Good Bye Friend

Said good-bye to a friend of 9.5 years. I knew it was coming, but it’s still an adjustment.

My dear Jetta, seen here freshly washed, at my grandparents house in the middle of North Dakota.

I purchased my Jetta in August of 2004. It was 4 years old and such a huge, grown up moment in my life. In the handful of years of having a license, it was the car I ‘dreamed of’. I saved up my money, had a pretty big down payment (prior to my Dave Ramsey days) and worked hard for the next 2 and a half years to pay it off. I even deferred my move to Chicago for grad school so that I could finish paying and officially become the owner.

I only put 60,000 miles on it, but in that time, it took me from Washington State, to Chicago, to Dallas. It even pulled a uhaul on one of those trips. (Ha!)

It played an important role in one particular event concerning the “boy next door” who eventually became a pretty important person in my life (my husband).

It has several issues ranging from a CD player’s broken fuse that continued to drain the battery until removed; a self dimming rear-view mirror, that broke and leaked gunk all over; cup holders that had nifty, spring/size adjusting arms that were amazing – until the springs and arms broke (it never held cups sturdy, with out potential sloshing again).

There were a few bumps and bruises along the way, from the time I backed crooked out of the driveway and sideswiped my roommate’s car; the time I ran into our garage; the time I locked the keys in and my boss used some wood and a hammer to pry open the door; the time the bumper fell off, hanging within an inch or two off the ground and I didn’t know (I proceeded to drive at highway speeds for 20 miles); the time the belt broke and I lost all power steering in the middle of a busy road.

One time, it over heated and – now on my own in Texas – I had to find someone to look at it – figure out toeing and get it fixed.  The shop I ended up taking it to – wow… not in a good part of town. The tow truck got lost trying to take it there. Going to pick it up, one of my girlfriends from work drove me down and I’m pretty sure when I got out to go pay and pick it up – she was getting nervous that I might have been abducted or killed. 🙂 Rough part of town – but at least it was the middle of the day! And they gave me a great deal and did a terrific job fixing it.

Anyway – it was an adventure filled nine and a half years.  We all move on in life. Even with all of the issues, we were still able to trade it in for a decent 1,500 dollars toward our new “I’m officially an old grownup” minivan.  Got to stay practical right?

Good bye friend. I’m so glad we had almost 10 years together and I have two sets of plates (WA & TX) that I will hold on to – and remember you by.

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