I've officially owned my current automobile for ten years. The 1996 Cadillac Eldorado two door came to my attention in June of 2000 after the grandfather of a friend of mine passed away and the vehicle became available as the family looked to liquidate his assets. In other words, I bought an old-man's car because it had very low miles (39,000) and an equally low price.
I always stressed to friends and family that I planned to drive the Cadillac until it gave up its automotive ghost and was no longer driveable, and I'm beginning to suspect--now at 140,000 miles--that it may very well be nearing that once inconceivable fate. Rust now eats its way through both doors, the driver's side leather seat is now a cracked and broken mess, the front-end assembly can be heard dangerously rattling, and the driver's side window only goes back up when it damned-well feels like it.
Most of the cosmetic stuff doesn't both me. I can live with rust and a disintegrating car seat, but the front-end assembly rattle presents me with a bit of a cunundrum. Fixing it would cost in the realm of $800+, and I just don't quite believe it's worth that investment.
The irritating thing about the front-end assembly damage is that it was almost completely the fault of Yellowstone National Park. Specifically, it was a poorly-maintained access road in Yellowstone National Park that had no signs indicating it was in such poor condition most Humvees couldn't successfully traverse it. By the time I finished gingerly picking my way through that harrowing ordeal, I was frankly astounded I still had four functioning wheels beneath me.
I won't necessarily miss my Cadillac when it finally gives up the fight, but I will miss the fact the thing has been fully paid for since 2003. I don't look forward to the days of car payments again, although it will be nice to have a more practical automobile for the sake of carting my baby boy around.
Posted by Ryan at June 27, 2010 02:26 PM | TrackBack
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