Lemons

When I was 17 and had just gotten my license, my parents bought me a white 1990 Geo Prism for $2500. I hope to repay them someday, perhaps after we win the lottery. The transmission, which was previously rebuilt, had eventually took a dump. Mom apologized to me. "I'm sorry! We thought it was good car!" How she could she apologize? They spent $2500 of their hard earned money to buy me a car! And it was a good car! It lasted a really long time, but it's time had come and it was going to Car Heaven now. It landed at Shawn's parents house since they have a couple acres. We soon sold it for less than I'd like to mention and began our hunt.

We didn't have much money and came across a lady selling a 1989 Nissan Something-Or-Another. It was 2 door with a broken hatch back. It was awful. But it was only $800 and we liked that part. I think it lasted about 8 or 9 months before the trasmission gave out. I drove around town in 1st gear just to get the laundry done. Yes, I know in the previous story I mentioned a laundry room; that doesn't neceassrily mean I have a washer. If you've been paying attention at all, you'd see that we've had some expenses.

That stupid Nissan hated me. I swear it was posessed or something. I used a 2x4 to prop up the hatch to load gorceries and it hit me in the head most every time. Once, I nearly knocked myself out at the laundymat. There was a gaping hole that vomited out ugly wires where a radio should've been. It built for someone with long legs so I had to stretch just to see over the cracked and rotting dashboard.
Well, it got me work and back.
In first gear, no less.

So after the Nissan crapped out we found a Black 1996 Geo Metro. It was a bubble car. Think of the new VW Beetle but rounder! It was a very good car. The biggest trouble I had were expected things such as...
The time the battery died in the drive-thru at the bank on my lunch break.
The time I was crossing an intersection and ran over a glass bottle that I didn't see. (I had to walk about a mile to get home in the scroching heat after working all day in the scorching heat)

After my second day at my new job in May 2005, I went to the old cleaners to talk to my coworker. She was really PO'd that when I annouced my 2 week notice. What can I say> I couldn't pay bills on what I'd collect if I waited to get laid off. The store was closing! I needed a full time pay check to help pay our 3 loans and house payments! (we've had our expenses)

It was a Monday and I went straight from work to talk to my so-called friend. I was nervous, my stomach was swirling. But she actually apologized her own way, cried and even hugged me. Even though I haven't spoken to her since, nor had she returned any of my messages, I left that place feeling pretty good. I got in my car and prepared to go home, take a long shower and cook a nice supper.

I was driving down the street when I slowed for the sharp curve. I spotted a black Dodge to my left and noted that the driver had the stop sign. But the driver never stopped.

I slowed, hoping the Dodge would would see me. Closer, closer, just as fast as you can say Slammed-On-My-Brakes---I couldn't stop in time.

My right foot hit the brake pedal hard. The soda that I had just opened went flying from the console and hit the windshield. I knew it was going to happen. It was happening and I knew I would hit the truck. All four tires squealed out in pain and I prayed out loud:

"Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!!"
BLAMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My seat belt tightened and caught me hard on my left shoulder. My face and upper body was forced forward. My white knuckles gripping the wheel, braced my body and kept my head from hitting the steering wheel.

The truck stopped just as the front of my car hit the front right wheel well of the massive Dodge. The truck didn't move. I didn't move. The driver pulled the truck out of the street as I just sat there. I just sat there.

I tried to open my driver-side door. It wouldn't budge. Green fluid ran from underneath my car and I feared the worst so I climbed out of the window a little less than Dukes of Hazards style. I looked up to see a woman and her preteen son running just as fast as they could down the sidewalk (it was in town, but a neighborhood. They'd heard the ruckus and ran out of their house) They woman was hollering, "Are you ok? Are you alright?"

I stood in front of my car. Fluids were running all over the street. The front end was completely caved inward. It was my first accident. My heart pounded and I felt sick.
The woman that had come running down the sidewalk was very helpful, She checked on the other driver who, by the way, turned out to be a 16 year old girl that had only had her license a couple months.

