Green Toyota Corolla CE. year 2000.
Here is a funny thing: as I signed the papers today to transfer the car title over to the insurance company, I realized that it was EXACTLY to the the day today 11 years ago that I bought the car. To. The. Day!
I'll fill you in on its last few days and how it all ended, but let me remember where we've been.
I bought the car few days before I graduated from college. I had just received the driver's licence couple of weeks earlier. I never owned a car before, and knew nothing about cars. Our lab technician Mike took me to few dealerships around Beaumont to help me find a car. All I knew was that I wanted "a small car that I can easily park, that has radio and power locks and windows". How innocent! :) I had just received a $2000 SWE scholarship, and I was able to dedicate just a quarter of that for down payment. And what fit in those parameters was this, almost new car back then, with about 11K miles on it.
We've had our moments. I drove to Austin just 3 days after I bought it, to hunt for an apartment. My first trip longer than 3 hours. I was a bit weary about the drive, so I took a friend with me. On our way back, just 15 minutes before we arrived, I hit a pothole and blew a tire. Neither of us knew anything about changing tires, didn't even know I had a spare tire and tools in the trunk :), so we stopped someone on I10 to change it for us. I took it to the dealership later and they agreed to put on a new tire. About a month later I went with the family to San Antonio. On our way back, in the middle of nowhere, at night, that same tire pealed off at 70 mph, slamming into and breaking the components under the hood and twisting the side metal. It was really scary! I managed to pull over safely. We pulled over a trucker who took me to a gas station to call the police. We waited for the patrol car to came and drove with them back to the highway where my car was. They helped me patch it together with some bungee cords and roll gauze (!), change the tire, gather parts left behind, and then we drove at 30 mph back to Austin. After some convincing, the dealership agreed to pay for the repair. Some $2400! And of course, can't forget the lasting impact the hail storm of March 25th 2005 (a date reserved for hail) left. It was another $4500 damage, a nice check that went toward the closing cost of the house.
The car was slowly accumulating issues after that. I only fixed safety issues, like the engine mount (although the brakes have been in a pretty bad shape lately) and those that prevented it from passing the state inspection. But there was a long list of other issues that was just getting longer:
- windshield got a crack years ago, from a fast driving police car skidding on some rocks. The crack only got longer with years, reaching over to the driver's side.
- driver door handle broke couple of years ago. I just replace it with the one on the back door. That one was now almost at a breaking point.
- windshield wipers' pump broke. I could no longer spray water when using wipers, which caused terrible smudges unless using them in pouring rain.
- The left blinker would sometimes 'stick' and not come on when switched.
- The engine would sometimes stutter when starting, and sometimes shut off. Luckily this was only when starting.
- Wheel alignment was long overdue.
- The brakes...there were days when I didn't think the car will stop at the sign!
- I lost two wheel covers when I drove close to a curb.
- The steering wheel was chafing. Very annoying while driving.
- Floor carpet had holes.
- few months ago my brother locked keys inside, and the guys fishing them out damaged the rubber on the doors, so the car whistled at high speeds.
- Not to even mention the dings from hail and other unknown cars.
- overdue for maintenance by few thousand miles.
- overdue for oil change by few hundred miles.
But, last Sunday it has met its last damage. I was driving to church, mid day, downtown. As I was approaching the light on 10th and San Jacinto, in a left-turn-only lane a vehicle was sitting at the green light. There were no lights on it. I thought for a second if I should go around it or approach behind. I did the later. I guess I thought they are probably a bit slow to react to the light. At about 3-4 ft behind it, still no lights indicating what it's going to do next, the car went full force backwards! I had a split second to decide if I should a)honk, b)switch to reverse, or c) brace for impact. I didn't have time to process that, so I did c). I think I actually did switch in reverse, but I was still holding my foot on the brake. My body did that motion that the dummy dolls in car safety testing commercials do, with head flying forward and body twisting. The air begs didn't deploy, and my body didn't hit any part of the car. As I raised my head up, I saw the hood half way up, and then the car, the black truck in front of me, taking off. I remember seeing their lights for the first time then. I think I saw the last four digits on the licence plates: 9333. It was the new style plates, with 7 alpha-numerics. But I didn't get what kind of truck it was. So...I just took after it! That was my first instinct. I mean, what else was I supposed to do!
I couldn't quite see well in front of me with that hood up. The truck drove really fast. Taking turns into one-way streets. The wrong way! I went after it! The other cars were moving away. I guess they saw how banged up the front of my car was. I chased it for few blocks. But when we got onto Brazos St., with all that construction going on and traffic reduced to one lane, the truck was able to sneak between other cars and take a turn before I could see where it left afterwards. I lost them!
I drove back to the parking garage where I would normally park. Just then I realized that the car was smoking. As I put it into parking gear, it made a really loud revving noise, so I quickly turned it off. I couldn't open the door on my side, so I went out on the passenger side. There was some fluid leaking. Later I found out it was radiator coolant. That's why it was smoking.
The next few hours were somewhat a blur. I went to Mass - I figured that'll give me time to compose and there will be people there who could give me some help. It was first week of Advent, the first Mass with the new translation of English missal, and I don't remember anything from it. When we all walked outside, I asked to borrow someone's phone to dial 911. That was a conversation starter! It took the police about 45 minutes to arrive. I the meantime, I called the insurance, but we got disconnected. Only two friends, Joe and Raul, stayed around until I finished with the cops. It was a super cold and windy day. The cop pretty much just took a look at the damage, took my statement, and said they see those hit-and-runs every day and "that is why he would never drive his personal vehicle in the city". And that's supposed to help us feel safe?!
I took all the things from the car out, went to lunch with the guys, and Raul later gave me a ride home. My head starting spinning from thinking what all needs to happen in the coming days. My brother had an interview tomorrow morning, so that was the first thing to figure out. A good friend, Amela, let me borrow her car for the day on Monday. Zoran made it to the interview, although a bit late because of the traffic. I made it back to the parking garage just before they called the towing company and begged them to let it stay for the day. They were reluctant because of the leaking, possibly hazardous fluids from the car. Applied for a car loan at my bank. Got in touch with the insurance adjuster and begged for an appraiser to come the same day. Went to three dealerships and started test driving some cars. Met with the appraiser, he declared the car totalled, found a tower that could remove the car first thing in the morning. Got the adjuster to arrange the rent-a-car. Picked it up, returned the borrowed car, got home and crashed.
This whole week was pretty stressful. Working and looking for a car on a tight timeline is no fun. But, it too shall pass. It could have been much worse. I did, after all, need a new car very soon.
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