Tale of 9 Vehicles...A Love Story

Once upon a time there was a boy named Adam. Adam was a cute, smart boy who attended Oregon State University. This boy also owned, not one, but, two vehicles...a car and a motorcycle. Being that he was a poor college student, he decided to leave the two at home to save money. During the warmer months, he brought his motorcycle to school...but that wasn't too often. ANYway, one day he met a girl named Nicole...


She drove a 1989 Ford Ranger that was owned by her parents. Nicole, also a poor college student, could not afford to purchase the truck to take to school with her, so it stayed at home. Now, this was quite a dilemma, as Nicole attended George Fox University which was about an hour away from Oregon State. How were the two going to see each other? By this time, a "situation" had happened with Adam's car and he sold it to his sister, and because it was winter, the motorcycle was out of the question. Adam LOVED his motorcycle, as he had gotten it brand new...but he loved Nicole more...

...So, he decided it was time to trade it in to get something a little more practical. So, one spring day, Nicole borrowed a car from a friend to take Adam home to go car shopping with his Dad. Later that afternoon, Adam drove into Penn Parking Lot with an eyesore. It was a jacked up black 1995 Ford Ranger with a roll bar, and lovely purple and turquoise decals covering the sides. It didn't even have 4-wheel drive! It was ugly, but he assured me that he would fix it up and make it nice. Anyway, he made a great trade, but still owed some money on it that he would eventually pay off by summertime. And yes, Adam was true to his word, and spent all summer scraping off decals and adding his own flair...they deemed it "Truckie" aka "The Love Truck."

Time went on, along with a series of mechanical problems...but nothing too earth shattering. Nicole started student teaching and needed a vehicle, so her parents allowed her to take her Ford Ranger to school. They were the Ranger couple! Adam even traded Rangers with her when hers broke down, and he rode the bus...he's such a sweetie.

After a while Adam's and Nicole's relationship blossomed and they made plans to marry. Shortly before the wedding, Nicole was scouring the Internet classifieds to find a job near their soon-to-be apartment in Corvallis and stressed out about the prospect of only having one vehicle. She didn't have any money...not even enough money to buy the '89 Silver Bullet (Nicole's Ranger) with 200,000 miles and no power steering that her parents so graciously loaned her after she totalled the '89 Chevy Caprice in high school. Despite it's problems, she had grown to love that little truck and all it's quirks...her and her friends shared many adventures in that little beast! Anyway, I digress....So, Nicole's parents, even after all the $$ they were forking out for her wedding, gifted her the truck! Hooray!! Her stress was lifted and she was extremely appreciative!

Adam and Nicole married, moved to Corvallis, Adam started back up at school again, and Nicole was without a job. After a few months, money was getting tight, and Nicole started getting desperate for work. With no elementary school positions to be found, preschool, temps, and McDonald's were all that was left. Fortunately, she found a preschool position and the couple's financial worries were somewhat lifted. Not long after that, the Silver Bullet continued having some issues that were gradually getting worse and could no longer be tolerated. The last straw finally came when Nicole was all but stranded with a dead vehicle in the middle of an intersection. After getting out her Dad's "bag o' tricks" in the glove box, She was able to make it home.

Adam and Nicole began searching for a "new" vehicle. They wanted a 4-door SUV. They happened upon a lease return with lower miles and ended up buying it from a guy in Tigard who ONLY sold Ford Explorers. Despite adding a car payment to the budget, Nicole was ecstatic! When they got home, they posted an ad in the Nickel Ads for the Silver Ranger and ended up selling it for $450 to an older couple who wanted to use it on their ranch...perfect fit for the Bullet! Here's a pic of Adam and Nicole a week after the big purchase.

Summer came and budget cuts were made in the school system. Nicole was laid off...but later found a wonderful teaching job in Eugene (50 min. commute). To save on gas, Nicole usually drove Adam's truck...but occasionally took the Explorer. One morning, as Nicole was driving the Explorer she discovered it was having some shifting issues. $$Cha-ching$$! They were living paycheck to paycheck and this repair was gonna cause some serious damage to their wallets. Turns out that ALL the Explorers were having the same problems. This was only the beginning of their "Ford" problems.

Time went on, they bought a house, and had a baby girl. Life was good. Life was also taking it's toll on Adam's truck. Their goal was to use wood as their main source of heat, and Truckie could only hold small loads. Plus, Nicole was pregnant again, and they wanted a truck that could hold their whole family, and hopefully tow a travel trailer someday. After scouring Craigslist and selling Truckie for an unbelievable amount of money, Adam found the truck they were gonna buy (1999 Ford F250)...adding another car payment (Explorer was not paid off).

Not long after that purchase, the Explorer started having shifting troubles again. Adam and Nicole could NOT believe it! They thought their car was fixed! After an evaluation by a mechanic, they were told that it needed a whole new transmission...$3,500! OUCH! Instead of fixing it right away, they decided to live with the problem for a while and save up some money to pay for it in cash. Nicole just wanted to get rid of it, but with the transmission trouble, the car wasn't worth much and it wasn't practical. Within a week or two after finding that out, the truck engine had some sort of blow-out that cost them a whopping $4,000!!! This was Ford's 3rd strike on their family, as this was also a flaw in Ford engineering that was happening to many other Ford truck owners. There went the transmission budget!

Frustrated and broke, Adam and Nicole put the transmission on the back burner and prayed that the Explorer would last until they could figure something out. When the couple moved in with Nicole's parents, and when Adam landed it in a ditch (hit black ice), they were disappointed that it wasn't totalled.

After moving into their new house in Astoria they used the money from the sale of their house to pay off their vehicles, and they planned to purchase a commuter car for Adam to take to work since gas was like $4.50 a gallon. Adam researched for the most fuel efficient vehicle that they could afford to pay cash for. He found that a series of Honda Civics (can't remember the year range) were their best bet. He had a stroke of luck when his Mom led him to the car that he would eventually buy...a turquoise 1992 Honda Civic Hatchback...Actually, one of Nicole's "dream" cars when she was a 6th grader...

It has a banged up/oxidized hood, but other than that it is in AWESOME condition! The interior is like new, has a great stereo, custom wheels, and a rebuilt engine.

6 months later someone ran into Adam while he was driving the Explorer...and it was totalled (click HERE for story). It was a blessing, really. They planned to use the insurance money to purchase a car for Nicole to drive. They didn't want any car payments...so they, again, searched for something fairly cheap, but quality. Months passed, expenses came up, and the car budget dwindled. THEN, strike 4 came when we found that their F250 needed some repairs. $2,500 later...their car budget was practically nothing.

By this time, Nicole was resolved to drive the Honda, despite the fact that it was only a 2-door and getting the kids in and out of their car seats was a challenge. She found herself missing the Explorer that she had grown to hate SO much (for it's many mechanical issues). Adam, on the other hand, searched up and down for a REALLY cheap commuter since his cheap commuter was now the family sedan. He searched for months...literally. The family visited a handful of trailer parks after inquiring about many Craigslist ads. I'm not kidding! He eventually found a 1986 Mitsubishi Montero in Olympia (also at a trailer park) and drove it home. It reeked of cigarettes and was extremely dirty. Nicole, disgusted, spent 2 full days cleaning it inside and out. They have practically gutted the entire inside of the thing and are now searching Craigslist to find another one to buy so that Adam can use the parts. You wouldn't believe how many of these cars are out there. It's now Adam's little project and he hopes to turn it into something really nice someday. So much for the REALLY cheap commuter ;)

Today, the couple is very happy with 3 working vehicles. They may not be driving in style with power windows, leather interior, and shiny paint....but they don't owe a cent on any one of them!