Thursday, August 7, 2008

I want to pimp my car...er...ride

I'm 39 years old and I drive a 1996 Toyota Corolla. Three of the four quarter panels are dented (only two of the three dents are my fault). The rock chips on the hood are rusted. The paint is sun scorched and peeling off. For the last five years I've been driving the car, content.

I love the 35 mpg. I love not having to worry about getting dents and dings in it, after a while, they all kind blend together. I love the reliability of the car, which spins like a top, in spite of its ragged appearance.

Then I made the mistake of fixing something. After driving around for three years with a bashed in rear-drivers-side door (was dented with one the rear quarter panels), I finally decided to fix it. I called every (literally) auto salvage shop in West Michigan, asking the scripted question, "I'm looking for a rear drivers side door with power windows and power locks for a 1996 Toyota corolla, standard trim. Do you have any in stock?" I found one, and I mean one, that had the replacement rear door. Ironically, the parts store specializes in Toyota and Honda parts (www.d-a-p.com) and was only about 20 miles from where I live. Not only did they have the door in stock, but they had it in the exact same color as my car (metallic black) which was a pleasant surprise in that I had already come to peace with the idea of driving around in a black car with a beige or red or some other colored door.

Most importantly the window was tinted. Now keep in mind that none of my other windows are tinted. The salesman seeing my car assured me that the tinting "peels" right off, for which I had every intention of doing, until one of my friends saw the window and commented, "cool."

"Yeah, it does look cool, maybe I'll tint the other windows," I thought. But if you tint the window, then you'll need to fix the dents, and if you fix the dents, then you'll need a new paint job, and if you get a new paint job, then you'll need a new sound system, and if you get a new sound system, then you'll need a turbo, and if you get a turbo, then you'll need cools wheels...

So, what has happened in the last month that has squelched my idle contentment in my faithful Corolla, and has cultivated a desire to drive a lean street machine a la Fast and the Furious?

Mid life crisis. Did I mention that I'm a 39 year old driving a 1996 Toyota Corolla?

2 comments:

J-me said...

Welcome to the world of Blogging! I can already tell I will be checking back on yours on a daily basis...don't let me down!
Boy, there is a bunch of us that are turning the big 40 this year..Becky (Marshall) VanNest started us off in the summer when she turned 40. Drew Neilsen is next...on Monday (11th).

Check out our blog
www.thefamilylodge.blogspot.com
Not nearly as interesting as yours..
Have fun
J-me Priese

Anonymous said...

Paulie, Paulie ~ welcome to the web. Great start. Now, the challenge is to post on a regular basis, without feeling guilty about not posting and maintain a balanced family life!