Mukilteo Musings

Car Drama, Driver Sharing Part 3

The Porsche was gone. Lucas was falling in love with a Jeep he cannot hurt. We had driver child number two coming down the pike. Ok, I won't get into the fact that our Einstein-like IQ daughter blessed us with an additional year because of difficulties passing driving tests. Never mind that we paid for an expensive driver training course.

We had inherited a 1986 Chevy Suburban when Dave's Dad died but Kaley was not going to drive the huge beast. She did not want to be seen in my mini-van and Lucas was not sharing the Jeep. Dave thought something to replace the Porsche that he and Kaley could share would be a fantastic idea. He managed to find a used white Acura with a spoiler---perfect. Kaley had an easy time learning to drive it and it was great for trips to the bus stop and occasional trips into the UW. For a gift, I gave him a license plate holder that stated, "I traded my Porsche for this!"

About the first thing that happened to the Acura was my fault. As we were in the midst of moving to our new house, I backed the van into it in the driveway. Now with a dent, it was no longer pretty. Since Kaley was going to be driving the vehicle into the Kamiak high school parking lot, repairing the scrape was futile. And sure enough, several more dings appeared as Kaley tried to explain the Kamiak code: "If you didn't see it happen, either did I!" Amazing how kids can work things out on their own.

The sharing of the Acura was working out quite well until additional events took place. One evening in the U-district, Dave lost the one set of keys to the Acura. I went to pick him up and help look for the keys. As I looked, a couple of homeless men graciously volunteered to help but the keys were no where to be found. Nowadays, key replacement is mucho expensive. After a tow to a dealer and $250 later, our lives continued. A few weeks later, Dave drove the Acura to the UW again because he needed to be at an important meeting in a different building than his office. He thought he had a universal parking pass but they do not work for the few private spots that exist at UW properties. I received a phone call. The Acura was gone. It had been towed but we could get it back for $350.

And finally, a few months later, Dave had to be at another important meeting in Olympia. He drove to the UW and parked the Acura legally in a UW parking lot and rode to Olympia with his colleague. The new keys may have been left in the door or dropped on the ground as Dave scurried to retrieve important papers from the passenger side. At any rate, that evening upon returning from Olympia, the Acura was no longer in its parking place and Dave did not seem to have the keys. This time, it had not been towed but stolen.

We waited for the police to find it. We worked with our insurance company. Dave continued to look for the car when he would go to work. Enough time passed that our insurance company provided us a fair settlement for the value of the vehicle. At this point, Kaley was transporting herself to all of her many activities and music lessons so the car needed to be replaced. Yet again, Dave found a great deal on another used Acura. This time, it did not have a spoiler but it was a lovely dark blue and in better shape than the white one. The insurance money covered it.

But, Kaley was no longer willing to share. She announced that the blue Acura was hers and hers alone. "DAD! First, you lose the keys, then you park the car where it shouldn't be parked and it gets towed, then DAD, you lost the whole ENTIRE CAR. I do not think you are responsible enough to be able to drive my.... MY Acura.

Yep, Kaley had a made a good argument.

Stay tuned for Part 4.