My "New" Car

So I have back-tracked about 10 years in terms of cars. I am now driving a gray 1989 Toyota Camry with 247,000 miles on it. I can't say that I absolutely love the car, but it is a car, and it works. I have made it a little more my own by adding some of my personal items, mainly to cover up minor issues with the car. I haven't yet decided to really claim it. I'm a bit in denial about my other car being gone, but I realize that this is only temporary.

The descriptions about the idiosyncrasies of the car about to follow are not complaints, rather things that I have noticed and am now more amused by.

This Camry looks really nice on the outside. There aren't a lot of scratches on it and from the outside you can tell it has a sunroof. There is one minor dent on the outside but the color really hides it and it is in a small corner of the passenger rear door. The bumper looks a little "bumpy" but I was told this car had been in an accident quite sometime ago. It doesn't drive like it has been in an accident though.

I kindof laugh at night when I drive it though because the passenger side headlight shines the light quite a bit higher than the driver side. I call it the lopsided look! I tried to fix it and realized the whole headlight is not quite in its "socket." I'll probably get Thomas to take a look at it next time he is in town.

The windshield is cracked and in the same way that I had cracked it on my last car, by taking off the windshield wiper and letting the metal thingy slam down on it. The crack is just to one side and you really don't notice it from the outside.

Ah, now the inside. My favorite little idiosyncrasies lie there!

The outside definitely looks better than the inside, but so far I have done a fairly good job of concealing some of its funny things. First of all, on the way back from Atlanta, this one thing drove me mad. I kept staring at it! There is a gash in the middle of the top of the dashboard. It's a little unsightly but Peanut, my elephant beanie that I keep in the car from my last one, does a great job of covering that right up! He actually doesn't slide around that much up there so you would only know it was there if I really slung the car around or if you picked up Peanut.

My aunt informed me that she used to haul straw in it. While she and my uncle did a fabulous job cleaning the car, there is still some straw stuck to the roof. It actually gives the inside a little character, and you really only notice it if you look for it.

Now, the sunroof. I have never had a sunroof before and think it is so neat having one. I love to stare at the sky (not too much while I'm driving) through the glass. It is really neat when it is raining. It, however, does not open. It is broken from opening, but is still neat having it!

I have tactfully removed some things from my 99 Ford to fix a few interesting things. I took my carpets out of it from the inside of the car and from the trunk. You see, the Camry had these weird looking green carpets in its gray interior, perhaps aged gray. The Camry also had no trunk carpet. So now I have stolen those from my Ford. The Camry looks remarkably better with my carpets.

I have played with the automatic windows so much! I had manual ones in my Ford, but I am also afraid of breaking them. They are quite expensive to fix, but so much fun. I have control from the driver's side and can lock them! I also now have a button I can push to lock the doors from the inside. This was something I always wanted in my Ford, but my Ford had a remote. This one doesn't have a remote, but when I unlock the driver or passenger side with the key, all the doors unlock, so it's almost like having a remote!

The Camry has an oil leak. That means I have to check my oil weekly, and there is actually a quart of oil that is stored in a cool spot under the hood. This cracks me up that I am storing oil under the hood! But what car that is 17 years old with 200+K miles on it doesn't have an oil leak?

When I want to turn right, the right turn signal is quirky. If I don't push the lever up fast enough it squeals or buzzes at me. Hehehe, just wait until I play a mean joke on someone who doesn't know about that!!!

Anyways, I am extremely blessed to have a wonderful aunt and uncle who just gave me this car in our time of need. It has definitely made life easier, especially in Rodney and I's business. I also don't have to inconvenience so many people by asking for rides!

Thanks A-Marianne and U-Evan!