After nine years of togetherness, the green machine and I are parting ways.
My 2005 Nissan Xtrail served me well. It always started, even on the bitterest of cold days. It never gave me any real grief. For a while it shlepped two dogs to a dog park every day and it has carried five adults comfortably on a day of touring around. It has worn well but it’s starting to show its age a bit. And although it was loaded with extras for its time, there have been a lot of advancements in nine years and I’d like to enjoy a few of them.
Meet my new Kia Soul! I have to admit that I’ve kind of liked the Soul right from their introduction to the market with that teasing ad campaign: Look inside a Soul!
I started to get serious about a new vehicle earlier this year and drove the Soul for the first time. I was pleased that I could see out of it in all directions. I can’t remember what vehicle I took out for a spin some time ago and was horrified to discover a huge post in the way of the blind spot.
Derek’s first teasing reaction to the Soul was, “Where will you park it because it’s not going in our driveway!” Yeah, he’s a gearhead and this isn’t exactly a muscle car! Then he went out on a test drive with me and it impressed him, too. I won’t win any races with it but I don’t plan to run any.
My first inclination was to buy used but they are anxious to clear the 2013s off the lot and offering 0% financing and a bunch of other things so I went for it. I even got them to give me almost what I wanted for the green machine on a trade. (You never get everything you want!)
It’s new, it’s got gizmos like bluetooth and satellite radio (don’t tell my bosses!) and it’s as cute as a bug. Of course it had to snow as I drove it for the first time as my own. I actually felt a little wistful about saying so long to the green machine. It was my last tangible connection to my beloved Lee Roy who’s been gone 6 years now. And it was fitting that as I took one last look through the Xtrail for anything that I may have missed, I found a still-wrapped piece of licorice under the seat, a snack for the drive home.
Did you appropriately place that piece of wrapped licorice under the seat of your new vehicle in memory of Lee Roy?
I did not! I ate it. 🙂