Stalwart No More

The vehicle previously known the "Famously worn (but stalwart) Neon" has been officially retired. It has weathered a lot of ups and downs in its life, but it's finally crossed over the line I have drawn in the sand. On one side of the line is "repair" and on the other side is "move on". The Neon left us a couple weeks ago, lovingly embraced (okay, pushed actually) by the whole family that came to check it out. It went for a whopping $300.

The bright red Neon was bought In June of 1994 to replace the bright red 1963 Ford Falcon Futura that my ex was driving as her daily driver at the time. The Falcon was a "one-owner" car I bought from a grandson that inherited it from his grandma. That is a car I wish I never sold, but then--isn't that always the way it goes?
"It hurts my back." she complained. (True, car seats were mushy ad non-supportive back then.)
"But its a classic. It's in great condition. It's beautiful!" I kept trying. Finally I gave in and started researching cars. The Neon was new on the scene and there was something about it that intrigued me. After much reading and investigating, we ended up buying one. Titled as a 1995, it was almost the exact same color as the Falcon: Bright red. The Neon was her car. It was bought to be her car. Sure, I got to drive when we as a family went anywhere, but it was hers.

That was 18 years ago. In its 148,000 or so (I forgot to look before it left) mile life with me and my family members it has been through a lot. It's been to California several times, Utah a couple times, and lots and lots of smaller trips and exploration. Yes, throughout the years the Neon has been to many, places. Look how nice and new it looked when I bought my Harley back in 2003.

Like any car, the Neon got a little tired over the years. At one point Teresa's parents gave her 20k to spend. It was both a gift and a way of reducing their taxes that year. I don't remember the details, but I do remember researching yet another car for her. This time she got a 2001 Nissan Altima. That meant the Neon was "mothballed" in the garage. I don't think it was driven for about six months. I was driving a Datsun 200SX commuter car I bought from a gal after she bought it back from the insurance company (it had been stolen and recovered). I paid $200 for it and drove it for over 100,000 miles before it started to suffer catastrophic degradation that made fixing it non-worthwhile. I sent it down the road (for $50 more than I paid for it!) and rolled the Neon out into the daylight. Admiring it with a fresh, new eye I gave it a fresh dose of pride and interest and made it my new car. I cleaned and scrubbed it and made it shine like the day it was bought--inside and out.

Over the years the Neon has been through a lot of health issues too. Some normal--some not. It was vandalized once as it sat sleeping in our driveway one night. The bored low-lifes shattered the windshield and drivers window by beating them with steel water meter cover from the sidewalk in front of our house. Another time it was tagged with a large "CK" spray painted across the entire hood. (We moved after the second episode.) It blew a head gasket one time, causing it to overheat on me in downtown Seattle. During its life it had gone through the usual tires, batteries, and other normal items, and like the head gasket/timing belt/water pump repair, I did them all myself. I even did a heater core replacement myself, and as you can see in this picture, it was not for the faint of heart.

The Neon even weathered the change in my marital status, and after I remarried the Neon carried us on many, many adventures. It was so good at showing up in pictures that we took as we explored the many roads of our state and country. It was hard to keep it out of the pictures because after all--it ferried us there. It was our dependable steed that took us everywhere.

The major event in its life occurred the time it got rear ended while sitting at a stop light a few years ago. That caused the insurance company to declare it totaled. They paid me handsomely for the car (about $2000), and then let me buy it back from them for about $80. The Neon was never quite the same after that though. It was plagued by a water leak somewhere up under the dash that proved near impossible to get stopped.

It's a sad thing when you go around your car of 18 years and remove your possessions from it. All the things that make it your own: stripped away with a sense of resignation and finality. I have no regrets about buying it way back then, but I don't think I ever really thought I would be signing its 'organ donor' card this far down the road in its life. Most people don't keep cars anywhere near that long.

The people that bought it led me to believe it would live again instead of being taken apart and sold off in pieces. I think they were somewhat surprised at the condition it was in given its age.

I hope it makes it's future owners as happy as it made its original owners.