Late last month, I bid adieu to my favorite pair of jeans….but today, I say goodbye to my trusted 2003 Toyota Corolla Sport (Note: I always throw in the “Sport”…because it sounds cooler…if you were to ask me what “ground effects” are, I still wouldn’t know).
It was April of 2002…and my 1993 Chevy Blazer (affectionately referred to by my friends as “The Diesel”) was on its last leg. My mom & dad bought me my Blazer in 1997, which was AWESOME.
This was to be my first car buying experience…but luckily, I had a friend in the business…my good friend Dan Yamnitz. He worked at Toyota of Des Moines, and said he could get me a “deal”.
To this Dan still says he gave me a “deal”…I question that…but we’ll have hours to discuss that this weekend while drinking at Peggys.
Either way…it was a great experience…and I rolled off that lot with a Corolla that had 7 miles on it. 7!
Now, it has 151,000…and it’s never had anything major wrong with it. Not one issue with the engine…nothing with the transmission (it’s a manual)…just a few tire replacements, and the 25,000 mile checkup. It’s never had to be in the shop for more than a few hours.
It’s been a great car…and today, we trade it in…for what will become an equally AWESOME 2012 Dodge Caravan Mini-Van.
Goodbye Corolla…thank you for all the good times. You never failed me…and you did more roadtrips to Chicago than I could have possibly imagined.
I have to clean it out this morning…and it will probably tug at my heart a bit.
AWESOME is as AWESOME does!
