The end of the truck
The truck is dead. Long live the truck.
This morning I drove my 1992 Isuzu trooper with more than 150,000 miles on it to the dismantler in Oakland. It seemed a shame. With a new engine, a repaired power window and a repaired A/C, it would have been a good vehicle. Still would have gotten maybe 18 MPG at best. But still, not wholly undriveable.
But $1000 for the car was a good deal. Kid at the lot was shocked I was junking what looked to him to be a great vehicle. I wondered if I was making a bad choice. "Putting a new engine in that wouldn't be a problem". I asked if he thought any one would give me more than $1000 for it. "That'd be tough." Okay, so I made the right call. Still, hearing how great it was was tough for me. I felt wasteful throwing away a large, useful thing.
I then got on my bike (which I had transported in the truck) and rode to the BART station. I took the BART to SF, biked to work, will bike to the ferry, take the ferry to Larkspur, and be home. And down to just the new car. Which will be nice. No more parking in the lot down the street for fear of overnight tickets from the San Anselmo parking gestapo. Writing tickets at 3 am to keep us all safe from evil cars.
But I'll miss my truck. It was my first car, and tolerated my ignorance and abuse. It served me well, and I will remember it fondly.
This morning I drove my 1992 Isuzu trooper with more than 150,000 miles on it to the dismantler in Oakland. It seemed a shame. With a new engine, a repaired power window and a repaired A/C, it would have been a good vehicle. Still would have gotten maybe 18 MPG at best. But still, not wholly undriveable.
But $1000 for the car was a good deal. Kid at the lot was shocked I was junking what looked to him to be a great vehicle. I wondered if I was making a bad choice. "Putting a new engine in that wouldn't be a problem". I asked if he thought any one would give me more than $1000 for it. "That'd be tough." Okay, so I made the right call. Still, hearing how great it was was tough for me. I felt wasteful throwing away a large, useful thing.
I then got on my bike (which I had transported in the truck) and rode to the BART station. I took the BART to SF, biked to work, will bike to the ferry, take the ferry to Larkspur, and be home. And down to just the new car. Which will be nice. No more parking in the lot down the street for fear of overnight tickets from the San Anselmo parking gestapo. Writing tickets at 3 am to keep us all safe from evil cars.
But I'll miss my truck. It was my first car, and tolerated my ignorance and abuse. It served me well, and I will remember it fondly.
posted by Kenneth at 4:21 PM
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