Bye-bye Bug?

Well, I just paid an inordinate amount of bucks to cover maintenance on my 1998 New Beetle.

Here it is as a "newborn." Note my appearance. Time shows on people, if not on cars! The blue Bug still looks the same. Sigh.

I've been a very good car-owner, taught well by Bruce, and have done all the required maintenance. He's been the best detailer ever seen; I'd have to pay about $200 for his work and he's done it at least once a year since I bought the car. But my baby is now 10 1/2 years old (they grow up so fast, don't they?) and I'm thinking about replacing it. I'd thought all along I'd get another Bug. One major reason is that I never have to guess about which car is mine in a parking lot! (Except I did try to get into someone else's blue Beetle once; couldn't figure out why my key and remote wouldn't work until I saw the daisied license-plate holder!) But the maintenance is soooo expensive that I'm looking at a Hyundai Accent this time around. I started my research yesterday and will go to the local dealer in the next week or two.

My wonderfully maintained car is given only a $3K trade-in value in Kelly's Blue Book and Bruce's reaction was, "Then keep it!" But the blue Bug will only continue to slump in value, new cars will not get cheaper and interest rates on loans will only go up. So now would be the time to get a different car. It just kills me to say that. I love my Bug. It was my first divorce decision and it turned out to be such a good car it gave me the confidence to make other decisions on my own. (If it had been a lemon I'd probably would have run myself over with it, thinking I was incapable of deciding anything.) So losing it is going to be fairly traumatic for me. And I'm not even a "car person!"

Stay tuned. I'll eventually have a photo of me with whatever I decide. Not easy to think about.