Good-bye Frank the Tank

We are saying good-bye to our (formerly) beloved Frank the Tank. I, for one, am not sad.

As I wrote before, we had a bit of car trouble with Frank a few weeks back. The alternator decided to go out while we were driving home on the autobahn leaving us stuck on the side of the road for a few hours. Not the most desirable situation. Any time your car breaks down is a stressful situation. However, I spent most of the time we were waiting for help thinking about how the situation would be different if I were there alone and Josh was deployed. It really made me nervous and uncomfortable. It made me even more uncomfortable to think  I drive over an hour each way to work and home. This put the idea in my head that maybe I should keep my eyes and ears open for a new car. However, I knew my being scared about the "what ifs" was not reason enough to buy a different car.

After Josh fixed Frank's alternator Frank drove well. I drove to work three different days without any mechanical problems. What I did notice was Frank was going through gas a bit faster than he had been previously. Frank has a 6 cylinder engine and a large gas tank.... he's not exactly a Prius. But, when we've driven on longer trips before he's done pretty well on gas (considering). I mentioned to Josh that the gas mileage didn't seem to be as good as it once was. I started tracking the mileage closer... and discovered I was getting about 16 miles to the gallon. Ouch. Paying a "reduced rate" of $4 a gallon. Double ouch. On the last day I worked Frank consumed half a tank of gas from me driving to and from work. Half a tank! 40 liters! 10.5 gallons! Having one thing go wrong on an old car is not reason enough to get rid of it. Having a car that wants to drink gas like it's going out of style is definitely a reason to get rid of it. Josh and I decided it was time to seriously look into getting something different.

Which was when I stumbled upon an ad for a 2001 VW Jetta. Someone on base was leaving and didn't want to take this car back home with them. It is a US Spec car, so in theory I can take it back to the States with me later. We met up with the seller, test drove the car, fell in LOVE with the car... and as of today officially purchased it, registered it, and drove it home.

When it comes to cars... I am a girl. I care what it looks like. I want it to run well (not die on the side of the autobahn), and I would like it to have some balls. Frank was not a looker, but he was fun to say I owned. He was a lot of laughs. This new little car... man. I quite like it. For the first time ever I think I am in love with my car. Love it.

The next priority (aside from taking pictures to show people) is for me to properly name my car. Frank... is a tank... but Frank was not just named Frank for kicks and giggles. I name my cars. It's what I do. Let me ride around in your car with you... I'll name it. Prior to Frank I've had The Pimp Mobile (a 1986 Pontiac something or another), Susan (1996 Grand AM), and Ginger (2003 Chevy Malibu). It only seems fitting to name this car as well. All I know right now... is that she is definitely a SHE. So a name and pictures to follow.