Michigan vs. First Cars

This is a first had account of my history with vehicles in the State of Michigan. I wrote this story for my parents as a thank you for always being there for me and providing me with vehicles to drive and very recently, as in today giving me a 2003 Mercury Sable as an amazing graduation gift thank you!

Written August 8, 2012

~Pure Michigan~

There once was a girl who bought her own first car. If you asked her about the car she would probably tell you it was the best dang car she had ever bought. That was because it was the only car she has ever bought.  

She bought a 1993 Chevy Corsica for a steal of $300. Soon she would find out it wasn’t such a “steal”.  The Corsica had its fair share of bumps and bruises under its hood. The girl never lost hope, she drove that car across state, even when her wise father advised against the trips. But the girl had a full proof plan that nothing bad would happen. See the Corsica had a massive radiator leak and when I say massive I mean the water (yes water, not antifreeze) would instantly drain out as you drove the car. So the girl thought she would out beat the car, she got a bin and placed it in the trunk, she took several 2-liter pop bottles and milk jugs and filled them with water (Several, as in 10-12 at least). She would make her trips around the area refilling her car in parking lots, such as Wal-Mart or anywhere else she saw fit. And when at home before she would go somewhere she would just pull up to the hose at the side of her house and fill her radiator that way. She even made the great 3.5 hour journey across Michigan in her faithful car, of course she would be sure to stop at every rest stop (literally) along the way to refill her radiator with water.

Good ole Corsica drove and drove its little engine, until the second fearfully hot summer.  The girl planned a trip across the great expanse of Michigan. She had nearly reached thirty minutes of her drive when a crazy mishap occurred. A little light on the dash was blinking crazily a frenzied pattern of yellow warning! The girl quickly pulled over and searched her manual for any indication of what her dearest car was warning her of. The answer of sorrow was held in the pages of her manual Corsica was severely overheated. She quickly got out and popped the hood, grabbed a towel from the trunk and a jug of water. She cautiously opened the radiator cap as steam poured out.  Giving the steam a moment to clear she patiently waited, after a minute she attempted to pour water into the radiator. Instantly she heard sizzling and bubbling as the fresh water turned to boiling hot instantly. She knew her dear old car was burnt out. She called her wise father and he said, "turn around, get that car home." She would barely make it ten minutes before having to pull over and let her car cool. It seemed like forever to make that thirty minute journey back home.

Fall rolled in quick, giving Corsica relief from the hard summer’s sorrows with heat. Relief only lasted so long as she learned of a leak under her dash every time it rained.  That fall also held its Michigan challenge of avoiding deer.  One evening driving home on the faithful M-81, Bambi ran out in front of the girl, the poor animal nicked her driver’s side bumper and hit the driver’s side mirror. The girl had broken Bambi’s legs but the deer was still lying in the center of the road alive. The girl was good hearted and called the police to humanely tend to the broken, struggling deer. As she waited what seemed like hours, using her caution lights to alert fellow drivers of the live deer suffering in the center of the road. Another driver came up to the spot and obliterated Bambi right in front of her eyes. Bambi pieces flew in every direction. Fortunately, the officer was right behind Bambi’s killer and was able to save Michigan some money for not having to use his bullet. The girl was sad. Her father fixed her mirror up the next day by cutting out a wooden block the shape of the mirror and bolting it where the mirror was to be, then he took fake mirror from the Auto store and glued it onto the block, so she would not get a fix-it ticket.

As winter approached with freezing temperatures the leak became a new challenge. She had to take her car to the local mechanic so he could drill a hole through the driver’s floorboard to drain the water. Winter was stressful; her floorboard would be iced over most mornings as she tried to get to work at 4 a.m. for her morning work shift.

One evening the girl came home to her wise father telling her to clean all of the things out of her car, for he had sold the car to another fellow and she would now be allotted to drive his very own 1998 Chevy Blazer. The girl was relieved yet sorrowed that her first car belonged to someone else, she saw the car from time to time driving around town with its new owner, until one day she heard the dreadful news that her dearest car was T-Boned and now had went to junkyard heaven.

The girl drove her mother and fathers Chevy Blazer through the rough cold winter relieved with such new fancy gadgets called Electric Start and keyless entry through a remote keychain. She drove the blazer proud to have new things such as 4-wheel drive. One night she even took her parents Blazer to tow her brother and his faithful truck back into town after his battery had failed on his way home from work. “What an accomplishment” she thought, to tow a vehicle into town, something not everyone gets the experience to do. 

The Blazer turned into the miracle save.

Then one evening her mother and father called her all excited they had bought her, her own vehicle as a replacement for the Chevy Corsica she once owned. The girl had gotten home late that night and was excited to see what kind of vehicle her parents had purchased for her. She excitedly walked into the back yard and saw before her a 1989 Dodge Caravan. Her hopes faltered. The van was an older model of what was currently stylish. It was boxy with slider doors and room for eight passengers. Everything was outdated including the spot where what she used to know as a CD player should be. What was this thing called cassettes and how did she download music and burn it onto one?

