Sunday, October 24, 2010

There comes the day...

There come the day when you have to sell your first car. I bought this car seven years ago to the month. This car has taken me from Orlando, FL to Seattle, WA. It is my 97 Mercury Cougar. I bought this car in October of 2003 as the first car that I would ever have my name on the title. I wasn't looking for this car but it turned out to be a deal that I could not refuse. It belonged to the Catholic Church the my Grandpa attends. I was told that they were going to sell this car in a silent auction. At the time the car was retailing for around $5,000 I place a bid for $3,030.01. If I got it then fine, if not then I would still be okay.
Back then it had ~104k miles, a faulty alarm system, check engine light for the EGR valve, and it was a little dirty. I paid $60 dollars for the EGR valve to be cleaned, spent several hours cleaning the car inside and out, and then after a few years I bought a static manual on CD that eventually showed me that my car had keyless entry and the alarm fault was due to a connection in the trunk. Someone had reversed the connection which would set off the alarm anytime you would use the power locks.
Three months into owning this car I found myself speaking with a police officer. It was a quick visit... to make it short, I was passing someone on a two lane road and got a little over zealous. The next car coming down the road was a police officer. He claimed that I was doing 93 mph in a 60, Oops. I never again was pulled over in that car. More often then not I would follow the speed limit, but I do remember driving 110 on the interstate for about a minute to get away from an annoying driver.
After getting married I had a class II tow hitch installed on the car. I did this for one purpose, to tow all of our stuff from Florida to Utah to start school at BYU. The trailer was a 6'x12' and we had only one problem. I literally could not drive over 45 mph. That trip was a very long drive. We made it safely and have lived in only two places while out here in Utah. A cute little apartment, and our home.
During the last six years I have fixed several things on this car, and it has given me a fair share of problems, but something I have done has taken good care of this car. I wish I could have taken it up to 200k miles before I got rid of the car. However I did not, and it only made it to 190k. It still runs and does everything just fine.
Maren and I have finally decided that it is time for a four door car. Fixing the car would not be a problem, but it needs little things here and there because it is getting old. i.e. battery, windshield needs to be resealed, radiator cleaned or flushed, new/junkyard PCM, and registration fee. Only $400 to $500 to get it running on the road for another year.
I would love to keep the car for a fun project, but Maren doesn't want me to turn our small Utah home into a redneck haven for cars in need of TLC.
In the first year of owning my car I dove it 36k miles, and then over the next six years I drove another 45k miles for the grand total of 189k miles.


The day has come and I am selling my first car...
It's time for Maren to have a car that she likes, enjoys, and doesn't feel like the car is out to get her.

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