Bye, Bye Slug Bug

There’s probably very few mundane things that can hold such sentimental value as your first car. And last week, after having it for 10 years, I’ve finally sold mine.

My 1999 VW New Beetle actually wasn’t my first car. Oh no. It was actually a 1980’s Toyota Tercel hand-me-down from my mom, which first went to my lead-footed older brother. So by the time it got to me, it had a hood and right fender that didn’t match the rest of the body and broken passender window. You’ve never seen the true meaning of vinyl interior until you see this car. Everything was vinyl – from the seats to the floor – and was seemingly all made from the same supply color of grey. I still remember the day when the inside was flooded with 2 inches of water after being parked next to a unwieldy lawn sprinkler. But having all the vinyl actually became real handy!

No, I suppose the Beetle wasn’t my first car. In fact I also drove a Ford Escort followed by a Ford Thunderbird before then. Both model aren’t made anymore and good riddens is what I say. I recall being stranded in the middle of road more than actually being escorted anywhere. And the only flying experience I ever got from the chassis-challenged Thunderbird was like that of Maverick and Goose’s “flat-spin” in Top Gun when I spun out and did 3 full 360s on the freeway one rainy day.

But these cars were never really mine. The Escort was paid for by my father from what I recall to be a $1500 special at some Habib’s Used Car Lot. And the Thunderbird was more borrowed (from my older brother) than owned. And because the Beetle was actually bought with my own money, my own credit, and with me on the pink-slip, it gets the title of my first car.

It actually would have been a Land Rover Discovery hadn’t it been for my good friend Deana. She’s older and proved to be wiser. She found out that I was about to sign my name on a $500 per month lease and didn’t waste any time straightening out my-overly-anxious-hasty-self. She said, “Are you out of your mind?” “That’s no car payment for a 23 year old with a so-so job,” she added.

The Beetle was just right for me at the time – small and economical. It wasn’t your normal entry level car either. It’s German after all … a close kin to Audi, BMW, Mercedez and even Porche. And sometimes when I’d look at it … from a certain angle … and may be under certain specific lighting, the round, bubbly curves of the Beetle looked more like the racey lines of a 911. That’s at least how I convinced myself. But still, you couldn’t help but feel a sense in pride in owning it. After all, it was one of the very first Midnight Blue New Beetles to hit the streets, which for many days earned me a lot of “oooohhhh and ahhhhs” from the curbside. I brought her home on October 14, 1998. I know the date well since I also went to an Allania Morresette concert that evening whose ticket stubs were still in glove compartment the day I sold her.

But much like my relationships early on, this one was rocky, too. I would have done well had I gone with your ordinary Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic. But while the VW was more stylish, it also proved to be high maintenance costing me hundreds in repair in the early years. It would have been completely un-affordable if I wasn’t a DIY’er. And for all those handy VW owners, the VAG-COM is a must have tool.

I have many memorable miles in this car, but the most has to be my drive away from home when I left for Colorado. The car was jam packed with all the belongings I could fit into the 93 cubic feet of space, not including the roof-fitted basket. It was the end of a huge chapter of my life and tears soon gushed down my face minutes after the on-ramp. The cd changer was loaded with my favorite tunes and the 1000-mile drive from L.A. to Denver seemed almost effortless as I drove in solitude reflecting on the past. And through the California and Nevada desert, through the Utah’s high plains and eventually up and over the Rockies, the Beetle got me to my new home safe and sound.

But now with a growing family, a two door cou’pey (as the Brits would say it) is becoming less and less practical. I use to think I’d keep it forever … and may be in 30 years it would be a classic again. But with a toddler now and a second soon to come, we simply need something bigger. So we sold it … better sooner than later while it was still worth something. It went fairly quickly. You wouldn’t believe how many fathers called me buying for their teenage daughters.

And that’s Emily. She barely has her driving permit, hence the trailer since her and her dad live two hours away. I’m sure the Bug is more than capable to carry her through high school and even into college until she’s making her own coin to buy her first car.

I can’t say I’m too sorry to see her go, but she’ll be missed. The Beetle gave me over 135,000 dependable miles and below are just a few special ones I’d like to share. Bye, bye slug bug!

Sequoia National Park

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Golden Gate Park and Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, CA)

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Self-portrait on Napa Valley’s Highway 29

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First winter in Colorado

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Up the Continental Divide

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Fish Creek Falls (Steamboat Springs, CO)

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Breckenridge, CO

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Dickson Realtors – La Canada Branch (La Canada, CA). My first real job and for all intent and purposes, “mile number one”, since this is where I started making my first real coin to buy this car.