Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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With a missing bumper, peeling paint and a crumpled rear fender, it was the kind of car even a socially outcast teen with a new license was embarrassed to drive. It always had to be parked on an incline, because the ignition didn’t work. To start it, one had to let the car roll downhill and pop the clutch. Sound familiar?
Because of financial necessity or just plain bad luck, most people at some time in their lives end up driving a car that probably should be relegated to a scrap yard.
For those who might be in that situation now, here are 10 indications that it is time to trade up to a better ride.
- When you take the family to the park or on a picnic, the dog refuses to jump into the car.
- When you go on a date, your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend (who has never been environmentally conscious) suggests that for the sake of the planet, you should take public transportation instead.
- You keep the gas tank full and leave the keys in the ignition and hope someone will steal it and drive far enough away that it won’t be found.
- You wake up and discover that the car is missing. When you excitedly call the police to tell them it was stolen, they inform you that the city mistakenly towed the car because they believed it was abandoned.
- The silver color is completely faded from the duct tape that serves as one of the rear windows.
- When someone follows you in a separate vehicle, there is no chance of losing you because of the trail of oil and transmission fluid leaking onto the road.
- You spend more each week on oil, radiator stop leak and high-mileage engine additives than you do on gas.
- You try to talk your wife, mother, child, friend or co-worker into driving whenever possible because you don’t want anyone who might see you to think that it is your car.
- You don’t have to worry about being seen littering because you can drop trash through the holes in the floorboard straight onto the road.
- You pull over and offer a ride to a hitchhiker and you notice that he bears a strong resemblance to a serial killer you saw on a wanted poster at the post office. Before you can say anything, he looks at your car and tells you he will wait for someone else. If any of these scenarios describes your situation, or if you are trying to decide between a Christmas card or a gift for the mechanic at the shop, it’s probably time to go car shopping.
