The Yodler’s Lament

I took the 85 Tercel wagon — we call him the Yodler – to the shop yesterday morning. When I dropped of the key, I told the guy in the jumpsuit this: “It runs a little rough. Plus, we’re going on a road trip, so I’d like to know it’s running well before we hit the highway. The mechanic told me to stop back in around 11 to get their diagnosis.

At 11, I wandered over to the shop. “It’s got some problems,” said Julie, the straight talking woman behind the counter.”We’re working up an estimate right now. I’ll call you when we’re done.” I moaned and asked for the basics. She told me the radiator was leaking – I’d suspected that from the coolant on the road under the car, but I was hoping it was just bad hoses – and the drive belt was really worn. “There’s some other stuff too, we’ll call you when it’s all figured out.”

I went home and looked through the papers on the Yodler. I wanted to see what had been done to it lately (nothing), what major systems had been replaced, and what the service manual recommends. Then I lay on the floor and whined for a little while until Julie called.

Radiator, thermostat, hoses, yadda yadda. Rear brakes, nearly gone, get those fixed pronto, okay? Drive belt, really worn out. Tuning components — plugs, rotors, etc — showing a lot of wear and corrosion, need replacing. The bottom line, about 1300 dollars. That’s more than I paid for my car. I asked Julie what she would recommend.”Well, the car I drive the most is an 86 Toyota pickup. I put my money in to keeping the car I have running. You have to pay money to drive a car, you know, no matter what the car is.”

I had two questions for Julie. One : when can I have the car back if you do all this work? Two : when do I need to decide in order to get the work done? She told me I could have it Monday, end of day, at the very soonest, and that she needed to know today, end of day, if I wanted to make that date. “But take all the time you need,” she said.

I went back to lying on the floor and whining for a little bit, and then I looked at the car’s paperwork again. None of this work is inconsistent with the work that’s been done in the past and none of it is premature compared to how long it’s been between repairs. The tune-up stuff is a little overdue, actually. The radiator has been replaced every 5 years; the brakes are due based on mileage requirements alone, and so on and so forth. We change the oil religiously, so the engine is still mighty sound, but the bits that get all the wear, well, they’re worn. Duh.

I really don’t want to buy a new car. I’d rather say goodbye to this car and go back to living car-free than face the angst of getting another car. See, here’s the thing about the Tercel. Square and featureless, it runs like a top. It goes everywhere. This car might look boring, but nothing about what it’s allowed us to do is boring. It holds camping gear for two people for six weeks. It has been to the bottom of red rock canyons in Utah and to high mountain tundra in Colorado and no, it is not 4WD. When it’s tuned up and on the open road, it gets 40 miles to the gallon. 1300 dollars might get me another car that looks just like this one, but this one has been lovingly maintained since it was brand new, and by the exact same mechanic the whole time. If I opened the paper and started shopping for 1300 dollar cars, I’d get, well, a 1300 dollar car.

The alternative is to get a much newer and “better” car, but then we’re talking some serious bank. A new car, not even a good one, is going to set me about 12k : that’s for something like a Focus or Kia. While a Focus or a Kia would probably seem deluxe compared to the old Yodler, I doubt that they’ll provide all the quality experiences that the Yodler has delivered. Plus, those car payments are really going to cut in to the amount of time I spend living out of my car. I could shop for another used car, but again, anything decent is going to set me back some dollars, and with a used car, unless you spend the money to buy one with a warranty I’m still looking at enough money to kill my vacation and to require car payments. I could get as lucky as I did with the Yodler again, but I don’t want to count on it. Plus, honestly, I’m not really ready to say goodbye.

It’s time to start making a plan to save enough money for a new car. I really want a VW camper van. They’re kind of like my car, only a bigger. Square, not fast, road worthy, the kind of vehicle that will take you and your camping gear where you want to go, but not in any big hurry. Because, hell, what’s the hurry? Still, just wanting a VW doesn’t get me anywhere in my quandary over the Yodler. 1300 dollars. Ouch. It irks me that the money I just earned, after being unemployed for a while, is only going to visit my bank account for the next few days before going straight to the mechanic. Too bad this isn’t 1999. I’d put a Paypal button here and ask you to donate to my car repair and it would work.

At about 230, I walked back over to the mechanic. The shop is just over there, it’s about three blocks from my house.”Fix the car,” I said.

The Tercel, looking glam on Lombard Street, San Francisco, July, 2002.

Update, June 2009: I sold the Tercel and bought a Pontiac Vibe. I like the car rather a lot, but I don’t feel the same affection I felt towards old Theo. Whenever I see one of these cars buzzing around I think, “OH! I loved my Tercel! He was a great car!”

I saw him once, about a year ago, parked with a big black dog in the passenger’s seat, window rolled down. “Oh, good, Theo has a friend!” I still miss him.