Have any of you noticed the phenomenon that seems to effect us every 3-5 years, Call it “the new or different car fever!” I don’t know if it effects women as it does men, but I expect so!

Now my 2006 Toyota Tundra Pick-up truck is fine, it has 49,000 miles on it, and I am immune to desiring to trade it off, (except for wishing it were white and had the more deluxe interior that I was unwilling to spend an extra $2000.00 to get!

Pearls Mercedes is a 1999 model and it has 80,000 miles on it and is in immaculate condition inside and out, why anyone would want to trade it for another car is craziness. Yet I am forever looking at advertisements for Acuras, Accords, Lexus and new Mercedes and such brands as that. Now we are not really the sort of folks who should be driving such automobiles, for years we did fine with used Fords and Chevrolets and a old pick-up truck that were good enough to run to the lumber yard or the trash dump.

Then I made a mistake, I bought a 1988 Mercedes Diesel, the dern thing had lots of miles on it but it was also immaculate inside and out, I kept it for several years, drove it on nice days and finally was convinced to sell it and buy a new Accord EXL. That Accord was by far the nicest car we have ever owned, However on a highway near Cincinnati a certifiably crazy woman ran into us and totaled it. I found a Mercedes 190E with 27,000 miles on E-Bay, also described as immaculate inside and out. I bought it and had it shipped from Jacksonville. It was as described but when we took it to the Mercedes dealer in Roanoke for evaluation it was discovered to have a blown head gasket and a few other problems that would add up to about $3000.00! Pearl and I went outside to try and decide if we would have the repairs done there or return home and have them done locally. Pearl spied the white Mercedes on the lot.

Investigation revealed it had less than 20,000 miles on the odometer. Pearl loved it, as did I. It had been bought by a lady in Roanoke a few years before and the mileage was correct she had just traded it in for a new one. The dealer allowed us the full amount plus the freight from Florida for the 190, we drove the newer one home. We have never regretted it.

My guess is that the motor vehicles we presently have would see me out, Pearl may have to get another auto some day, but actually when that happens she probably shouldn’t be driving anyway! With the price of gas what it is and will likely stay and increase, I would be much better off just relying on the 1972 ST-90 Honda languishing in our basement with less than 4000 miles on it. I could ride it to the grocery store all year for the gasoline it now takes for one trip in the car!

Will all my talk and thoughts and determination I bet we trade autos sometime in the next two year. I think somehow we have all been inoculated with a virus that lies low just so long and then it erupts and we just have to act on it , maybe a subliminal brainwashing occurs every time we walk into an auto showroom! Maybe I can blame Carl or Bob Copeland! I can still remember walking in there when I was about 12 years old!

Added in January 12, 2011:
Traded my truck for a new Subaru Outback, no excuses! I like it! 27 MPG, easy to get into and out of and all wheel drive.