| Posted: 15 March 2026 at 5:37pm | IP Logged | 8
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"I tend to anthropomorphize my cars"
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Same here! I had a 2000 Saturn that frequently gave me problems, but every time it died on me, it died in the most convenient way possible.
One time it stalled while I was driving it, just as I was about to enter a three-way intersection with a long light near my house. Luckily I had the green, so I just coasted through the intersection and a quick right into a mechanic's parking lot. Left the key in there and walked the rest of the way home for them to look at the next day.
Another time was when I was driving to Kennedy Airport to catch a flight for my sister's wedding in Key West. I was on the Belt Parkway when the serpentine belt went. Luckily it was daytime because I lost all electrical power in the car, but the engine was still running. So, I kept driving, as components slowly started failing on me. Driving without power steering was....interesting. I made it to the Long-Term Parking Lot, and I'm glad I thought to park as soon as possible, because the car completely died as I pulled into the first spot all the way in the back of the lot. We just gabbed our stuff, trekked all the way across the lot, hopped onto the Airtrain and made the flight. Coming back from the wedding, we took the train back home, and drove back to the lot with my other car, a black Mercedes CLK350 convertible, and with a fresh battery. Did the battery swap in the lot, but I suspected that was a short-term solution, so I aimed for one of the closest mechanics from the airport. Turns out I was right, because the car died yet again just as I pulled into the mechanic lot.
I felt like I owed it to the car to take care of it as much as possible, as if it knew that I needed it to attend my sister's wedding. I've never once been stranded on the side of a highway from a breakdown.
But even the convenient breadkowns were just happening too much, and I finally ditched it with only 80k about 9 years ago.
The 2009 Mercedes has been much more reliable. 120k miles on it and not a single engine issue (heavily knocking on wood). It's the last model year of the classic "4-eye" design, and I hate the current designs, so I'm holding onto it like cold death. I felt a bit of pride when I learned that TOP GEAR's Jeremy Clarkson owned the souped up AMG CLK63 version - it's just a really pretty car. I'm prepared to pay for a brand new engine should that time ever come. I'm only putting 5k on it yearly these days, mostly summertime road trips.
You guys probably know this already, but these 2 cars taught me some valuable lessons - never buy the first model year or redesign of a car model, and try to buy one of the last model years of one. The first few years usually involve manufacturers working out kinks that are resolved towards the end of a design's lifecycle. The 2000 Saturn was the first year of a V-6 model, and I just can't drive a 4-cylinder. It had a paltry 13.5 gallon tank, which they upped to a 15 gallon the next year. The first model years of my era of Mercedes CLK (around 2003-2004) had some major engine issues, but by 2009 they were rock-solid.
Plus the other lesson to myself to never buy a brand new car again. Stupid me just had to do that in my first few years of having a disposable income in 2000, and lost so much money on that. I bought the 2009 Benz in 2012 as Certified Pre-Owned, for about the same price as a brand-new fully loaded Toyota Camry at the time, and I've been happy with it all along. Though I just did spend 2k on a full convertible top replacement, but that's just a price you pay in wear and tear. I got smarter and now keep a custom-fitted car cover on it to hopefully keep it on good shape for longer. Gas prices were crazy at the time, so I just went for the V6 270 HP model, but in hindsight I wish I splurged on the V8 CLK 500, instead.
Edited by Vinny Valenti on 15 March 2026 at 5:56pm
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