983 as my Dad would quiz me when we did errands.

I am much more practical about cars than my father. I see them as a depreciating asset and a means to get from one place to another. Russ is similar to me. So when Russ and I buy a car we keep it for a very long time. Currently we have four cars and if you totaled up how old they all are it would be 109 years old. Our oldest car is 60 years old, but we are keeping that one.

Tomorrow we are trading in our second oldest car, the Land Cruiser, which is 24 years old and our youngest car, my Cmax which is only 11 years old. They have both served us well and are working great, but we don’t need four cars. So I am trading both in. I am getting another hybrid because you just can’t beat the gas milage. I am also getting a car that in size is in between the Cmax and the Land Cruiser. So I am averaging the two cars into one.

It will be a bittersweet day to see them both drive off together, but I am very excited about my new car to come. The best part about the whole thing is I never had to go to the dealership. I am getting the Car from Massey Toyota in Kinston, which is owned by my friend Molly Kelly’s husband. It has been the easiest way to buy a car ever.

Randy did send a guy to our house to drive my trade ins, unlike my father I had nothing to hide. I drove my friend Debbie’s car, which came from Randy and is the exact model I wanted. Before I hand over the keys and the check tomorrow I will drive the car I am buying just to make sure it is perfect. It is going to be hard to beat the Land Cruiser, but Apple play will help.

Good bye two black cars and hello one Navy blue. It’s and end of the black car era at our house.