THE STORY: Almost nine years ago, we bought our first “married” purchase: a new 2002 Mazda Protege. It had five miles on the engine, and it was my first ever car with a moon roof. We have loved our little Mazda. While not super spacious inside, it gets great gas mileage and fits our family of four. It has 155,175 miles on it and has never had a problem. (I scanned in this picture… try not to be jealous of my cool denim skirt.)
Then… two weeks ago, while driving on 405 to meet our friends at 3-2-1 Bounce, I had to come to a quick stop in the merge/exit lane. Unfortunately, the driver in the car behind me was distracted by a truck changing lanes and didn’t see us until it was too late for her to stop. I saw the car coming in my rearview mirror and said, “Oh my gosh!” and then she hit us. We got slammed into the car in front of us as well. I turned around and looked at JT and said, “Are you okay?” His lower lip quivered a little and then he said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you sure?” and he answered, “Yes. I okay.” Haley never woke up, snuggled in her car seat with a full tummy.
We pulled off the freeway and waited for the trooper to arrive. The woman in front of me left, as she said she had already been in another accident and was going to get her rear bumper replaced from that accident. The trooper asked if we were okay and took a report, and then we exchanged insurance information and went on our way to the bouncy house.
When we got home, I told Jim what happened and he looked over the car. I hadn’t realized there was so much damage. The rear bumper was dented in, the trunk bed was cracked and bubbled, the front bumper was pushed under the hood, and the grill was all cracked. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they total this,” he said. And he was right!
Jim took the Mazda to an auto shop and, when they popped the hood, there was oil all over inside the engine compartment. They assured us that we shouldn’t be driving the car and got us a sweet Camry for a rental.
The other driver’s insurance company admited fault right away. We got new car seats within four days. A few days later, we were haggling over dollar amounts for our settlement since we had to go buy a new car and we didn’t want to spend any money out of pocket. We spent three long days driving all over the greater Puget Sound area looking at cars. Do you know how much junk is out there for $6000? We actually looked at cars with oil leaks and engine coughs and mold growing in the carpet. Meanwhile, I’m seeing a chiropractor for neck/upper back/shoulder pain and am on the mend but still in a lot of discomfort.
Finally, we found a place called Tacoma’s Auto Shop. They had four cars in our price range and they were all beautiful. We came home and did some internet research and went back the next day ready to purchase something. After test driving a 2005 Ford Focus in amazing condition, we thought we’d found our car.
But then we saw it: a Volvo that they’d just gotten in on a trade. It hadn’t even been detailed yet, which made Jim happy because he was suspicious looking at these spotless vehicles. It was in great shape! We took it for a test drive and loved it. The owner of the shop offered to replace the front fog light that was cracked, repaint the entire rear bumper to repair the two paint flakes, and replace the window tinting on one window where it had been scratched. He had a deal!
We picked up our new (used) 2002 Volvo S60 T5 yesterday and so far we looooovvvvvve it. It is so fun to drive, thanks to the turbo, and the inside is super nice. My favorite function is that, if Jim drives the car and then I go to get in it and unlock it with my key fob, the driver’s seat and side mirrors automatically move back to where I like them. So cool!
It just turned 100,000 miles and we hope to get a lot more out of it. And as my friend Emrie pointed out, it’s hard to keep our children any safer than Britax car seats inside a Volvo. 🙂
The Keene Family 