Given the situation, I was really calm. I tend to freak out occasionally (ok, all the time) but I was very calm. I didn't even cry. What was really going on my head was how much of a hassle all this would be, dealing with insurance, fixing the car or buying a new one. The police were called on a cell phone and the girl called her mother. The passenger riding with the girl was also 16 years old. They were in fact, still wearing their school uniforms.

I was worried of the fluids leaking from the car but the woman thought it was antifreeze. I popped the hood and saw that the washer fluid reservoir was smashed up, among things so we concluded, that no, this was not gas leaking from the car.

While we waited, i checked on the girl who was nearly hysterical. The woman said she wasn't hurt but was shaken up pretty bad. The whole thing scared her. I offered some comfort. I told her it wasn't nothing to be crying about. It's just a car, it's just stuff. No one was hurt and that's what mattered. I told her I was sure that her parents would be very understanding and that this sort of thing happens to just about everyone at least once.

Pretty soon, the girl stopped crying and she and her passenger were chatting it up and giggling like normal teenagers. I hated that. I wasn't giggling at all.

It took about an hour for a policeman to arrive. Now, don't get me wrong. There are plenty of great and fine officers out there. In our city, there's an exception. The cops around here don't care (see the drive-by story that occurred in our apartment) and that's long been proven and discussed among the fine citizens. Yes, there are some really neat guys out there protecting our city, but for the most part it's just some dude collecting a paycheck.

The officer acted as though he had better things to do with his time. I had never been in a wreck so I had no idea of what to do. He spent the better part of his time speaking with the girl and her mother who had shown up earlier.

I spent my time on sitting on the curb and smoking like a hay stack. Finally, the officer asked me to explain my side of the story. I explained were i was, were the Dodge was, how it happened, etc. I had to explain it several times because the officer wasn't getting it. He was becoming exasperated and frustrated with me. He spoke to the other party and sent them on their way. I was frustrated because nothing was said to me!

The officer looked at my car and jotted down some things and asked me about the car, what year, model and so forth. I imagined he's had some experience in this sort of thing, at least more than I did, so I asked him what I was supposed to do. He pretty much explained the insurance companies would battle it out.
Oh. Thanks.

He explained to me the girl's story. She said I was "driving a little to fast." WHAT?! After I was so nice to her and consoled her and she spits that mess out? If it weren't for her not STOPPING at a STOP sign I wouldn't be in this mess!! Are you kidding me? How could I have been "too fast" when there's that curve there? If you go too fast in that spot you'll wipe out and land in someone's front lawn.

I was furious! That little twit!

The officer went on to explain that it would not have mattered if I was going to fast, too slow, or parked in one spot. There were no witnesses and she was at fault for failing to stop. He told me she broke 2 laws. One, she was 16 with a passenger under 21 (new law 'round here) and two, she failed to yield. The officer said he hated to cite her on 2 counts since she was so young.

What? That's the perfect time; it'll be off her record in no time. I don't really know the full outcome of that part of the story but I'll bet that chick got off scott free. She was young and pretty and was wearing a short pleated plaid skirt and way too much make-up.

You do the math.
The tow truck driver took me and the car to his shop. I called Shawn from there and told him the story. When he looked at the car he was amazed I wasn't hurt. The tow truck driver told us that he used to be an EMT. He told me I ought to get checked out. He'd seen too many times when someone felt fine but had internal injuries they didn't know they had.

All I had was a little red rash on my collar bone where the seat belt had snatched me. There wasn't anything wrong with me, and that proved true later too.
For the rest of the week, Shawn took me to work. Kudos to him because I was to clock in at 6am and Shawn normally didn't wake up till 6:30, much less get out of bed till 7 am. His mom picked me up in the afternoons and after fighting with the rival insurance company I finally got a rental car one week.

We spent 2 weeks looking for a car. I wanted something cheap but Shawn wanted something new with a warranty. We put well over $1000 into the Prism's tranny, a water pump, and a fuel pump, among other things, so Shawn decided a newer car would be the best way to go.

