I've had a tomato soup orange VW since 2003. The drawing on the right shows her parked by the ivy and the forsythia bush and under the pine tree that constantly drips needles and pine goo onto her roof and hood. She's been a trouble-free car, has never actually broken down and has needed only occasional repairs. But lately her nearly 100,000 miles have been showing up: for one thing, her irritating check engine light has been on steadily for three years for no reason that anyone can discern. For another, her window seals have been drying and cracking and separating a bit in places from the window glass, leading to flooded foot wells and soggy seats after the rains of this summer. And then there's the business with the trunk, which has quit opening when I press the trunk latch, and it takes a tag team to get the trunk lid up-- one person to press and the other to stand in the back and pry the lid up before the buzzing noise stops.
And then there's the dead key, shown on the left above. A few years ago the buttons on it stopped working, and VW doesn't replace batteries in these keys; you have to buy a whole new key to the tune of around $115. So I decided to just use a manual key, which I've been doing for several years, but there's no way to unlock the trunk without the push button key or the dashboard button, and now the dashboard button isn't working. So when I learned earlier today that the reason the check engine light came on 22 miles after I had it turned off yesterday in preparation for the state inspection on Wednesday is that the car actually needs a new catalytic converter, something whispered to me, "This does not bode well for a trouble-free car future."
So that was the state I was in, reluctant and sad, when my friend Fran said to me "I saw a Smart car for sale at my mechanic's yesterday. Isn't that what you've wanted for a long time?" I almost didn't go by there, thinking I should just trade in the orange car for another VW, but I decided to swing by, just to check out the color. As I turned onto Coxe Avenue I spotted the yellow and black car two blocks away. It was perfect in every way! And after talking to the owner, a mechanic who took great care of her, I was sold. So the drawing on the right shows my new little lemon drop Smart car.!
I didn't know you drove a bug! We had one with a flower decal on the back from 1967 to 1978! Loved that car, except 2 car seats in the back seat limited my space to bring home groceries! Best wishes wit your Smart Car!
ReplyDeletehow wonderful were the days before Safety! I had a 67 bug for all the years our three sons were growing up. we had a set of fruit magnets, one for each son. When a boy rode shotgun his magnet was placed on the glove box lid. When a boy rode in the wayback, his magnet went on the ash tray lid. And when a boy had to sit in the boring back seat, his magnet went on the dashboard. That way when we four next got into the car we could see where everyone had sat before, and we could rotate seats appropriately with no fights.
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ReplyDeleteWhile everyone else is busy looking at your drawings of the cars. I am intrigued by the journal you are drawing in. The brown paper may I ask what it is? Did you make this very interesting journal?
ReplyDeleteSmart purchase! It will be great for parking in NYC!! Love the color!
ReplyDeleteThat smart car drawing is so cute! I love it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, All! Jeanine-- yes I did make the journal, and the brownish pinkish paper is willow and abaca paper that I made from the bark of a willow tree. The journal cover is made from a potato chip bag. There's a tutorial on this blog for making a recycled journal, and that's how I made it more or less. I also have a couple of blog posts about the willow paper, which I make every spring. Actually my friend and I are going on a willow tree raid next week for next year's batch.
ReplyDeleteI love willow trees, but when we made things from willow branches in Utah, I didn't like the smell. Does willow bark paper have a willow smell?
ReplyDeleteWillow paper doesn't smell like willow trees. It has a fresh smell and beautiful pinkish tan color.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I have a 2000 VW Bug (looks just like yours but mine is blue). I recently had the battery changed in my key thingy so I'm wondering why they couldn't do it in yours. Guess it's a moot point now as you've traded up! (I too had the '67 version of Bug and loved it. It was a far far better car than the one I have now, which hasn't been trouble free and costs an arm and a leg whenever I take it in for service.)
ReplyDeleteThe person at the VW dealership told me I would have to buy a whole new key, but that was about 4 years ago. Good that they're now replacing batteries in them! The Smart has the same kind of fob but the mechanic said they sell new batteries for them for not very much.
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