My Cars!
This was my first car. He's a 1979 Volvo. I got him the end of September, 1999. He was what my parents and I settled on after looking at a bunch of UGLY cars. I loved him, he was so dependable (except for the gas gage). I named him Augustine, after the song on "New Way To Be Human". The song is about St. Augustine who walked away from the Lord for a long time, and finally woke up and realized what he was missing.
As you can see... I did a little damage to the back end. I woke up late for church one Sunday morning, and was rushing to get there. He was parked over in the gravel, on the side of the house. My dad had driven a big old van from the college home the night before, and it was sitting in front of the mailbox. I KNEW it was there.. but i guess i wasn't conscious of it when i backed up. I was going really fast, and kablam! That was in November. The car was driveable, and the rain actually stayed out of the trunk all winter! My brother's best friend now owns Augustine, and has nicknamed him "Golden Thunder".
So back in March my dad saw this car for sale at the college and thought I needed him. He's a beaut, he's such a nice car. (Yes, my cars are boys.) He was relatively cheap for how much he had. He's a diesel, as you can see. He has black leather, A/C (that just needed some freon), electric locks, electric windows...And through a big mix-up I got my brother's old cd player put in (his old bug can't use it). So after Augustine, this was riding in luxury! (sorry Auggie).
His name is Ben Hur (after, again, a Switchfoot song). I'm praying that I can keep this car, cause i really do like him. He's had a little trouble lately with blowing smoke. I think my parents feel safe with me driving this car, cause he's not really fast :)
Update: July 2002
Well folks. This is Meghan's gem of the day: Do not buy a volvo diesel. Buy any other Volvo because they are reliable, but not the diesels. That's right. Ben Hur died. One night right before Thanksgiving of 2001, April, my brother, and I trooped out to my car to go to a Dashboard Confessional concert. My couldn't wouldn't start, and it never did again. We always had trouble with Ben Hur's alternator, and starter, and I was constantly using my cell phone to call my parents and tell them my car wouldn't start. Finally Ben Hur had had enough, and he quit working. He sat on the side of our house for a while, and in May of 2002, he got towed away by a man who parts out Volvos. Sad.
So for a couple of months I drove around my parents' Jeep Wagoneer, which was not a fun experience. Finally, in February we started seriously looking for another volvo wagon for me to buy. DO NOT BELIEVE ADS WHEN THEY SAY "Exc cond." Beacuse it's most likely not true. We looked at a lot of junkers.
On the fateful day of March 20th, 2002, my dad and I trekked out to Newberg (which is pretty much a 45 minute drive) to check out this car at a small dealership. I probably skipped a Biology lecture to do it. As soon as I saw the car, I was in love. It was in SUCH nice condition, almost perfect. A 1980 tan wagon, with just over 100k miles on it. That's right. a 22 year old car with only 100,000 miles. They told us it was only owned by one family, who had just traded in the car. And i swear to you, nobody ever sat in the back seat. They gave us the name of the family, and my dad tracked them down in Lake Oswego and we found out the story was correct, the same family owned it all that time.
Needless to say, we bought the car. My dad put on new brake pads. We traded the back hatchdoor shocks from my old car (though, they are dead again, now, and i need new ones). We got a mudflap from my old car. Really-- it's an amazing car. I have never had a problem with it, it starts right up with no gas pedal, and I know I can trust it. I have been driving it since March, and gone back and forth to the washington coast with it several times this summer. Oh yeah, and his name is Willis. (picture added 11-12-02).
