My Dream Car

Do you remember those 1994 ads for the Dodge Neon? The ones that just said "HI"? I loved that car. I wanted that car. I had never before been swayed by an ad so completely. For years I longed to have a Dodge Neon. I longed for one in a sporty purple or maybe even orange. I liked the brightly colored cars, as long as they weren't red. I did not want a red car.

In 1999, I bought my first car. An ugly red Plymouth Horizon, the cheaper version of the Dodge Omni. I can't remember what year that car was (and '89 I think) but it got me around for a while. Will was terrified of it the few times I drove him around in it. You see it shuddered like you wouldn't believe. It leaked oil, too. But I loved that little car. I nicknamed her "the Whore". I know, really nice. I stopped driving her sometime after I had Rhayn.

My next few cars were bought by Will at auctions in Prescott. The first was an old police cruiser, a Crown Victoria with the spotlight and everything. My punk-rock self found this car to be awesome. But it was impractical for a mom, as it only had one seat belt in the backseat. We sold that one and bought a Chevy Cavalier at the auction. I drove that car for a few years I think. Then Will's brother offered to sell us a 1998 Plymouth Neon. Sure it was red, and sure it wasn't a Dodge, but it was close enough to that high school dream car that I was excited.

The Neon has been a good vehicle. It has little issues (starter going out, leaks oil), which come with having an older car, but it gets us where we need to go. I mock it often, but really I love that car.

But now we are looking at new vehicles, we have 3 top contenders. Well, I have 1 top contender, Will has 2 that he likes well enough. For me, the Mazda 5 is a winner. It is the most versatile vehicle we have looked at. Will likes the Chevy HHR it fits our needs, and is comfortable inside. We both like the look of the Dodge Caliber (I find it a sexy car for some reason). It also fits our needs.

The thing I like best about the Mazda 5 is that there are 6 seats. Of those 6 seats, 4 fold down and give you a lot of space in the back if you needed it. You can separate the kids into the different rows, too. Its a micro-van, has sliding doors on the sides, which means kids can't open the door and whack the car next to you. The back, even with all 6 seats up could hold our two 50 pound dogs. I am completely sold on it. Since Will isn't quite ready to admit defeat and buy a traditional mini van (our next step I am sure) this would be a perfect interim vehicle.

Its going to be a while before we actually buy a new (to us) car, but it doesn't hurt to look and see what is out there.