I May Have Lost My Mind

“We really should have a second car again.” said my wife. We talked about the pros & cons for several months. The basic rationale was to have a second vehicle, so one of us would not be stranded in case “something happened” while the other was driving about. Realizing she was serious, (you cannot possibly grasp how opposed to car-buying my wife is), I got a little excited because car-buying for me has been near addictive. For instance, I have owned thirty-nine motor vehicles since I started driving, and we never owned more than two at a time.

Now, none of these vehicles were all that exciting; there were no Corvettes, Mustangs, or GTO’s in my past. It’s just that after owning a car for a few years, I’d decide it was not what I needed. For instance, I’d find I really needed a pickup, or that the present vehicle was too big, or too small, or, well, not what I needed at the moment. Or maybe my child, or grandchild needed wheels. Back in 1996, I bought two brand new cars in one month’s time, to replace a perfectly serviceable six-year-old sedan and a really nice four-year-old pickup. Of course I was still working then, and it was no great burden.

So last week I began the online search for a “small, reliable used car” just for the sake of our peace of mind. If you’ve been watching the news, now is the worst possible time to buy a car, new or used. And prices are sky high. But I had my wife’s permission. This is what I bought:

It’s a ten-year-old Ford Fiesta with 128K miles on it, and it has a manual transmission. I get to shift gears again! And since I’m a senior citizen, the color is perfect: everyone can see me coming and get out of the way. This one makes forty cars even for me. Perhaps I’ll stop.

My question to you my dear readers is this: Is it wrong to have fun when all you need is an extra set of wheels?

9 thoughts on “I May Have Lost My Mind”

  2. Congratulations on your new purchase. Now you can start getting all those phone calls and mailings telling you that your car warranty has expired and that for only a pile of cash you can protect yourself from all those expensive repair bills! But to look on the bright side, with a stick shift, you won’t have to worry about any young people stealing it–few people even know how to drive a manual now! The worst car purchase I ever made was a sporty V-8 Olds Omega hatchback–just before the gas crunch of the 70s hit, with its consequent gas rationing! (in PA we could get gas only on even or odd days depending on the first number on our license plate.)

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  4. Love the colour as all women would say first! No its not wrong to have fun I say and if you can – why not have a second car. God provides many things and wants you to have fun too. Well done on the – just doing it. I like automatic mind, such a luxury to just sit and drive, especially in traffic no constant changing down… must be age I guess! Enjoy!

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  6. Hi Robert. You stopped by my blog today and I wanted to thank you for the kind feedback you left.

    I also wanted to remind myself what you write about and this was a fun read. You and I are very different when it comes to cars. I want to buy them and drive them slowly to death. At age 66, I think I was able to recall 10 different cars that I owned for me (didn’t add the few bought for my wife as we’ve tried to have 2 for most of our marriage) .
    But as for fun, I do enjoy driving and mostly want a dependable car that I can afford to maintain with minimal effort and just drive and drive and drive. . . .

    I think this is a innocent enough of a hobby that you should relax and enjoy it. As long as they are not collecting in the driveway or side yard, knock yourself out and enjoy.

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