Editor's note: This is the second in a series.
I’m not really a car person.
I feel like I just offended half of southeast Michigan with that statement. I know it’s not right. Living in Metro Detroit and confessing to being not really a car person ... it’s not right. That’s why this journey to find the right car for my family is a bit challenging. That’s why your help is greatly appreciated.
Last week, I told my story in the kickoff to this new series on Patch. In , you heard all about the many reasons I need to break up with the full-size van that has worked for my family of six up until now.
Over the past 22 years, I have driven a lot of different cars, never really falling in love or making a deep connection with any of them. It was always just something that got me from point A to point B. I drove small cars like my Ford Escort. I drove big cars like my vintage 1984 Pontiac Parisienne. Aside from getting a little braggy about my super amazing parallel parking ability (in any size vehicle), I never really cared what I drove.
I sound like such a player — a real love 'em and leave 'em type of girl. Maybe it was the one that got away that made me this way.
Yeah, once there was this really cool car – all shiny, new and fancy. The kind of car that gets a girl noticed in a crowd of other cars. And that car was all mine: a 1992 Mazda MX-3. It was a graduation gift from my father; it was sweet. And did I mention it was all mine? Until it wasn’t.
That dope ride of mine was stolen. Leaving me alone, confused and without a ride.
Can we go on a date?
Fast forward 20 years, four kids and here we are. I am ready to tackle my vehicular demons and really commit to a fulfilling auto relationship.
As I prepare to test drive my first vehicle I put together a compatibility checklist to take with me. Here it is:
- Chemistry: Does it feel right? This may be one of those things I find out right away or it may take a drive around the block. I need to listen to my gut on this one.
- Appearance: How will this look in my driveway? And the highway? My standards are very low, but I do have some. I refuse to drive a yellow car, not really into pastels either.
- Lifestyle: Will it fit my lifestyle, which consists of carefree weekend trips up north to my cottage, where I sometimes like to take Sunday drives around the lake. OK, wait, that’s not my lifestyle. Mine goes more like this: load kids and sports bags, run errands, unload kids, watch baseball game, load kids and sports bags, unload kids, drop off child at gymnastics, load kids, unload kids, grocery shop, load kids, unload kids, don’t forget child at gymnastics, and so on and so on. Will it work with that?
- Affordability: Is it reasonably priced and will the gas tank size break the bank this summer? Even though I hate caring about gas mileage and such, in these times and with four busy kids, it matters.
So here I go, armed with my checklist and optimism. I’m ready for car love. I’m ready to make a match. Thank you for playing the role of Chuck Woolery and helping me navigate the road to my love connection.
Next week: Patch readers seem to have a love-it-or-leave-it attitude toward the Ford Flex (is it really that boxy?). Regardless, it was the vehicle that was most recommended to me last week, so I'll take it on a first date and let you know what I think.
Patch Drives is ; the cars Youngblood chooses to test will be at her discretion and not affiiated with any advertising relationships.
My first car (when I turned 16 in 1999) was a blue 1987 Toyota Corolla – a hand-me-down from my cousin. I LOVED that car, even though the brakes failed a couple times and it leaked oil and the AC didn't work most of the time and it overheated and the cruise control didn't work and I think the back end was held together with bumper stickers. That thing had 212,000 miles on the odometer when I sold it for $250 a year later and started driving my parents' 1995 5-speed Dodge Neon. I drove a few other cars after that but didn't love another until I bought my first new car – a 2005 Toyota Corolla. I sold that car last summer and bought a 2012 5-speed green Ford Fiesta, which may very well be the car love of my life <3
Angie, you know my car. I'm a Jeep girl and it's gotten me through all the kids and sports in-and-out-and-in-and-out. But I don't know if they have a model that would fit your brood. Good luck!!
Mine was a 79 Chrysler LeBaron. If I took my foot off the gas pedal, it stalled. For that and other reasons, it guzzled gas at a rate rivaling a Hummer hauling a yacht. But it had style! It was big and black with T-tops and the envy of many friends who had newer cars with no style. We would remove the T-tops and go cruising, adventures where we discovered that cops don't like kids standing in the "I'm the King of the World" pose half outside the car as we barreled down the roads. Alas, the bane of my vehicles - my younger brothers - got to my car when I was out of the country. While joyriding down the highway, they attempted to remove one of the glass T-tops - then watched as the wind whipped it away from them and shattered it into a million pieces on the road behind them. Despite their attempts to repair it with smoked plexiglass, the spell was broken and that relationship ended shortly after that. But I still look back fondly on that car, remembering the days when my high school buddies crowded around looking at my sweet ride.
Angela - good luck on the test drive(s)! Let us know -