Out with the old, in with the new

I bit the bullet last weekend and bought a new car. After a few weeks of stress over what to do, and going back and forth on what to do every time I decided something, it was surprisingly easy to sign on the dotted line (make that fifty dotted lines). I had narrowed it down to 3 cars, and after much thought, oodles of calculations, and about a dozen complimentary Otis Spunkmeyer cookies from the customer lounge at the Honda dealership, I selected a 2010 Accord.

Old Honda: As most of you know, I really liked my Accord. It was sexy and sporty (although perhaps the word I'm looking for is simply gangsta), and I'll miss the illegal tint and the custom rims. I never minded it being a coupe, because I never had cause to transport anyone requiring the use of the back seat. I could put my purse or gym bag or groceries in the passenger seat, so I never bought into the four-doors-is-a-must mindset. As I said to some friends the week before I bought my new one, "If you had this car, how could you give it up?" But at 200K miles, and fresh off the dying-in-the-middle-of-the-road incident, I realized I could indeed give it up in exchange for peace of mind via no miles and a warranty.



New Honda: There are a few noticeable differences. White looked awful on the new models, and I found myself only picking black ones to test drive (with the exception of one silver, which grew on me, but only a little). And I said goodbye to the sleek look of a coupe and went with a 4-door. Having driven a 4-door loaner while mine was in the shop last month, I came to appreciate quite quickly how nice it is to be able to open the back doors. I had no idea. Now loading and unloading is a constant party...'which door should I use this time????' And it's amazing to have a car that has literally no miles on it. Amazing! Plus, it really does smell deliciously new inside.



I was thinking as I cleaned out my old car about how much we really do live out of our vehicles. I had pants in there, 5 pairs of heels, receipts, directions to places written on post-its, snow stuff, water bottles, tissues and Lysol wipes, tupperware, numerous lip glosses, granola bars, binders, coupons, flattened cardboard boxes, and more. Of course, the one compartment I forgot to empty was my GPS, so I made a frantic trip back to the dealership to fetch the device without which I would never survive. And then while on my way home for the second time, I realized I had forgotten the CD out of the CD player. I may not have endured the embarrassment of yet a third trip back to the dealership had it been anything less than my brand new '500 Days of Summer' soundtrack. Plus it meant I could grab another cookie.