Another Milestone

DH and I have purchased our first vehicle together. His car has been a P.O.S. for quite a while, but ran well. So even though the clear coat was peeling, you had to hold the handle on the driver's side door just so or it wouldn't open, you had to let the button on the shifter out slowly or it would shoot across the car, the driver's side window didn't always roll down, the sun roof leaked and/or couldn't be opened, etc. we just dealt with it.

But when it started squeaking loudly whenever you turned the wheel, the check engine light had been on for a few days, and the transmission was about to go, it was time to find us a new ride. Not only was it a little frightening to ride in it was also embarrassing to ride in.

We think the car knew we were taking it in to be traded. It didn't overheat on the way there, even though we were on the freeway. The check engine light went off. There were no warning lights on anywhere. And it was a smooth ride. Poor thing. Now it's just sitting at their dealership waiting for it's tires to be taken off and then be sent to the crusher. (That turned out to be a much sadder paragraph than I first imagined it to be.)

We now have a 2004 Ford Ranger XLT with 4 wheel drive (helpful in case it snows or DH needs to go off road to hunt), 49k miles on it (very good for a 5 year old vehicle of any kind), and plenty of room for me to load up on gardening supplies next time we're at Lowes (Yay!).