“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?