I remember how I felt when I sat in Betty for the first time. I had to stretch my leg and haul myself up into this beautiful lifted Rubicon on a sunny July day. It took one spin around the block and I was hooked, I had to have her. I didn’t haggle- I paid full price and when I drove that Jeep out of the lot I felt like a million dollars. One of my dreams had actually come true. I had always wanted a Jeep Wrangler, something bad ass that I could drive with the top down. You should have seen the looks I got when I drove around in her, lifted/off road vehicles gave me a wave or a nod, like I was in some cool club. My past little inexpensive sedans never got me a nod. I ignored the rather high car payments, saying I was single and if I wasn’t going to spoil myself now, then when?
For almost a year, I hugged that Jeep every time I passed her. I had nightmares about her being stolen and broken into and in my dreams I would weep for my lost Jeep like a lost pet or friend. I swelled with pride when I took her out in the mud with a couple buddies who couldn’t stop talking about much better she did than they thought. The praise to my Jeep was like praise to me. When I came out of the house one wintery day in Wateron and saw her buried I thought it was a good test. And when she pushed herself out of that huge pile of snow in 4-low I did a victory lap around the deserted, boarded up town, music blaring and windows down spitting fresh cold powder into my face yelling “I LOVE MY CAR!!!”
Fast forward to this summer. I was living with my grandparents in Magrath and commuting to Lethbridge which made my gas costs were insane! I missed my family in Seattle but a quick long weekend trip down to see them wasn’t a possibility as the gas would come to about $500 round trip to go. I went back and forth and back and forth about whether to sell her. No sooner would I make up my mind to sell, a hot sunny day would come along and I would drive down the highway with the top down, wind whipping my hair around my face and I thought I could never sell her. I thought that giving up on my Jeep would be giving up on me and one of my lifelong dreams
It wasn’t until I had a dream about visiting my family and upon waking cried in the night from missing them that I made up my mind that the Jeep had to go. I needed a car that was good on gas so I could afford the 13 hour trip to see my family. The problem? I made this decision in September and my Jeep only has a soft top no hard top.
The plan was to drive her until I sold her, but I found this amazing deal on a good vehicle that I couldn’t pass up so I took out a second car loan and bought it. A 2007 Ford Escape who I named Norman because I thought he was so boring. No flash, just another SUV you see everywhere in this town. I would feel guilty walking past my beloved Jeep to get into Norman who I began driving around immediately to save the km on the Jeep.
My Jeep has been on the market for about two months now and not one person has even come to test drive her. A lot of people call and email, but the minute they hear there is no hard top they lose interest. And it hurts me a little, I feel rejected. How could anyone not want this magnificent piece of machinery that makes you feel bad ass? Now my dream car is slowly turning into a nightmare, a burden, as I make double car and insurance payments, trying to sell her right away.
A car is a car, it depreciates in value every day you own it, it is meant to get you from point A to point B. You almost never MAKE money off a car, you always lose money off a car. So go ahead an dream of your perfect car; that cool vintage car, or bad ass off road unit, or that super-fast little machine- but keep in mind that you aren’t meant to form emotional attachments to inanimate objects. Which brings me to the point of this post- NEVER BUY A CAR YOU LOVE!
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