My Favourite Car - Part 2

You have been very patient waiting for Part 2 - there was a reason you had to wait. My favourite vehicle is my 2004 Dodge Ram. My registration calls the colour red (?) but Chrysler calls it Molten Lava Red. There are lots of reasons I am fond of my truck. Six people can fit in it very comfortably. It is a working vehicle - I use it to haul tools and garden debris 5 days a week. So it has lots of scratches. It is my office too. I often do paperwork in it. I love all the storage under the seats and in the fold down centre seat armrest (which also serves as my desk). All those hiding spots mean my kleenex and wipes (necessary before lunch after a morning of playing in dirt), pens, sunglasses, phone charger, gardening gloves, small tools, sunscreen, bug spray etc all have a home.

I don't like the gas mileage but it is not our primary vehicle. I don't put on a lot of miles driving in our little town. It sucks in snow unless I - well Connor actually - puts lots of sandbags in the bed. It has 20 inch tires (most trucks have 16 or 17 inch). They are not common and therefore more expensive. I bought winter tires in the fall of 2008 and all season tires this spring. They were $1000 a set. Thanks to those expensive tires I use next to no windshield fluid as my windshield is higher than most other vehicles on the road. Does that make up for the extra gas?

Even when I am not working the truck is. It hauls Connor's bike (and usually his friend's bikes) places. It is so much easier than putting on the bike rack. It takes Connor (and friends) snowboarding. I am happy the wet snowboard goes in the bed. It helps people move and drives kids to college. It has made many trips to the dump with construction debris. And it is useful for jumping into snowbanks and holding onto when learning how to unicycle.

Today was a special day for my truck. As I pulled up to Connor's work the odometer hit 99,999 km. On the way home it hit this milestone (ignore the dust remember it is a working vehicle)

and it is now sitting in the driveway showing this:

It is a bittersweet day - I feel I should buy a cake and celebrate. It has been a great vehicle - the only work has been brakes and oil changes but the clock is ticking towards bigger repairs. And she has a little rust spot at the bottom of the tailgate. Sob.

Each of our other vehicles had a purpose and when we sold or outgrew it it was gone without a second thought (except for the Cutlass Ciera - I missed that one). I think this is the first vehicle I would be happy to own again. Though I hope that is many years away.