Her parents knew she was disappointed and that this vehicle was more the style for her father. So she convinced herself that he would be happier with that vehicle and the right thing to do, was to continue driving the Blazer and give her father the chance to enjoy the vehicle for himself, at least before taking it over for herself.  She knew she was spoiled and would get her way to keep driving the fancy Blazer with the 4-wheel drive.  She was a typical child who was broke and spoiled, and gas was just a little too expensive to ride around as much as she wanted, especially driving a Blazer. So when her parents weren’t around she would secretly sneak out to the Dodge Caravan, which she had a key on her key ring for and take the Caravan for rides with all of her friends. Her father even attempted to make the Caravan hip by having a state of the art CD stereo system hooked up in place of that silly cassette thingy, and adding new interior lining. But the young girl was spoiled and would not give up the Blazer.

Having so many vehicles became a burden, especially in the great snowfall of 2010, it snowed and blowed covering all of the wonderful cars in the driveway. Her father was a trooper though and used his snow blowing machine to unbury the vehicles that were unfortunately buried under several feet of snow, what a sight.

Mother and father sold the Dodge Caravan to wonderful family members, not soon after, news was heard of the poor Dodge Caravan having an encounter with several deer at once, Dodge Caravan rests in pieces with Chevy Corsica in junkyard heaven.

A few months had passed and deer season had begun, she watched hard for deer running out on the roads, knowing opening day for deer season spooked the deer into running out into the highways. It was a busy night as she was once again making the long trek down M-81, she had barely made it out of the village when a deer flew through the air, from the passenger side, he skidded across the front end of the vehicle, pulling her across the median. Luckily, no oncoming traffic was coming. The deer vanished running the rest of the way across the road. The girl nervously pulled over to the side of the road she still had headlights, how bad could it be?

She climbed out of her vehicle and made the pain staking walk to the front of her vehicle. Instantly, her stomach dropped. Where once was a beautiful chrome grill and bumper with her favorite Chevy emblem running across was now just black, where four lights once were attached only one survived dangling from a wire. Bambi had destroyed her Chevy Blazer. She called her mother and father and told them what had happened. They rushed out to the scene of the crime to see what Bambi had done to their beloved Chevy Blazer.

After calling in the report because her beloved Blazer was now deemed non-drivable, she went and picked up scattered pieces of her shiny chrome grill. She found several pieces but never again came across her trademark Chevy emblem. 

If you find a deer out in the woods with an imprint of Chevy on its right side, that would be my Bambi, I would like to have a word with her.

The report was grim Chevy Blazer would cost more to fix then the overall worth of the vehicle, so her parents made the decision to deem the Blazer as totaled.

The girl was nearing college finals and very stressed out, so her amazing parents drove the highways looking for a replacement vehicle for their beloved daughter. They found one not far from home. They brought her home a beautiful car, a 2003 Mercury Sable. The girl loved her new planet car. She was now driving in class. She had remote entry, with a working remote; she had keypad entry although the old owners never gave her a code so she cannot use the keypad yet. She had cruise control a feature she could not understand how she ever lived without. And most of all she had low gas mileage, what a prize in these harsh economic times. She had a trust worthy car to travel across the great expanse of Michigan, keeping her mother and father stress free. She was very happy with her Mercury.

Fortunately, for Chevy its long life of over 200,000 miles had not ended. The girls shiny new Mercury Sable's previous owners had left a bad battery in the Mercury. One morning she went out to her new car attempted to start the vehicle and nothing happened but an unfriendly clicking noise. The girl was so nervous her new car was already a broken tragedy. Her father put on his snow boots and went to see if Chevy would still start after a long month of setting in the backyard. When Chevy's engine rolled over with a purr father knew all hope had not been lost. He drove Chevy to the front yard where Mercury sat drained of energy. Her father hooked all the cables up and charged the battery. The fix was not permanent but enough to get the Mercury to install a new battery. 

After Chevy saved the day, father knew all was not lost and let the word out the he would be selling Chevy for parts. The Blazer was sold and the front end restored. Chevy Blazer, is a survivor and drives among us to date, with more than 200,000 miles traveled in its lifetime.

The girl drove her 2003 Mercury Sable for several months making new memories in the car. She had traveled back and forth across Michigan. Being sure to respect the car and get oil changes and re-charge the antifreeze and she even humored her father and let him wash the car every week.  Unfortunately, the girl had to put a stop to the automatic carwashes each week, when her father made her go through one and the radio antenna was pulled out by the machines. The girl was sad, to go without radio for a few days but her father discovered a quick fix and wedged the antenna back into the car.

The girl finished her college degree and was proud of her accomplishment. So was her dearest parents, they decided to give the girl the Mercury Sable as her graduation present. The girl was so grateful and happy to transfer the plates and insurance all to her own name and gain independence. She was very grateful for what her parents had done for her.

Thought to accompany story:

-Is there a logical reasoning behind the fact that the Michigan emblem hung in the Secretary of State has two deer on their sign. Does the DMV honor the fallen deer of the state for placing money into their pocketbooks, when so many people have to pay taxes on new or used vehicles, due to deer auto collisions?