Bye Bye Jetta

 My first car had a special place in my heart, just as everybody else's first car did. My reason, however, was because I will never forget the day my parents surprised me with it as a gift they bought me with their money. It was on the same day that I got my driver's license. What this meant was, if anybody asked me when I bought it, I could just pull out my license and I could tell them the exact date. The exact date was on the fourth of April, 2011. The hardest decision I ever had with this car was having to get rid of it.

Ever since day one of using my 2001 Volkswagen Jetta, I knew it was the perfect first car. It was everything I wanted in a car. It was a 4-door, didn't have too many miles, and it ran like it was supposed to. As time passed by, I got more and more used to it. I would literally drive around all of Oxnard in it and sometimes to the Ventura Pacific View Mall, and about a whole summer I would go to work to Camarillo every weekday from Monday through Friday. Everything was good until the engine started making this noise less than a year after I got it. Starting to worry, I took the car to my dad, who knows his mechanics. He told me it was going to need a new water pump and timing belt. My dad told me it was going to be mostly the timing belt. We both pitched in to gather a timing belt kit that cost us around $105 and worked on the car together, along with his friend that happened to be a mechanic. Once that was all said and done, the noise went away. Happy as I could be, I was once again cruising in my Jetta. A month later, the noise comes back and I had the hardest choice of my 19 year old life to make.

“You either sell it, or keep spending money fixing it,” my dad said.

“I'll think about it,” I replied.

The next few days were spent in my room doing nothing but thinking. I had finally got a car of my own and now I had to choose whether I wanted to sell it or keep spending more money than I should on it. A lot of thinking was done before I started to sell it. As I saw it, this was an opportunity to get a new car. With my mind made up, I went to my dad to tell him what I decided.

“I'm putting it on Craigslist,” I said.

“Fine with me.”

That night, I put an ad to sell my car and just waited for phone calls. Finally, I got a call and it was from a man that was looking to buy the car for his son. We greeted each other with a simple hello and took the conversation from there.

“I'm calling about the Jetta, do you still have it?” He asked.

“Yes, I barely put that ad up last night.”

“Okay, great. Has anybody smoked in it? Have any pets been inside of it? Any accidents? What's the mileage on it?” He asked all at once.

Having a hard time remembering all of the questions, I answered as best as I could.

“No smokers, no pets, no accidents, and 143,000 miles.”

“Great, I'll go take a look at it in about an hour,” he said as we hung up the phones.

I waited for him at my house patiently. I was nervous and all that was running through my head was could this be my last day with the car I had always wanted? I was really nervous until the man showed up and took it for a test drive. When he got back, I asked him what he thought about it.

“It seems good but I think I'll call my mechanic so he can come see it before I make any decisions,” was how he responded.

He never showed up again. The good thing was that I kept getting at least four or five calls regarding my car every day. The bad thing, however, was that they would all end up telling me the same thing. Each and every one of them would tell me that they wanted their mechanic to take a look at it first. Just like the first guy, none would ever come back. This happened so much, that I got used to it and still expected to have my car for a lot longer. One day, however, I got a call from a guy and he seemed more interested than all the others that came before him. The reason I say this is because he went to my house to see the Volkswagen right away when he got out of work.

Being used to nobody buying it, I was just expecting this guy test drive it and leave, just like everybody else had done. When he arrived at my house, he wasn't alone. The man that wanted the car was short and Mexican. He came with another man that was dressed in mechanic clothes. This other man was his mechanic. Standing on my driveway, I opened up the doors to the car so they could take a look inside of it. While they took it for a test drive, I stayed on my driveway just looking at them while the palm trees were moving side to side due to the wind. Once they came back, they were still interested in taking the car.

“What's the cheapest you'll give it?” Asked the man that wanted it.

“Well $3,200 isn't a lot, bro.”

“I'll give you $2,800 right now.”

As soon as he said that, I knew the car was no longer going to be mine. With hesitation, I called my dad to help me make the choice. My dad came outside and they started a conversation about the price.

“I'm telling your son that I'll give him $2,800 right now on the spot.”

“Well it's a good car and it doesn't have that many miles, give him at least $3,000.”

“$2,900 and it's off your hands now.”

“Deal,” my dad said while I stood there in disbelief.

The man handed me the money and he and my dad filled out the paperwork. Once they were done, the man drove away with the first car I had ever had as I waved goodbye to it. Less than a year later after getting it, I no longer had a car, but I had the money for a new one. Even though I was carless for over a month, all the money was used to buy my current 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid. Thanks to that car, I have no regrets about my decision to sell the 2001 Volkswagen Jetta. My Civic is all the Jetta was, and more.