my 5 cars

1) My topaz was white with a 'sporty' luggage rack on the back. It was 10 years old when my parents gave it to me. The driver's side auto window was broken. It had a tendency to overheat (resulting in me running the heater on my feet to keep it cool). The spring in the driver's door handle was broken, so if you didn't push it back in, the door would just bounce off the car when you shut it. An extremely cold winter shorted out the horn, so whenever the temp fell below 50, the horn would blare for hours (Dad removed the fuse). It would accelerate uncontrollably when you took your foot off the brake (I reached 70 once without touching the gas). Sold it so I could buy a computer for college. I loved that car.

2) My Neon. Bought it used in '97 for $6k. I found a chicken wing bone in the cushions of the passenger seat. Totalled it in '99 and bought #3 with the $3500 insurance money.

3) Mercury Sable. I hated it. Immediately after purchase the head gasket blew and we had to shell out $1800. It continued to torment me for 2 years. Traded it in on #4 in 2001.

4) My 2002 Escape. My first new car. I remember driving it and the mileage read 24. I backed into the column of our house and knocked off the side mirror when I hit a mailbox. Sold it to my husband's boss when we got #5.

5) My 2006 Escape. My Opa & Oma's car. Opa would haul manure and plants in the back. Oma lost her mind a few months after Opa passed away, and she signed over their almost new car to me because she thought she was going to die. Turns out she had a very bad psychiatrist who put her on anti-psychotic drugs. She has completely recovered and bought herself a Smartcar. There's been no lingering smell.