The Dodge Dont

Don't fall for the OOOH SHINY---I know it's tempting but seriously consider your car like a technological pet that you will have around for the indefinite future. No matter the body of the car; it's what is inside that counts. Or rather Under the Hood.

Okay?! Okay. - I would know. Trust me on this.

Let me tell you a story about a dumb boy and his car.

I had my ooh shiny moment in 2013 when the Dodge Dart came out remodeled by the car giant company and out of a turn of frame-bending bad luck, I was in the market for a trade-in. New years day I come out to find that my VW Jetta had a flat tire. I thought no big deal, I'll just change it to the spare and go get the tire fixed. Upon positioning the jack al

ong the underside of the car, anchored on the metal frame, the jack slips.

The entire frame of my car was bent and I was absolutely livid. I made sure to do everything as the instructions stated. My father, a scruff husky of a man molded by the U.S. Navy, came out and offered to help me. We both went out to get the tire repaired and replaced on the Jetta but as we came back my Ohh shiny disorder kicked into over-drive.

A bright citrus peel lime green and black accented dodge dart was spinning around out front of a dealership in Arkansas. My father, with a heavy sigh, gave in to my begging and we went to check it out. A six-speed manual transmission. 1.4L engine with a multi-air engine Turbo. I thought I had hit the jackpot. Beautiful, sleek, racy. I was in love with the LOOK and SOUND of this car.

Little did I know it was the worst decision of my life in all honesty.

Precisely a year after, AND I MEAN PRECISELY-- January 4th, 2014, purchasing this car I happened to be on the highway, in the middle of a blizzard, in the Arkansas mountains.. and I lose power- forcing me to coast off of an exit in the middle of nowhere...

The oil pressure light dinged and flashed as I tried to restart the engine and nothing but a choked sputter.

The engine block split. Thankfully while still under warranty the dealership replaced it.

But...

Six months after that, the turbo decided to cut down to that of a family fun go-kart on the busy highways of Tulsa then just stopped working altogether. Still an ongoing issue that I am unaware of the solution for, other than buying a different vehicle altogether.

It wasn't long after my permanent move to Oklahoma that the manual gear-shift lever bushing tore and disconnected upon meeting a common pothole, so I had to rig it with a wire until I could get the replacement part. A time of super slow and careful driving in a car that appears to be from Tokyo Drift. Stress levels were definitely high.

There was a summer when I was working about 30 miles away from home that I didn't have air conditioning either and arrived ready for work with heatstroke and drenched to the bone with sweat. The evaporative system keeps popping up codes on the dash so there might be a slight risk of fumes building in the cabin of the vehicle in addition to everything else.

Nothing but frustration met me with this car. An absolute lemon that I waited too long to do anything about. Now that lemon is all mine and my only choice is to learn how to fix the darn thing.

My green beast, whom I named Yoshi at first, was now an angry Godzilla with more problems than solutions.

I ignored the red flags.

Because the car was frickin' pretty.

Would not recommend it. I'd be better off driving an electric scooter around town and just stay within my apartment complex, selling art, and just existing as a good human being.

Even putting over $4k worth of repairs into this car still gives me issues but I am still able to get from point A to point B safely and I guess, still in style.

I am thankful for what I have but I have also learned what NOT to do. A very important life lesson I would say.

My focus, for the time being, is to keep it running as long as I possibly can until I can afford an electric/hybrid to graduate to now that my mind is fixated on shrinking my carbon footprint on this earth.

I repeat, this is a lesson I learned the hard way but dammit, I learned it.

Never Stop Learning.