From Suburban to Tahoe

For years and years, I drove a 1997 Suburban.  Three seats.  Plenty of room to carry art equipment and materials to New Mexico.  Enough room to carry my family in one car to a destination.  Then came the time to trade the Suburban for another vehicle.

I’ve said before that my friends are a treasure of gold to me.  When it was time to get another car, Keith (HM) started looking for a new car.  He really knows where to look.  I made a list of what I wanted in the new car.  It included three seats, plenty of cargo space, four-wheel drive, working air conditioning, radio, CD player, adjustable seats.  “You don’t need three seats, any more,” he said.  He was right.  So, I adjusted the list to two seats, etc.

He found car after car.  As I remember, Suburbans were ruled out.  Tahoes were in.  But, each one he found was not right.  Then came the day when he found one at a small dealer in Longmont that seemed to be priced right.  We drove to Longmont to the the dealer where the Tahoe was located.

It was the only Tahoe on the lot.  Brown; I new it was the one.  As we walked onto the lot, I told Keith, “Her name is Betsy.”  Now, I never name my cars, but I knew her name was “Betsy.”  “But, you haven’t bought the car, yet.”  Well, no, but when I do, her name will be Betsy.”

Keith inspected to car, front to back.  Using a flashlight, he examined the underside of the car and other dark spaces.  We took the Tahoe to a local mechanic for an inspection; when we picked it up, it had a clean bill of health.  While we waited for the verdict, we at lunch, and Keith coached me about the car.  I figured he was going to do the talking in any negotiation that would happen.

Sure enough, when we were back in the car lot office, Keith gave his reading of what he found.  He told the salesman what he thought the Tahoe was worth, they agreed on a price, I wrote a check, and, after some paperwork, I drove away with Betsy, the brown Tahoe.  The next week, I took Betsy to my mechanic for an examination, where it also got a clean bill of health.

Of course, Betsy had some dings that needed to be taken care of.  When buying a used car, I expect to have some things that need to be fixed.  I took her to my body shop people, Porter Auto Body, for them to work their magic on the problems.  As I was discussing the needed repairs with the owner, a man was patiently waiting for his turn to talk about his car’s needed repairs.  Wayne and I finished out conversation, and the man stepped up to inquire of me, “Why do you need such a big car?”  I wanted to say to him, who died and made you my guardian?  I wanted to say, just because I look old doesn’t mean that I can’t drive a car like this.  But, you would have been proud of me.  I didn’t say that.  Instead, I said – “Well,  I just traded my Suburban for this Tahoe.”  He literally took a step back to say, “Oh, the Suburban was bigger.”

Well, yes it was – a little.  I came away wishing I’d told him about the Denver Public Library bookmobiles I drove.  And, the Jefferson County bookmobile that was bigger than the DPL bookmobiles.  And, the regular school bus I drove to pick up recyclable items for ECO Cycle.

What would he think about that, I wonder.

Be safe and well.

The Cranky Crone

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