Car Wars

So I may have mentioned that my current vehicle has approximately 169,000 miles on it (fast approaching 170,000). While the car is still in great shape (if you can ignore the debris a 4 year old creates in the back seat), I realize that his time is nearly up (what? your cars aren't assigned a name and sex when you purchase them?) as Hans is a 2000 VW Passat. He was D's first brand new car, and when we moved to T-town, we switched cars as I had a leased Jetta at the time (her name was Liesl).

I'm thinking he'll last through the summer, and hopefully most of next winter, so that by the time bonus and taxes roll around there'll be some $$ for a down payment. (Let's not discuss the potential impact AMT may have. La la la I can't hear you). I'm a planner though, so that means I've been checking out websites and comparing potential new vehicles already.

The part of me that still thinks I'm in college, and cool and all is yelling "A convertible! A sexy convertible in black!" Similar to the one up in the corner there (I'm very proud of myself for figuring out the import image option, btw!)...however, and of course there's a however, the practical side of me has a retort to all of that.

"Of course it's sexy and sporty. The person driving that car has a life! They can afford $60,000 automobiles and don't have to worry about gas mileage and crash test results and air bags. They won't have a 4 year old in the back seat asking for fruit snacks and a drink and spilling everything. They won't need to fit aforementioned 4 year old's friends in the car either. Besides, how cool is that car gonna be with a booster seat in the back anyway? "

Sigh. Back to looking at cars that get 30 mpg on the highway and have good side impact crash results.