We also spent 2 weeks arguing with the other insurance company over how much they give us for the Geo Metro. They car was old and not worth much but in the end we actually got about $100 less than what we paid for it! Still, it wasn't enough to buy a new car with. How were we going to pay for a new car?

We had three small loans with our bank. We'd been making small payments on all three that totalled to about $275 each month. We had to pay off those loans before even thinking about a new car. We had one loan taken out on Shawn's old 1987 Dodge Dakota. We couldn't sell it because the bank had the title. Sigh.

Shawn dipped into his retirement fund and with the money we got from the insurance company (finally) we paid the loans and got the title to the Dakota back. We planned to sell the Dakota ASAP. We did finally find a car the day before my rental was to expire.

It was a Saturday morning and we headed over to the next town to visit the Sharks (car dealers) once more. We passed the local Mazda/Cadillac dealership on the way. In the front of the lot there was a car literally wrapped around a light pole. The car was off the ground a couple feet and several new SUVs to the right of it were all banged up. Several men were using heavy equipment to remove the car.
Hmmm, we thought. Maybe we can get a new car with a few dents in it pretty cheap. We returned to the scene several hours later and were told the story.

On Friday night, a young man had just graduated high school. He wasn't drunk or high, just driving way too fast on a wet road. His car skidded out of control, hit about a half dozen brand new Mazda $30,000 vehicles and was stopped by the light pole. The car's passenger side hit the pole with such force that the front and rear end bent around towards it.

The kid lived but would most definitely be in the hospital a long while. When we returned that afternoon, the SUVs were gone and we spotted several cars in the used section that weren't there before. Turns out, the dealership had been using three Mazda 3's as loaners. They were now on the market probably since the SUVs would be doctored up and used as replacements.

We ended up buying one of those Mazda 3's for a steal since it was technically used but had only 8000 miles on it.

I'd never had new car before. This car has so many safety features on it that it actually lowered my insurance payment! It's even got a CD player and windows that don't slip into the door when you roll it down! The $260 a month for 6 years bummed me out a little but we got a TEN YEAR warranty! So even if the windows slip into the doors, they'll fix it! For free!!

Ok, back to the Dakota. When Shawn got his job several years ago, he needed a truck for work and bought the Dodge off a buddy for $800. It reeked of beer but it ran ok. Every now and then we put a little money into to get it going but it got Shawn to work and back. After Shawn's father passed away, his own truck sat for several months. Shawn's mom eventually just gave the truck to him. She was always worried about Shawn in the Dakota, especially recently since it was breaking down here and there on the interstate.

So she just gave the truck to him. (None of the other siblings needed a vehicle) Shawn's Dakota sat on the curb in front of our house for a lifetime. Remember, we couldn't sell it yet! When we got the title back, we worked on cleaning it up a bit. I had even bought a couple of those For Sale signs. Before I even took out my magic marker it happened...

We got up one morning to discover the back glass had been broken. There were drops of blood here and there. Apparently Shawn had left an old busted drill in the truck. It was a generic that tried hard to look like a Makita (a really expensive brand). Someone must have peered in and thought they found something. It didn't even work! It was broken!

Things like this never happened before that housing development was built down the street. The Chief of Police himself moved in across the street and had two bicycles stolen one night. Talk about gutsy! Meanwhile, we tried to figure out how to pay for new glass so we could sell that darn truck. This was the only time of the year that it rained. It never rains around here!

Word got around at Shawn's work that he was selling the truck and there was actually 2 guys fighting over it. I told Shawn to just let them fight it out and sell to the highest bidder. But, alas, Shawn's a good guy and sold it to the guy with $400 in his pocket, even though he'd originally asked $500. The truck wasn't worth much more anyway, I suppose. It was rusting and was missing the back glass and probably smelled of mildew now. Well, the battery was new, anyway.

It all worked out in the wash. Shawn's got a decent truck, (though I hate the way he got it. I'd give up both our cars and our house to have his dad back) I got a decent car. We're going to be in dept for the rest of our lives anyway, right?