Bye Bye Beater

We're going car shopping today.

Both The Wife and I are sick of the junker. Yes, it's paid for, but it's got close to 110,000 miles on it, no power steering, a seat that makes both of our backs ache when we drive it, the little three-banger engine doesn't have the pickup of a two-hamster exercise wheel, and The Wife knocked the left-side rear window off of it and the deductible on the repair is more than the repair itself. Leave aside cosmetic issues like the dings and dents on the door and the peeling paint on the rear fender -- the car is just not up to snuff any more and we can do better. When the summer really comes here in the desert, the air conditioner is almost certain to drain out any remaining power in the motor.

So we're going to go look for a reasonable used car. We'll see what we can get; when we're back this evening I'll finish up my trial preparations and get ready for my class Monday night. Until then, I'm wondering what we should get. Maybe a nice Toyota. I've never owned a Japanese car. I liked my BMW when I had that, but we're still a few steps away from getting back into a Beamer -- getting a house is more important than getting a BMW. That's the only non-American car I've ever owned; my experience was great and my impression of the mid-range car market is that Toyotas are the highest-quality and most-reliable cars we could get in the range we're at. But I'm open to anything that will be reliable and safe and be of reasonable quality. It doesn't have to be a status symbol. After all, B.B. the Saturn is not a great car but it's quite sufficient for our needs. All I'm really looking for is "good enough." "Good enough" means safe, reliable, and functional.

UPDATE: Six hours later, we are now the proud new owners (well, after the loan is paid off we will be) of the replacement to the junker. I was going to hold off on the naming process, but The Wife was impatient and gave the 2004 Nissan Altima a new sobriquet on the way home. So meet.... The Green Ninja!


A little more than I wanted to spend, and the payments are a little higher than I would have preferred, but the money involved is within our range of ability. The mileage is what you would expect for a car of its age and history (a former rental). The color is nice -- a kind of gray-green that I haven't seen on any other cars out there. We can get a key fob for remote entry from Nissan, and we'll have to order a replacement owner's manual, too. Tomorrow or the day after I'll research how often I have to change the oil and so on. But for now, the Green Ninja is ready for action. And we had no idea of the Urban Dictionary's meaning to the phrase "Green Ninja" when The Wife adopted it for the car.