R.I.P. Goldie the Car

May 21, 2008

Insurance companies (theirs and ours) have been a constant in our lives since we move to Austin because of the accident I was in on the first day of our drive out here from California.

Goldie on her way to Car Heaven. Recently, I found out from our insurance company that my car is totaled. Good ol’ Goldie the Car is finally going to car heaven. 🙁

I have mixed feelings about the news of her impending retirement. She was my first (and only!) car and even though she’s considered “old”, I took such good care of her that she received much higher marks on her evaluation than most cars half her age that are totaled.

I knew that our insurance company was evaluating the damage, and had a feeling that it would come to this (especially after the guy at the body shop looked at it for two seconds and said “ouch, I’ll bet that’s totaled.”), but I didn’t want to have to get a new car on anyone else’s terms but mine. Now, I have to get a new(ish) car, no matter if I like it or not.

It’s probably in my best interest to get a new(ish) car as Goldie was a 1996 and doesn’t come with a lot of the safety features a newer car has, especially safety features that are important with a baby on the way ❗ .

Still, it’s hard to let her go. She holds 8 years of my memories. I knew how she drove and all her little quirks. I knew exactly how much room I needed to parallel park. I knew, even though the gas gauge wasn’t accurate, exactly how many miles I could get off a full tank, half tank or even how much time I had to get to a gas station when it was on empty.

It’s really unsettling to me that the stupidity of some guy going way too fast took them away in less than 20 seconds. It’s been over a month and I still break out in a sweat and inwardly panic if I’m coming to a stop and the person behind me is too close or coming toward me too fast. (Hmmm, guess I have some stuff to work through…)

Regardless of my issues surrounding the accident, I can’t drive this rental car forever, and soon I’ll need to face the fact that I need a new(ish) car. So, anyone have any suggestions of a super safe, family-friendly car (new or used) for under $20K? No minivans, though. 😉

{ 2 trackbacks }

It’s Not Him, It’s Me — Binary Blonde
September 25, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Meet Goldie 2.0 — Binary Blonde
October 21, 2008 at 12:43 pm

{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }

Sue Doe-Nim May 21, 2008 at 12:31 pm

We both drive BMW’s. Mr. Nim’s 5 series was totaled last summer and he walked out without a scratch.

Our neighbor is a 20 year firefighter in Los Angeles and said that he’s never cut a dead body out of a BMW or a Mercedes.

FYI, always put baby in the middle.

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Binary Blonde May 21, 2008 at 12:41 pm

Sue Doe-Nim – Okay, will put “BMW” on my list of cars to research and/or test drive. Oh, yes, I’ve been reading a lot about how to set up car seats by using the latches and keeping baby in the middle. Thanks!

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cara May 21, 2008 at 1:32 pm

those BMW hatchbacks ARE super cute 🙂

also, as I said before, I LOVE my RAV4, and it’s super safe.

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katelin May 21, 2008 at 2:14 pm

I’ve heard lots of good things about CRV’s and Volvos for families that aren’t vans 🙂

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Mrs Pop May 22, 2008 at 9:20 am

I second Sue. And BMW has some great deals going on right now, too!

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Ran May 22, 2008 at 10:49 am

Het! We just got a minivan 2 weeks ago and I love it. It was under 20K, a 2004 Honda Odyssey, it is a Honda Certified Vehicle. Only had 25K miles on it. The CRV might be good for you and yes you will want to get a car with the LATCH system, I think it was required to be in cars after 2003. Love The Rans.

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cara May 22, 2008 at 12:25 pm

I would say get a Rav4 OVER a CRV. When I was looking for cars, they are both kind of equal in price/size/performance, and Rav4 was a lot higher on the safety ratings. Plus, Toyota has a much better reputation than Honda. Also, BMW’s are awesome, but they are expensive to fix and replace parts. My dad used to have one- Kev would be annoying with that 🙂

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Shelly May 22, 2008 at 9:30 pm

My neighbors haven’t had a car for years. When they found out they were pregnant they decided they needed one and they bought a Prius and love it. And their daughter arrived last Tuesday. She’s only had 1 ride so far, home from the hospital.

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fak3r June 10, 2008 at 10:58 am

Ah, what a great post, when we lived in Austin (for 9 years) I was still driving my ’87 Honda CRX. So I drove it for 13 years, and then traded it in (for next to nothing) to buy a 2000 CRV just before we had our daughter! I was sad to see it go as it took me from High School to College to Austin…but starting a family took precedence, as it should. Still, I’d like to buy it back and store it in my backyard for tool around with on the weekend.

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Mark June 24, 2008 at 11:15 pm

Ack. I keep doing this. I don’t check for a bit and something keeps happening! 😉

Congrats on the kid and condolences on the passing of Goldie. My wife’s first car is still doing allright, we don’t drive the 1971 SuperBeetle too much though…

For recommendations, check the Honda Fit. Roomy and I’ve been very happy with Honda. I got out of a driver side collision where someone t-boned me. And that was an ’86.

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