A Tale of Two Cars

On April 7, 2006, my knight in shining armor appeared in front of my apartment building at the corner of 3rd & South Streets in Philadelphia. He was driving a shiny silver car which, although unfancy, made me 'oooh' and 'ahhh' to myself. It was fairly new (only a year old) and in good condition, and made me feel pretty confident about my knight's station in life. Decent car that he appears to take care of? Check!

See, this was only our second date. Our first date had taken place a month prior but at the time we were joined by two of his friends. This was our first "real" date, just him and me. The car was a good way to start off. If he had shown up in some dilapidated rustbucket I'm not sure how I would have felt.

Okay, I know how I would have felt but I'm trying to not sound too critical.

Slightly less than 4 years and another 100,000 miles later, we bid adieu to that little Accent last night. And I felt a twinge in my heart as we drove out of the dealership and took one last look at what we were leaving behind. I couldn't believe how sad I felt to leave it there. It looked so small and helpless. Abandoned. After all, that car saw us through a lot. Many thousands of miles in all kinds of weather. From dating to engagement to marriage. And at night when I'd get off the train, that's the car I'd always look for. And I'd smile and know that my Rob was there to take me home.


I just hated leaving it at the dealership by itself, knowing that it would probably be sold for scrap. But it's time had come - though a good and faithful servant, it just couldn't handle its electrical issues anymore. And when you're spending so many hours a day in the car like my husband does...well, you get the idea.


I know we'll have good times in this new car - hopefully, since Rob won't be driving it as hard as he drove the Accent, we'll have it for many years to come (really - 114,000 miles in 5 years? I'd be blowing fuses left and right, too. Not to mention the plethora of other issues that had cropped up). We hope that this Corolla will one day have car seats in the back!

Yeah, that's totally my gate we're pulling through...

Still, regardless of where we go from here, I know I'll fondly remember the little silver two-door in which my knight whisked me off on our first date...

I shared my feelings with a coworker today, and she said she's gone through the same thing - she said it felt like abandonment.  Have you ever had the same feelings about your old car?