Out...

...with the old. That's how the saying goes, isn't it??

So I have had my trusty Kia Rio since September of 2002. It was brand new. My first brand new car. With that said, it's not exactly in the greatest shape anymore. It's been through 7 years of Michigan winters and I have to admit that I wasn't the greatest owner. The last three years have been the roughest. Maybe it's because it was getting driven a lot more, or maybe it's because it was a $9,000 car that was getting up there in years.

It's check engine light had been on for a long time. Four flat tires in the span of about 8 months. A flat spare tire to boot. The brakes had gotten bad. Changed the pads twice and still was having issues. Didn't have the tools to change the rotors.

The floor of the Rio was like a magnet for drinks. It seemed that anytime I had a drink from a fast food place in the car it instantly fell from the drink holder onto the floor of the car.

I gave it a tune up a few weeks ago and it was running much better...but I think it needs a new alternator.


It's also small. And it's a stick, which means that Cathy's not very comfortable with it because she doesn't know how to drive stick and doesn't think she'd like it even if she did.

Last, but not least, a few months back our basketball hoop fell over and did a pretty good gouging on the passenger side of the car. It seemed like it was getting to the point where the car was the vehicular version of Murphy's Law.

So, after nearly seven years of my Kia being a nice, small, loyal car...I figured it was time for me to move on to another vehicle. I felt a bit bad. The Kia had been a good car. I wouldn't hesitate buying another one or recommending the company to anyone looking at them. The car was solid, ran for 71,000 miles without ANY repairs getting done to it (even the check engine light was a $20 item, I just didn't want to mess with putting it in) and really took just about anything that I dished out. It never complained, it just went, and as basic transportation was virtually perfect.

I'll miss you Kia. You were my first new car, and I'll always remember you!!!