I used to put up these complaining posts about my car. It wasn’t because I hated my car. I loved my car, but hated what happened to it.

I picked out the car, the color (Sepang Green!), the options (well, most of them anyway). I washed it all the time and put on some cool (hey, it was 11 years ago and I was 22, shut up!) clear turning lights and an aftermarket grill. It was very sporty and fun to drive on the back roads of Ohio. I was younger and dumber and probably drove it harder and faster than it was designed to go or I was skilled enough to control. But, reckless as I was, all the damage came from other people. I still haven’t had an at-fault accident since I was driving my parents’ old car in high school (sorry, Mom. Sorry, Dad.). (Maybe I shouldn’t write that down… kind of begging karma to give me an accident now, huh?)

I drove the six months old car to California and things (literally) started falling apart. A truck hit it while it was parked in front of my apartment, causing an entire panel to be replaced, new tire, wheel and realignment. A year later a cold cat crawled into the engine bay and tore everything up when I tried to drive down the road. Rear ended on the 118 a year later. Rear ended on my way to my first date with Sam a year after that. Side-swiped by a young wanna-be rapper driving his parents car on the 118 onramp, days before I would start a new job and never have to make that drive again. And a lot more little CELs because of an extra fizzy battery clamp, loose gas cap, popped tires, freon leak, etc. over the last decade.

However, all said, there was never a major major problem with the car. No transmission replacement or anything like that. Nothing that cost more than the value of the car. Until Friday.

A few weeks ago I noticed the AC was gone again. I’d had the freon replaced about a year and a half ago and considered it good to go for a long time. The dealer said it would take $1,200 to fix the new leak. Apparently I “hit something in the road” which caused the whole pipe to need replacing.  A coworker advised she knew a private mechanic that could do much better. After sitting in his office for a whole Saturday morning I was informed it would take $400 more for him to fix it than the dealer, and 2 days instead of a morning. So, not believing the car was still worth that much, I resigned myself to live with the heat. A day later, winter arrived in Los Angeles, so I didn’t worry about it much after that.

Friday, less than a mile from home, I noticed a chugging noise. The engine temperature started to rise. I was already going downhill on Cahuenga West and tried to just drift the rest of the way home as much as I could. As I pulled up the little hill through our gate the car overheated and died. CEL and oil warning lights flashed. Luckily, we have parking spots right there, so it could just sit and rest.

I came back hours later and the car started up with a CEL, but normal engine temperature. No sputtering or anything abnormal. CELs are a common occurance on an old car, so I hoped it might not be a big deal. (At this point you’re probably saying “No, you idiot, overheating is a big deal and you should have towed it!”… I am not my dad, I do not fix my own car and do not know these things. If I haven’t experienced it myself on my own car, I probably don’t know about it, and this car never overheated before) I made an appointment at Mazda for the next day, knowing I may have to have it towed if it got hot again.

The next day I white-knuckled it to Glendale taking surface streets as slow as possible. A line of red lights  on San Fernando Road doomed me, though. I was forced to pull over three blocks from the dealership when the temperature gauge went all the way up.  After a ten minute cool down with the hood open I basically drifted the rest of the way to the dealership.

A few hours later the service manager said it would be $900 to fix the (honestly, I don’t remember what the part was at this point, it made more financial sense to buy a new car) and it would be another $230 to run a diagnostic on the engine, which may be shot since engine temps went up to 300 degrees.

Ironically, on Thursday the ambient temperature gauge on the car read: 361. A sign of what was to come, but I didn’t know (engine temp gauge was perfectly normal)…

So, that was it. The end of the saga. And, just like my dad before me, I drove a car into the ground and had to scramble to get a new one. I’m not necessarily disappointed with the new one, just that I had to do it at all. I was really hoping the old car would last until a cheaper all-electric or hybrid came out and/or the Google or Apple self-driving car.  I’m not looking forward to making payments again either.

However, it will be nice not to have maintenance issues hanging over my head for another five years (or more, hopefully), AC when it’s hot, a reliable ride (without leaning on Sam) when friends and family come to visit, etc.

Also, because my commute is so short, I should be able to keep this car in a much better state of repair and exterior finish (albeit parking under birds and sappy trees every night…).  I drive less than 3,000 miles a year now, and barely ever over 40mph.

Yes, it’s another Mazda. Sadly, not a Miata (I wish! They’re not actually that expensive, and my not-so-tall frame fits fine, but the dealer only had a white manual-shifter…blegh!). I now drive the same car my mom does, but no longer drive the same car my brother does.