i have been driving the same car, a vw golf, for 21 years. last weekend i was driving in the city and the car was having some…difficulties (from what i can guess there is a leak in the intake manifold when the engine heats up that causes her to draw in air and misfire). although i have been my own mechanic for the most part, i don’t have the place or the tools to investigate a possibly cracked manifold. rather than take it in and have it repaired, i started thinking that maybe i should just buy a new car.
looking at new cars is an express elevator ride to the deepest level of lifestyle-branded consumerism hell. especially in california, where so much of a statement is made by the type of car you drive. i could give a fuck, as evidenced by my loyalty to a car that i have no doubt conveys a certain “image”. in my youth, i would have, and did say, yeah get fucked with your opinions of me and my beater, it is the ideal ride for me. people don’t cut me off. i can leave the thing unlocked (although shit occasionally gets ripped off from INSIDE the car). sometimes i push a shopping cart at high velocity into the old golf when i am bored in a parking lot. this will all be a thing of the past if i get a new car. i am being led to believe that a new car will really “say something” about me. i am wondering if i have to take these considerations into account.
there is advice that comes along with the search. “you will, 100%, NEVER get laid in that car”. “dude, that’s not a 40 year old’s car”. “dependable and low maintance is NOT sexy” etc. all the “lifestyle” associations that i have managed to avoid over 21 years of the same old. the truth of the matter is that i am finding it hard to justify buying a splendiferous piece of german engineering that i have a feeling is going to spend a lot of quality time looking good next to the concrete pillars in my garage. i don’t commute. i’m not a huge fan of just cruising around (although i have to allow that i might be more inclined to with a new car).
i have been to the bmw dealer, the vw dealer, honda dealer, have ruled out the volvo dealer completely, and today i drove around a toyota. another stressful issue: i think i want a station wagon, although i am not certain about that. i think that’s the utility that i want. but why the hell am i getting a “dad” car, as a wagon apparently screams family car, when i don’t even have a girlfriend? (i just want a vehicle that will transport my massive guitar amp to my non-existent gigs!) if i don’t pick the right one, according to several people i know, i will *never* have sex again. this is the type of peer pressure to drive a “cool car” that i have avoided for a very long time, and honestly it is a little confusing. i am pretty sure i still don’t give a shit, but i listen to the opinions of others a bit more now, and i may live with any decision i make for a very long time if my history is a guide. right now i am inclined to procrastinate. point a to point b.
the toyota matrix has a 115 volt power plug. today i almost wrote a check to just be done with it, plug in a blender, and cruise down the highway to hell. luckily phil was there to drag me out before i had a chance to hit my back pocket for the checkbook. the drinkholders in the back seat were a little flimsy too.
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