Well I sold off my 2000 Chrysler Neon this weekend. After three years was one the longest serving cars I've had. And more importantly the most reliable. In three years and around 100,000 kms of driving it received, I admit sporadic, maintaince and only needed a single power window motor. My only complaint is that the window motor could have chosen a more convenient time to pack it in. It was two winters ago when my second son was born and the nurses kindly perforated his stomach in his intestine landing him in hospital for the month of February. After visiting him and my wife in hospital I rolled up to the booth to pay from parking. The window rolled down nicely and as I proceeded to drive off it refused to roll up. Normally this would be a mere annoyance but the weather was rather chilly -34C and I had a 15km highway drive back home. As I shivered my way home that night I would try the window button which produced nothing until two minutes from home it slowly rumbled to life. The parking lot attendant must have thought I was an odd fish jumping out of the car to pay each time for the week after but I wasn't risking it until it warmed up.
So the new owner of my Neon is a 16 year old girl (good bye to whatever is left of the clutch!) that didn't look old enough to drive. Oddly enough the last car I sold (Mazda Rx-7) well to a 16 year old boy. My wife would likely tell me this is a sign that taste in cars is cheap and nasty but I've always had great luck with older, inexpensive cars. Her vehicles on the other seem to drain the bank at a frightening rate despite being newer and "better". So what is next? Well I need to buy an engine for my Lotus Seven clone and maybe some nice seats so I think my next vehicle will head down into the seemly magic beater sweat spot of pricing for me - around two thousand Canadian dollars. Maybe a rusty 80s MR2 or something wacky like a Rover SD1.
So after three years of hauling kids and car parts its gone.
