300,000 and counting…

 

When we saw it, we knew it was the one for us, because unlike how I do it, it’s owner, like clockwork, had maintained it and documented it. From regular on schedule oil changes– to timing belts every 70,000 miles; all done and documented. I think it’s because of that we got 150,000 more miles out of it, despite random oil changes, no timely timing belt replacements and no documentation.  (Fair warning, don’t buy a used car from me!) It’s been a great car. Starting out as Pam’s runabout, hauling grandkids and literally, tons of groceries, it rolled up the miles. God is good about giving us the things that take care of our needs.

We lost it once. It got stolen in Sacramento, right outside Rena and Danny’s (Some of our kids) front door. Someone else must have liked it too. Camry engines are a favorite of car thieves. But, after a few months missing, after we had given it up for lost, it came back to us, all in one piece. Sometimes God re-gives us things that take care of our needs!

Since my pickup was a gas hog the car soon became my work buddy, my economical runabout: 30 mpg versus a not so “perfect 10”! It turned into a tools and materials hauler. It got used and abused. It’s been a great car. I really like it. But it’s list of issues is growing. It just turned over 300,000 miles. When you properly maintain them, they say you can get 400,000 miles out of ’em. But this wagon was living on borrowed time, so I determined to run it until it died without pouring a bunch of money into the long and growing list of needed repairs. We’d put that instead into a replacement.

Living on borrowed time makes one thankful and prayerful… 300,000 miles and counting. When I get in the car I say thank you Father for this car, I turn the key, and it starts! Another day running. So I say thanks again. I do another partial fill up, wondering how much gas will be left in the tank when it dies! It’s been making strange sounds like it wants to. But not yet.

But I’ve got to tell you. Something happened to that car at 300,000. A word lit up on the dash that I’d never seen before: “pwr“.  Almost like it had been em-Pwr-ed.   It’s like at 300,000 miles it was supposed to die. But not yet. Not for another day. Another partial fillup. Another day of thanking Father.

It’s now pushing 666 miles over 300,000.

I’m praying for 777 and beyond…