My Ghetto Cars

When you sit in your car - you love your car. It doesn't embarass you. It takes care of you by taking you from point a to point b without leaving you stranded somewhere. It protects you from the elements.

In my life, all my cars have failed me in these examples - one way or another.

Car #1 - 1980 Mazda RX-7
Yes, I had a race car. I loved this car. It made me feel pretty badass driving around in this thing. True, the bucketseats were so deep that I had have a pillow to sit on. True, the defroster didn't work at all so when it got cold, I had to roll the window down a bit and put the heater on full blast to create some sort of El Nino effect in my car so I was able to see out the windows as I drove. I could actually live with all these things - but the one thing I couldn't live with were the backfires.

Sometimes, when I would turn my car off, my car would backfire. And not just a POP backfire, I'm talking about a BOOM! backfire. This was when I worked at Universal and employees would park in this parking structure. On the weekends, I had an early shift and would park on the first level. Being that I'm a person of routine, I would park in the same area every weekend. The EMT's would change shifts in the same area as I would park and I would see them those mornings. I got so in tune with my car, that I knew when a backfire was coming on. Most times, it was in some mall parking lot where I could pretend I owned another another car. But, when it happened those weekend mornings....I had nowhere to hide since it was usually the only the EMT's and me. So I would do what any self respecting girl would do if I knew it was coming - I'd run. Certain EMT's finally figured out it was me - oh the memories.

Car #2 - 1999 Nissan 200sx
Another racecar - sensing a pattern here? This blog has detailed many adventures with my devil car. Most notably, it breaking down in Montclair when we were on our way to my friend's son's baptism party and the constant oil leaks. But what I will always remember this car, is for the fact that the driver side window didnt work. It was an automatic window and one day it just stopped working. I tried over and over to get it fixed and if it was the correct motor, then it was the wrong switch - I was destined to not have this window work ever again. I was so embarassed by the window thing that I really cut down on my fast food eating because I couldn't go through the drive-thru. Having to open the door to open, pay, and receive the food was just too much humiliation!

The best story of this window was when I was driving home in the carpool lane with Jake and a cop forced me out thinking that I was alone. He was yelling at me to roll in the window down and I was just screaming "THE WINDOW DOESNT WORK!". I was so close to opening the sun roof and just standing up and telling him that I did have someone else in the car. And yes, I did do the sun roof thing once in a drive thru.

Car #3 1996 Nissan Sentra
This is an interim car until I find something I really like - whether its a new car or a newer used car. This car isn't pretty but it works. Sure, it has some sort of tiny oil leak, but I'm used to living with that. What I can't live with, is that fact that it leaks. And I mean, I realized it leaks when it was raining and the water was coming into my car! I was driving to work Friday morning and it was raining. I got to a stop sign and all of sudden I felt water coming in. At first, I brushed it off because I was in the car. But then it happened again. I looked up and I saw the water gathering near the visor and then dripping down....into my lap. I cleaned it up thinking (hoping) maybe it was a one time thing but nope, it wasn't. I grabbed a napkin and wiped it, then saw the water gather enough for another drop to fall again, into my lap.

Now I notice that there is another section under the visor of the passenger side that is doing the same thing. TWO LEAKS! I make my left turn and I guess a lot of water has gathered wherever its gathering and a some water falls into my lap. Great, I now look like I have peed in my pants and I'm on my way to work. I make a right turn and some water is starting to fall into my passenger seat/floor area. Because I can be lazy, I happen to have a couple of sweaters in my car. I grab them and I put one where the water is falling in my lap and the other in the passenger seat. And thats how I drove to work. When I get there (and find a spot on the 2nd floor so I wouldnt have to park on the roof), I look on the roof of the car. I notice that there are two tiny rusted holes near the top of the windshield. Fabulous.

The funny thing about this, is that I've already made this whole scenario up that if I have to park on the street and I'd have to put a big plastic trash back held down with bricks to prevent water from getting into the car. At least I have trashbags and I can always swipe a couple of bricks from my little garden in front of my apartment. Plan B is set!