I used to be known for having a number of early 90's Escort Wagons. I liked them very much for no apparent reason other than they drove well. I have changed 5 Escort 1.9 timing belts. Multiple times on the same car actually. They left me on the side of the road all the time. I inherited a 1999, extremely green, Mitsubishi Mirage in my marriage. I hated the damn thing. After our son was born, I bought the wife a nice family car to drive. I used that Mirage as an airport car when I was working in Detroit for over a year, and then bought it home and drove it for another 3 years as a daily. It was actually a great car, and yet I hated it. I had to do a few maintenance items over the years, but it never once left me on the side of the road. It almost survived the worst winter in the history of Detroit. The exhaust manifold cracked right down the center, and the damn car was nearly suffocating me, but it still ran. I remember taking the manifold off in the company parking lot, stuffing it in my suitcase, flying home, welding it, flying back, and putting it back on in the company parking lot. It was 10pm at night, 22 degrees, and snowing when I put it back on. With that kind of motivation, I had it done in 12 minutes. On top of never breaking down, that light little car would absolutely glide over snow. I would drive down the highway at 4am in the morning in the heavy snow, and see pickup trucks lining the ditches on either side of the highway. The green bean would go anywhere any time....and yet I hated the damn thing.
I was almost to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore, and then I got a new job. I had to fly 400 hours to finish probatation. I was working 3 on, 1 off, 3 on. I hit 402 hours at then end of my first 3 on period. I traded that bitch in on the way home from work. When I dropped that car off, the only thing that didn't work was the backlight on the temperature knob. AC, power steering, great Clarion Stereo; everything worked! I got $250 for it in trade in. I like having a new car, but a part of me misses that little green bean that I traded in.
Kurt
