Well, like Yaeka’s car Rupert, my van surpassed the 100,000 mile mark. Named after the state containing the long ass portion of I-81, Virginia has been a reliable vehicle except for that one time the water pump broke in Ithaca due to the sub-zero temperatures.
I didn’t remember to take the digital camera this morning to capture the moment on my way home, but it actually wouldn’t have been that exciting. There was no magical “click” into 100000. It slowly turned and the 1 didn’t even become fully visible until past the 100002 mark. If you’re looking for dramatic moments every 100,000 miles, don’t get a Chevy Astro.
There’s really only one thing I’d complain about my car and that is the awful gas mileage. Granted it does much better than the 12-13 mpg I got in Daisy the short bus and actually does better than the Dodge Dakota I drove before it, but with rising gas costs, I’ve been itching for something new. Lately I’ve had a severe case of Prius envy and nearly called the bank to get details regarding my pre-approved auto loan, but did some calculations and realized it just wasn’t realistic.
For now I’m content to spend my $160-$200 a month on gas and am thankful that I work in a county with cheaper gas. Gas in Puyallup can be up to $.18 cheaper a gallon than in Issaquah. The one thing still in my mind that could be a solution to my outrageous gas costs is getting a motorcycle/scooter. Aprilia’s Scarabeo 500 is damn nice looking and has more than adequate power to handle my 35 mile freeway commute. The scooter or “automatic motorcycle” as it has been called is capable of getting the same gas mileage as the Prius and would be about $20,000 cheaper. The other benefit of a motorcycle/scooter is that you can drive in the carpool lane. Most likely I’ll just dream of getting a new vehicle every day until Virginia decides that she’s ready to retire.
I’ve got a sweet ‘93 Escort you can buy. It already has 100,000 miles on it… actually, scratch that, it has 19,000 miles on it cuz the odometer is missing the 100,000th place. C’mon, you know you want my Escort…