My beloved van is on its last legs, so Matt and I have been looking at possible replacement vehicles. We’ve narrowed it down to two makes and models, so we went down to test drive one of the contenders at Car Max in Santa Rosa. The car was nice, with many of the features we’re looking for… but it was a really, really weird dark brown. Luckily we’re in a nice position of not NEEDING a car, and we can keep looking, because I am not at ALL partial to brown, and by that I mean I hated it.
My first car was a teeny tiny, beat up Ford Fiesta. If I remember correctly, it cost $700 at a used car lot across the street from the old Sambo’s restaurant in Santa Rosa. It had a broken fuel gauge, it was susceptible to being blown into oncoming traffic if a big gust of wind came up, and it was a vaguely beige-goldish color. I was a reluctant driver – I didn’t get my license until I had to, at age 18, to take a childcare job – so I only drove when I absolutely had no other choice. I named her Sylvie, and I white-knuckle drove her while I was going to Nanny College and for a few months into my first nanny job.
The family I worked for had three kids, so fitting us all in my 2-door car was tight. After a few months, my employer offered to cosign so that I could get a newer, bigger, safer car. He wanted to know if I knew what I wanted, and I promptly said, “A blue car.” There was a beat, and then Kelley offered to accompany me to the dealership. We left the dealership very happy – my beautiful sky blue Nissan Sentra was exactly perfect, in color, size and safety. I named her Charlotte, and I loved driving her.
When Matt and I were ready to start our family, we decided to get a station wagon. We got a Ford Taurus, and the color was an odd tannish-gold that I decided was “champagne.” She was christened Ellie, and she was lovely. We had her for a several years, but there were multiple problems with the engine, and – believe it or not – not conducive to car seats. (We went to the CHP car seat installation event and after three officers together couldn’t get our baby seat to be firmly installed, we switched car seats. It wasn’t the baby seat; it was the car’s bench seat having too much give. The biggest station wagon on the planet wasn’t family friendly.)
Our next car – our current car — was my dream vehicle: a minivan. By now I knew what I wanted and maybe more importantly, didn’t want, down to the smallest detail. I wanted leather seats, not cloth. I wanted it back in the blue or gray color family, if possible. (We were going the used car route, so we had to be content with whatever came our way, color-wise.) I wanted a DVD player. I wanted three rows of seats, none of which faced backward. I wanted sliding doors. We got all of that, and more. I did not know to want seat heaters, but boy oh boy, I love them! My adorable minivan is a strange color to describe – it’s either gray or blue or (according to the manufacturer) sage, but I usually say dragonfly colored. She was named Penny, for the muse Penelope, because she is a Honda Odyssey.
The hunt for our next car continues, and I have high hopes that I can find a car that meets all my criteria. (Plus, you know, Matt’s criteria – which is all extremely practical and Consumer Reports-based researched and budget-based.) My criteria (okay, extreme preferences) include color (blue, gray, or silver; NOT red, black, brown, or my least favorite, white…), style (hatchback, NOT sedan – I don’t like the closed-in feeling of a sedan) and seats (leather, NOT cloth – I hate having to hop to adjust when getting in my car). The bells and whistles – back up cameras, etc. – are unknown, so I have no opinion… yet. Fingers crossed!
