More Car Talk

The reason I didn't post last night was that I couldn't think of anything more I wanted to say about cars. A car or truck is just a tool to me. I don't care what it looks like as long a it does what I want it to do. It doesn't have to be fast, but it must be reliable or I will get rid of it. Now that I am retired I use my tractor more than I do my pickup truck but, when I want to use my pickup, I want it to start easily and run efficiently. The one I have now is a gem in that respect. It can sit in the driveway for a week or more in any kind of weather and start right up with no fuss. The tractor is a diesel with a small battery and, when it won't start in the winter, I jump it with the truck. When it gets so that the tractor won't start in the summer either, I buy it a new battery, and it's good for another two or three years. The truck is 13 years old and still has the original battery that it came with, which is kind of unusual. Normally, if you can get five or six years out of a car battery, you're doing good.

My hypothetical wife drives a 14 year old Chevy Tracker, and she has replaced the battery only once. A few years ago, when she had health problems and couldn't drive all winter, that car sat outdoors for three or four months. I asked her if she wanted me to run it occasionally just to keep the battery charged up, but she said no. She wouldn't even let me sweep the snow off of it, afraid that I would scratch it. One spring day, after most of the snow had melted off of the car, my hypothetical wife cleared off the rest and it started right up without a jump or anything. She recently put $1600 worth of repairs into that car, probably more than the car would be worth on a trade in, but she likes that car and doesn't want a new one. It only has 12,500 miles on it, while my truck has three times that amount. Neither of us gets around much anymore but, when we do go somewhere, we just get in the car and go, and that's the way we like it.