💾 Archived View for gemini.ctrl-c.club › ~dotgort › longlog › 20230809_new_vehicle.gmi captured on 2023-09-08 at 17:24:35. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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For the past 30 years I have driven inexpensive economy sedans with no frills. Most of that time I have had a commute in the range of an hour each way. I have put on over 800,000 miles between the five sedans I have owned during that timeframe. By far, my favorite was a 1999 Saturn SL1, manual shift, manual windows, manual locks. It made it over 350k and was still going strong when my wife convinced me sell it and to snag a 2009 Honda Civic. I hate the Civic. I can't explain it, but it just doesn't feel right. Before the pandemic I was watching the car scene trying to figure out a cheap car to replace the Civic with that would be reliable and fuel efficient.
When the Ford Maverick was announced, I immediately found it appealing. Affordable, a pickup, and a hybrid. That first year they were released I hesitated, I had a car that met my needs even if I hated it. Why commit to a car payment when I didn't need to? Then they stopped taking orders. Ok, I didn't need it, but I was bummed that now I couldn't get it.I wasn't sure how long it would be before they started taking orders again. FOMO did kick in, but I am usually pretty good about controlling that kind of feeling.
They announced they would start taking orders again in July 2022. Then they delayed taking orders because they were still struggling to fill the orders they had already taken the previous year. People were waiting a year to get their trucks. Insane, but people were willing to wait, and people that missed their chance to order were offering five to ten thousand over MSRP on the used market.
When the order banks opened last September, after a two month delay, I again hesitated. Did it make sense? No, it didn't. My car was still going strong despite how I felt about it. Maybe in spite of how I felt about it. But my wife pushed me to pace an order anyway, I could always back out before delivery, or take delivery and sell after if demand was still strong. So I placed an order, just a few hours before they stopped taking orders for the hybrid. Unbelivably they had sold out their alotment for hybrids in less than a week. At my wife's urging I ordered the Lariat trim with pretty much all the extras.
For the last 322 days I agonized over the order. Whenever she would ask if I'd heard any news I would say no, then she'd ask if I was getting excited, and I would say no. First, I couldn't justify the expense, second, I didn't want to get my hopes up and then have them dashed if the order fell through. Then a couple of months ago my mother got in on the act and told me to take delivery, that it was ok to splurge on myself for once.
Last night, I took delivery of my shiny new Maverick Lariat hybrid. And I love it. The seat is much more comfortable than anyything I've owned before. The ride is so quiet. I don't have to manually shift gears, open windows, unlock doors... All of those modern conveniences. Now, I'm petrified of the future repairs for all those things that make a modern car so wonderful. But I'm going to enjoy the hell out of while I can.
My commute in this morning was such a delight, listening to my audiobook over bluetooth with the sunroof and back window open letting the mild weather breeze through the cabin. And I got 50.2 miles to the gallon without even trying. Beats the hell out of the mid-thirties I got from my sedans all those years. Not enough of a savings to cover the purchase, but enough to take the sting out of it.
So yeah, I bought the Maverick and I am glad I did.