I've Got the $1531 1997 4-Runner Blues

We knew it was coming... especially since our trusty 4-Runner has only had oil changes and one set of new brakes since becoming ours eight years ago. But really, is anyone ever ready to cheerfully plunk down $1531 (or, rather, charge it) for car repairs? Especially when there are places to visit, a computer to replace, new towels to be purchased, and college educations to be saved for?

Instead of wallowing in both debt and self-pity, I shall now compile a list of why our 4-Runner deserves to be fully repaired with no complaints.

1.) It drove us on lots of adventures in Montana and Wyoming to off-the-beaten-path types of places, where many wonderful memories and photographs were made.
2.) It drove us across country twice to attend Willis weddings.
3.) Hundreds of dollars of furniture, groceries, Christmas trees, and other sundries have been transported in the back.
4.) It drove us home from the hospital in Cheyenne with a new baby securely fastened inside.
5.) It drives us around town in snow and ice, without a minute of self-doubt about its capabilities.
6.) It didn't get so much as a ding in one of the worst hailstorms in Colorado history last summer.
7.) It heats and cools like a champ.
8.) Sometimes we forget how old it is because it still looks like new, except for the awful fake "gold package" we didn't want when we bought it. But that just gives it character.
9.) It is safe to drive our girls in.
10.) It's paid for.

There. I feel a little better.

Comments

[Renee]

ouch.. but glad you can find the good in the whole sitation :-) oh, and that is fake gold?? what??

[suzanne]

This is so charming, and such a wonderful list of "grateful fors." :) I love it.

But I'm sorry for the money. But I love the list.

ps Happy Mother's Day, sweet Elizabeth.

[tracy]

We've got a '99 4Runner and I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not to trade it in for *gasp* a minivan. It's been awesome, but it's getting so hard to hoist the girls in and out of their seats. (I'm only 5 feet tall and you know how high that truck sits!) Love the list and I'm lol about the gold package! :)