Took a ride tonight, in our white Ford Taurus SE DOHC 24V with spoiler, chrome rims, dual exhaust, digital climate controls, 6CD changer, fully electronic driver seat (including push button inflatable lumbar support), tinted windows, bucket seats and upgraded eight speaker stereo system.
So what's the downside? The car is a 1998. The same age as my 14 yr old daughter! And while it may still hit 120 mph, I'm scared to try it that fast on its 216k mile engine. And though I can set the air at 72 degrees on the digital climate control, the air conditioner doesn't always want to cooperate when it gets really hot outside. The once super glossy white now has some of it's clear coat peeling on the driver side door. And when you drive it for any long distance you are as apt to need to add oil to it as you are to fill it up with gas. For all of that though, we have NEVER had to do any major repairs to it other than your typical maintenance.
But boy the memories that came over me as I drove it tonight, probably for the last time ever, as we have sold it and it is being picked up on Saturday.
We have had this car through four houses, three cities and two states. I'll never forget the day we bought it. I was SOOO excited. A beautiful family (ie: 4-door) car with a mustang engine. And yes, I did my fair share of racing it in the past and have won street races against mustangs in it.
When my son was in Kindergarten and my daughter wasn't even old enough for school we loaded them up and took them to Disney World to meet Mickey Mouse. Many more family trips were to follow in it. Since that long ago day when we got it, my son grew up enough for me to teach him how to drive it around our neighborhood roads. It's survived a major snow/ice storm, where it slid off into a ditch and managed to land unscathed in between a utility pole and a fire hydrant, and was safely towed out the next day.
I can't begin to count the endless times the kids and I spent in swimsuits and with water hoses washing and waxing it. And amazingly, with a good wash and some Windex to the chrome rims, it still looks great to me.
I remember when we paid our last payment on it and it was all ours. That was when I got my braces and prayed it would last until my braces came off as the car payment money was being used for my braces. It not only lasted through that, but through my daughter's set of braces and still kept running strong. At this point we've owned it outright longer than we made payments on it.
Honestly, we'd just keep it as a back-up car if nothing else if it weren't for the fact that it would cost us over $500 to get a Florida title, register it and tag it here. And for a car that just sits there for "just-in-case" it just wasn't worth it. Ron has a work truck, I drive our 4-door, family sized F-150 and we only drive the Taurus to try to keep the new tires from getting warped and the battery from dying. There really is no sense in paying to transfer it all to Florida and paying the insurance on it. If I tell myself this enough, maybe I'll believe it. I know logically its true. But getting rid of a car that is about the same age as our teenagers, that has been with us through all the moves, all the changes and so many memories, its just kind of sad to let go of something that has been so constant, so steady and so reliable.
So off it goes, hopefully to live out its remaining life before its heads to "car heaven," a little more useful than simply taking up a much needed parking spot in our condominium complex.
In my life I only have two other vehicles that I have ever "felt" anything for and a pang of sadness to see them go. One was "Rocky the Egg," a Honda Civic Hatchback - oh the stories we could tell as kids growing up with that car! The other was "Big Red," a Caprice Classic Station Wagon that in a former life was a fire chief's car, hence the bright red color. It then became our family car before it was the "first car" for myself, and a couple of brothers before it finally died with over 300k miles! (Mom don't read this part - but true story - I once out ran a police cruiser, with its lights flashing, in that car - I knew it had been a fire department vehicle so knew I had as big an engine it is as the police cruiser. Still can't believe I even attempted such a stupid stunt!!)
No one name ever really stuck with the Taurus, it always eventually reverted back to simply being called "the Taurus." But with or without an "official" name, this is one car that I will never forget.
PS- yes, you can still gun it and it will get up and go....I did it tonight, before my hubby told me to stop before I blow up the engine, but I just had to feel that jolt one more time, as my truck has a big engine, but it is also heavy and has never quite had the fast get up and go feel like "the Taurus."
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