Gaining Focus: 2 Weeks with an American Car
Posted by Andrew | Filed under General
Oh, the irony. All those years I spent driving around in my mother’s little Volkswagen thinking I was better than anyone driving a Dodge, Chevy, or Ford. The only snub satisfaction I have left is that I am still better than those people driving Dodges. Two weeks ago, I officially signed my soul away for the next five years to a Credit Union and in exchange, took possession of a 2005 Ford Focus ZX4 ST. The only remaining question I have in my mind after this time is this: Why is Ford in so much Financial trouble?
This car was designed by Ford’s excellent German division originally meant for the European market. Volvo and Mazda both had hands in designing the chasis, engine, transmission, and so on. It’s acceleration on the highway is fantastic, granted, it is a Manual and I shift like a race car driver. It’s a comfortable ride, everything laid out in the interior nicely and there are cup holders that aren’t broken in it (big plus over the old car). It’s all that, and they are very reasonably priced when compared with the Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Carolla, and everything else that is Asian and has four wheels.
I bought it because in a little over a month, I will be moving to the Valleys of Utah. My parents decided that the little Volkswagen was too old, too weak, too feeble, to make the trek out into the American West. Which is probably true, 142,000 miles takes a lot out of a car. I learned how to drive a Manual in that little car, and I used it as my main car from 91,000 miles until now. It was the car I drove to High School, to Seminary, and then to commute to College. I will surely miss it.
I will miss it until I buy a drink at a gas station and put it in the cup holder of my new car. Yeah, it’s that luxurious.
The only problem is that it makes lots of bonging noises. It bongs when you open the door, it bongs when you leave the keys in the ignition, it bongs when you leave the headlights on, it bongs when you don’t put your seatbelt on, and so on and so on. The Germans apparently want their cars to be fairly reserved about things that don’t include pumping gas or refilling the windshield washer fluid (of which it would constantly badger you about until something was done).
One Response to “Gaining Focus: 2 Weeks with an American Car”
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Mary Says:
June 24th, 2009 at 00:35Pretty cool post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say
that I’ve really enjoyed reading your posts. In any case
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you write again soon!