I Love My Car

I've never been much of a car guy. I could never understand what the hype was about, what all the numbers and terms meant. I would hear someone (always a guy) say something like “Yeah, I drive a red '98 Eclipse 5-speed with a turbo charged 4.5 liter V8 and a custom front lip spoiler.” I could assume that by V8 he didn't mean four and a half liters of tomato juice, but I still didn't know what he was talking about. 

One of my closest friends, Jordan Ziegenbein, knows a good bit about cars, and some of his knowledge has slowly rubbed off on me. I can now interpret the sentence above somewhat accurately. '98 is the year, Eclipse is a car model made by Mitsubishi, 5-speed means it's a manual transmission with five speeds, V8 means 8 cylinders – a big engine for a car, so it's probably fast and lousy on gas.

I never thought I would be the guy bragging about—or even loving—his car. But if you hang out with me for any serious amount of time you will hear me talk about my car, almost as if she was my girlfriend. I even try to hold back because I know money and car payments and repairs are all touchy subjects with people.

But anyway, I drive a green two door '94 Toyota Tercel, 4-speed manual, with a 1.5 liter, 4 cylinder, 82 horsepower engine. In May of 2007 I bought the car for $1,300 cash, and I have put less than $1,000 into it over the last two years/45k miles (it had 102k when I bought it). Jordan has saved me hundreds in repairs (changed CV axles, adjusted valve stem seals, etc.), but this car hasn't needed any major work, and it currently runs awesomely. It’s reliable, fun to drive, and I get 32-35 miles per gallon! Even the tires only cost $15-20 each. A while back I put on all new tires for under $100. This car has been the definition of a material blessing to me, a tangible way I have felt God's fatherly love.

I'm sure if I scraped together a couple hundred dollars a month I could afford the car payment that would allow me to drive a prettier, newer car that may or may not run as well, but why would I do that? Not only are car payments absolutely stupid (financing a constantly depreciating liability), but I've grown a little attached to the Hamster (its nick name, mostly because of it's body style). My brother-in-law calls it “Money Maker” because I got rear-ended over a year ago and received more money than what I had paid to buy the car.

This car has seen me through countless rides between Chattanooga and Atlanta, a trip to and from St. Louis (which included five guys plus luggage), and a trip to and from Winston-Salem. It desperately needs a paint job, the gas cap won’t close, and the passenger side door doesn’t even lock. I will eventually need a safer car (one with airbags and anti-lock brakes), but for now...I'm happily in love.