I Think We'll Qualify as a Fleet Soon

Oh yes, we bought another quasi-mini-van. Super Ninja's beloved Windex-blue 1998 Chevy Cavalier served us well. At 115,000 miles, I don't know that we could have asked for more from it. But when we got to the point where we were carrying a battery charger around with us and crossed our fingers every time we started the car, we decided to cut it's life support, and trade it in.

The two qualities we were looking for in a car? Six seats and a really, really good price tag. I know, I know, we're picky. But do you know how many new cars meet that description? Two that I could find. The Mazda 5 (that little beauty pictured above), and the Kia Rondo. The Mazda 5's a little eensy, weensy bit more stylish. But the Kia Rondo lost because when I was getting married, the music director of the chapel made a tape of the most commonly used wedding pieces. The first song on that tape was "Rondo," but Mr. Music had an incredibly thick Baltimorean accent, so it came out more like "Rawndeaux." While that might be an awesome paladin's name in a fantasy novel, I just could not spend the next five to ten years hearing people call my car that.

So, yeah, we bought a new car. The kids like it too, which is a big plus. Especially the Boy, since he's been kind of sensitive about changes like this. As soon as I said it was blue like the Jaguar Power Ranger, though, he was on board.

I'm Such a Pimp

Due the shard of steel that exploded through my Freestyle's undercarriage, I have been tooling around in a PT Cruiser. Okay, so it's not really the pimpiest of pimpmobiles. I think that honor belongs to the Chevy Impala. Or, at least it belongs to this Impala.

The Boy loved the car because it was all black and we could pretend it was the Batmobile. Me? The gas guzzling nature of the beast didn't really impress me, and it's very necessary to impress me with that statistic since I commute 70-miles round trip every day. If you, Gentle Reader, would only clamor more vigorously for my missives, I might be able to parlay that into a stay-at-home-and-work-in-my-PJs-entertaining-the-masses gig. So get cracking on that, wouldja?

Anyway, I had to stop by the car rental company this morning, and to my wondering eyes a shiny blue Nissan Versa appeared. Serendipitous. Super Ninja's jalopy could give up the ghost any day (I mean, how much past 110,000 miles is a 1998 Chevy Cavalier supposed to go?). Ever the practical one, I've been doing my research on gas mileage vs. monthly payment estimates vs. durability vs. will anyone actually just give me a car? And this particular vee-hicle ranks high on the list.

I smelled an opportunity!

Actually, what I really smelled was FAR too much vanilla air freshener in the PT Cruiser, which made me wonder exactly WHAT the previous car occupants were up to in that car. But I digress.

I used my feminine wiles to get the dude behind the counter to swap out the PT Cruiser for the Nissan Versa. By "feminine wiles," I mean I asked him politely. So, now I'm tooling around in a Nissan Versa, and I'm delighted that it will mean that I have to test drive one less car when the time comes for us to put Ye Olde Chevy out to pasture.

A Brave New World

Actually, come to think of it, "brave" isn't quite the way I'd describe this new world in which the Hubby and I find ourselves. Considering all of the safety features that come standard, our new car isn't really the picture of courage. Yup, that's right, we are now the proud owners of our first Family Truckster. Voilà:




That's a 2007 Ford Freestyle Limited. It's kind of a FrankenCar -- one-third SUV, one-third minivan, one-third station wagon. We needed something bigger than the Ford Focus and the Chevy Cavalier we'd been driving because the Boy is getting bigger, and if he isn't pounding the back of the driver's seat with his size 7's, then his knees are up around his ears. Not really a safe way to ride in a car, to say nothing of the style. Plus, we've got many road trips this summer, and the amount of stuff we haul around for the Boy and the Girl is astounding.

We chose this model because we're on a budget, want to seat more than five people, and we don't want to leave an Ozymandias-ish carbon footprint. LtW, you might ask, if those were your criteria, why not just go with a fuel-efficient minivan? I'll be honest with you. I could spout statistics at you about why the Freestyle is better than a minivan, even though it may only be slightly better in the categories that matter to me.

Here's what it boils down to: I couldn't do it. Not yet. I could not make my 31-year-old self cross the line into the world of minivans. When we were driving to the dealer, I pointed out a Dodge Caravan to Hubby, and told him that it got the best rating for minivans in the government's Fuel Economy Guide. The blue swerving wonder had one of those giant soccer magnets on the back of it. Hubby's response was, "Ugh. Is the soccer ball mandatory?"

So he wasn't game to become a citizen of the Republic of Minivans either. I won't say that I won't become naturalized someday, but I'm not ready yet. Vive le Freestyle!