Annie Zhu - Q4 Blog 14 - More Than a Car

 



Just this weekend, my 20-year-old Toyota Camry XV40 stopped working. The engine broke down while my mom was driving on the highway, and we had to get it towed. The mechanics say there are only two options for us now: pay $5000 for repairs, or sell the dang thing. XV40’s already had two repairs in the last two years, and my parents have gotten tired of having to fix it so often.

Soooo we’re selling. I knew this was a long time coming, but I’m still sad that our car’s biting the dust before it even sees me graduate high school. Just one more year, that’s all I’m asking for! Alas, some things are not meant to be.

My parents bought the Toyota when my brother was two years old. To say it’s been around for a while would be an understatement: this thing has lived my entire lifetime and then some. All of my memories from grocery shopping, vacations, and long road trips were made in this car. Everything I’ve been through, it’s been through right along with me. For example, I have always carpooled to school in the Toyota. I would not have been able to imagine getting to school with any other vehicle, but now I have to. No more screeching every time my dad approaches a stop sign, no more sticky dashboard to rest my feet on, no more trunk space somehow fits four fat schoolbags. Curse Toyota car life cycles! Of course, we can always use our equally-old-yet-somehow-still-kicking-it Honda Civic, but it won’t be the same. In my mind, our Toyota and Honda are like yin and yang; since I was born, I’ve always associated them together, a constant presence I knew I could depend on. I used to say I have two fossils in my garage, but now, one of those fossils is gone.


I’ll miss you, Toyota Camry XV40! 

 

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Camry

 

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