Back to the Bondo Buggy

Since 2002, I have driven "Bondo Buggies" back and forth to work.  I went to an 8-hour Dave Ramsey seminar at the BOK (Bank of Oklahoma)  Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  I learned alot from Dave that day.  I listened to every story he told about saving money, budgeting money, getting out of debt...the works.  I bought his book, I bought his audio, and I bought his kit for kids on saving money.  We were Dave Ramsey all the way!  I zoned in on the part about him driving cars he could pay for with cash and I believed I could do that too.  He called his first cash car a "Bondo Buggy" and I thought that was pretty hilarious since I was married to an auto body/technician!  In case you don't know, "Bondo" is a putty used as a filler for when you have rust or dents and damage to your car or truck that auto body techs use to fix older cars rather than replacing a fender or a quarter panel and so on.  It is a cheap fix in other words.  Before I went and saw Dave, I used to have a 1999 Ford Mustang...fire engine red with white racing stripes...man, I thought I was uptown...especially with a 5-year-old and a 4-year-old riding in the backseat!  I finally realized that I was racking up too many miles on my "cool" car and needed a daily driver...a true "Bondo Buggy".   I purchased the worst vehicle ever...like the most awful on the face of the earth...a 1990 Dodge Caravan...navy blue...no tinted windows...no a/c or heat in the back rows...fogged up windows all the time...cold or hot kids in the back which in turn created whiney kids and to think I purchased this horrendous heap from my very own sister...who made me feel like I was getting a prize!  I really felt duped!  I sold that van, if you want to call it that, and swore I would NEVER EVER (I know these are harsh words) purchase another minivan again...so we bought a 1991 Pontiac Bonneville.  Wahoo!  It was white with a blue interior.  When I drove it, I felt like I was steering a boat gliding across water and I really liked the car until the transmission started messing up.  We put this sawdust stuff in the transmission and took it straight to the auction.  I felt like Harry Wormwood in Matilda while we stood there...waiting for it to be sold...without the tranny leaking or smoking!  We then bought a 1980 Chrysler Cordoba...bright, almost glowing red with a white vinyl top...I disliked it very much...I constantly complained about it to the dwelling point of complaing and was totally embarrassed to drive it...needless-to-say, it didn't last long.  I might have not taken very good care of it...like never checked the oil and stuff...hee hee!  I think my dad felt sorry for me having to drive these older "bondo buggies" that Craig bought at the auctions.  This is when Dad finally started the "stalking movement" of purchasing cars.  The "stalking movement" was called the "stalking movement" because my dad would "stalk" the obituary section and the auction listings of the local newspapers and he would listen and take notes during his daily attendance at the "coffee-drinking round table" where discussions by all the old cronies in town took place at the local restaurant.   Dad found out who might have died or who had moved to the nursing home or even the assisted living quarters and if they had a vehicle for sale!  I know, it sounds terrible, but older people take very good care of their cars!   From the year of 2002 up until October, I have driven a "Bondo Buggy" and I could care less what the car looks like unlike before...ugh!  That red and white Cordoba was absolutely hideous and we won't even speak of that dreadful Dodge Caravan...the mini who shall be named Voldemort!

So far, I've driven a 1994 Mercury Sable. (Mabel), 1996 Ford Taurus. (Willis),  1996 Chevrolet Cavalier. (Ol' Red), 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier. (Greenie),  1999 GMC Safari.  (Whitey),  1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee. (Die Hard),  2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee. (Blue), 1995 Mercury Sable (Mrs. McElwain because I couldn't remember her first name, Valeta) and the 2000 Buick LeSabre. (Doris).   If the car belonged to a person we knew, we named the car that name...like Mabel, Doris, Dan Willis,  and Valeta McElwain...and my son even drove my grandma's car after she died so it's name was Juanita! 

If I had to add up how much money has been spent on cars since 2002, it is probably way less than you would think!!  I'd say the figure is around $10,000.00...in 16 years!!!

I need another "Bondo Buggy".  In October, I took over my daughter's 2014 Impala because she had too many responsibilities between college and raising Beau, my grandson.  I've already had to have three oil changes and three tire rotations and I'm getting very close to scheduling the fourth...in five months!  I can't and won't rack up miles on a newer car, it is ridiculous. 

Good news!  My mom told me the other day that my great-aunt Betty (my grandma's sister) has finally decided she isn't going to drive any longer...she's only 94 years old!! LOL  I am cracking up because she was only driving it up the gravel road to church on Sundays and the little country church of Bethlehem is only a mile away...bless her heart!  She drives a 1998 Chevy Corsica...they don't even make that car anymore...I'll bet it only has 30,000 miles on it or so...and it is black!  But, if I don't end up getting Black Betty, I will be joining the "stalking movement"!!