Together we've hauled enormous quantities of stuff (5 banker's boxes n the trunk, 8 in the back seat, 3 in the passenger seat (including the legroom). tt helped me move from apartment to apartment to rental home to permanent home. In the early days of Amazon it made possible supporting myself with used book sales. More recently, it enabled me to collect coats for refugees from sources from North Bend to Kent. It made my lifestyle possible.
The Saturn and I have been together longer than me and any two of my wives. Make of that what you will.
Lately, I've been replacing things as they wore out. Water pump, starter, wiper motor. Last month, it was the switch that controls the headlights; that may sound like a small thing, but it cost over $1000 and there was some question whether we could find the part at all.
When I got the car back, the lights worked fine. However, we were hauling loads of donated coats and such to a programs that distribute them when, gradually, the Saturn began having trouble climbing hills - and Seattle has a lot of hills. Even flooring the accelerator produced speeds of 10 to 15 MPH - the tach got over 4000 but not much was getting to the wheels, in any gear.
I am told that it must be either the clutch or the transmission. Either of these is several thousand dollars to repair, and that only if the parts can be found, and who knows? perhaps both are failing. The car is four years past being old enough to vote.
I have long profited from the philosophy of "There Is No Car Like A Paid-For" but everything has its limit. It's time to let the Saturn go.
This is unfortunate, but it is also an opportunity. I will be riding the bus for a month while I research new cars, and this is pushing me to figure out ways of doing things without a car. Already I've got the bus to the Y figured out, which means no more frustration looking for a parking spot!
A car is not a living thing, so it has no feelings to consider as it moves on to the next phase of existence. However, I will miss the Blue Saturn.
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