The "A Farewell To Brynn's Car" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting with my daughter Brynn as she signed a contract for a lease on a 1997 Mazda Protege.  Her hand was shaking and you could see the beads of sweat on her forehead as she wrote her name on the dotted line.  She had recently graduated from Millersville University with a degree in elementary education and needed a car to travel to her first job as a substitute teacher.  She was excited about having a new car and decided to lease instead of buy so she wasn't tied to the higher payments of buying a new car.  Car was a deep blue with gray cloth interior.  Great car for a first car for just about anyone.  After her three-year lease expired she decided she wanted to buy a new car and opted to return the leased car rather than purchase it with a buy-out.  I went along with her at the time and questioned the salesman as to how much the buy-out price would be and after hearing the cost, bought Brynn's car for myself.  

Car known as Brynn's Car.

That was back in 2000 when I became the proud owner of the Mazda Protege.  Served me well for many years until now, when …. well it has seen it's last speed bump, gone over it's last curb and even driven over it's last pot hole.  She turned in the car with about 30,000 miles on it and when I decided to let the car go it had slightly over 93,000 miles on it.  Not bad for driving it for 16 years.  I know, Brynn's car may have had another 20K or 30K miles in it, but I wasn't about to shell out another couple of thousand for a car that probably needed a new transmission or needed the rust around the wheel wells repaired to pass inspection or needed to have a spark plug drilled out and head taken off since it was permanently stuck in place.  The little car with front-wheel drive, automatic transmission and a cassette player on the dash is headed to who knows where.  Brynn's car served me well over the years, but recent mechanical problems made it more feasible to trade the car on …. lease one.  I have never leased a car and always thought it was crazy to lease a car.  You drive it for a few years and turn it back in to the dealer with nothing to show for the years you invested your money into it.  No chance to use it as a trade-in or resell it yourself.  So why did I do it?  It is a second car for Carol and myself and there are many times when we only need the use of one car, but there are other times when we both need transportation and can't find a way to drop me or her at a location and find an appropriate time to return for pickup.  

Our new "Little Girl".

So, we decided to least on a short-term basis and get the least expensive car that we could that would still suit our needs.  I made a few phone calls and finally decided on a car that offered free inspections and free car washes for the length of the lease.  So now, when I enter the garage I see a white car instead of a blue one in the second bay.  Little MitiIbishi Mirage with a 3 cylinder engine, blue-tooth, electric windows, and a place to plug in my memory stick with my Jimmy Buffett music.  Even has cool air coming out of the vents which was something that Brynn's car didn't offer anymore.  I'll miss the little girl that accompanied me on my deliveries when I visited the schools with the printing I did for them.  I'll miss the little girl that led me on many a photo excursions around Lancaster County.  But, it was time to move on and stop investing in a car that in car age was older than me.  And, that's pretty old!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.