November 18, 2003
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New Old Car
I've been driving a 1988 Chevy Baretta. It has been in a couple of accidents that we know about, primarily because its computer has a tendency to fail at crucial times, taking critical services like the power brakes with it. It was purchased used, so we don't know what happened to it before we got it.
We do know that its computer is very delicate. Need a tune-up? Computer dies. Oxygen sensor having fits? Computer dies. Solar flares? Computer dies.
I took it in on Monday of last week because it was leaking oil. They changed a gasket. The computer died. There went another $412.
That annoys me. Why should changing a gasket kill the computer? Perhaps because I had them change the oil, the oil filter and the air filter at the same time? None of it is reasonable.
It didn't happen all at once. I had the gasket and other stuff changed last week, renting a car for a day while it was being worked on. Then I drove the car for a week with it malfunctioning: it was idling fast and ragged. It was harder than usual to keep to a target speed, the car speeding up or slowing down on its own. I took it back in yesterday and learned of the computer problem. With the computer replaced, the car runs well again.
But for how long ... and at what cost. That car goes through more computers than Bob Aston does.
So I surprised Delia and Cathy by doing what I've told Delia she should have done a year ago. I bought another car.
It isn't new and it wasn't expensive, a 1998 Chevy Malibu, ten years younger than the trouble-maker. The car I rented last week was a 2003 Malibu, so I knew I liked the breed even if I couldn't afford something newer. It has a few miles on it, an average number for a California car of that vintage: 72,000. It is my favorite car color, white. It has four doors, so I can get in and out when parked close to other cars. I expect it to get me there and back for at least the four years it will take to pay for it.
When Derek arrives for Thanksgiving, we will temporarily be a four person family again and we will have one car each.
Derek can drive the Baretta.
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