As one does with an older car, we evaluated the life left in her, and what the repairs would cost. In the end, we were somewhat concerned that the airbag didn't go, and that in another crash, Liam would be without side-impact airbag protection. Once upon a time, our main interests in a car were costs; now we consider the unimaginable first. Ahh... parenthood.
So as the dog days of July (all four of them here in Seattle) stretched out to the end, we dragged Liam from one car dealer to another. We tried Toyotas and Minis, Fords and Hondas, and even one car that outsmarted us, before we found our choice: the 2009 Honda Fit Sport in tidewater blue.
One day while Liam was at school, Mommy and Daddy set out to purchase the car. This process is meant to make even the strong weary, with negotiation tactics thrown from both the dealer and the buyer. Luckily, we had done our homework. The first dealer wanted to throw in nearly a thousand dollars in extras. Bah! We did not want $250 floor mats, so we walked away.
At dealer #2, we walked in, named our price, and owned our new car within an hour, sans floor mats. Daddy picked Liam up from school in the new car, which of course Liam wanted to drive right away. The two stopped by the old red car on the way home, to grab her old floor mats (reduce, reuse, recycle) and even she was gone a few days later.
A man who had recently rebuilt a green car, just like our red car, while he was unemployed. He was now going to help his unemployed neighbor fix red car, so he too would have a car when the economy picks up.
It was only when we pulled out the paperwork to sell red car that we noticed an interesting coincidence. The MSRP for our 1993 Honda Accord matched the MSRP of the 2009 Honda Fit Sport to the penny.
While it was difficult to part with the car we drove for so much of our life out here in Seattle, in the end, she will help someone else with a fresh start. We fondly remember taking her on the ferry, over to Orcas Island, for our wedding. She drove tiny Liam home from the hospital on his third day of life. She owed us nothing; and we owed her reprieve from the junkyard, if only for a few years more.
Our new car has already brought us on an adventure; up to Sunrise at Mount Rainier. Liam prefers the new car to Mommy's car, even though both cars are essentially new. I know we'll have more adventures in both cars as time ticks by. If we're lucky, we might even get a few more in this summer...
