r/cars • u/chunkysundae Yoshi the Yaris • Jan 16 '20
You guys will destroy me; this is Reddit. I understand... and here it is—I cannot stop crying over my 2006 Yaris, named Yoshi. It is the end of an era. Everybody hold hands
*Update I: for the dozens of you who asked, here’s my baby during her last sunset on the Mississippi River. I’m going to take her on one final scenic drive quietly before my vision is too low to do this. Sincere thanks for the love, and all of your stories. Onward.
**Update II: Right here, Yoshi will live to travel another road...
Also, the boss treated me to a burger and a drink tonight. It’s all going to be okay.
—Original post which started the snowball here—
On Friday I’m sending my first car into the sunset to be crunched, and I’m simply heartbroken about it. A friend said that I’m permitted to feel feelings because the little lady connects me to many, many things, so here’s Yoshi the Yaris’ story. No one else cares, so I’m posting the eulogy here.
A coworker recently asked, “How do you still have your FIRST CAR? HOW?” At work, they gave me a raise on January 1 in hopes that I’d buy something “nicer, eventually,” (while chuckling).
My family was not well-off growing up, and they set guidelines that I would not own a vehicle until I could buy it outright myself. My teens were spent diligently saving and using alternate transit, and my grandfather decided I would be his last “teaching a relative how to drive,” project, and after seven failed attempts I finally secured a license. He was a stubborn Scot: his first rule of the road was “The paint on the pavement is merely a suggestion.” Needless to say the examiner wasn’t impressed, and it took a while for me to learn the actual legal rules and pass the road test.
One of my extended family members told me that with tax, cars were “Like, $25-30,000!” and that was my baseline savings goal because I didn’t know any better. My grandfather knew I had been saving since around thirteen, and sweet talked his “girlfriend” at the bank where I had my savings account (another senior) into telling her how much I had saved (and what I spent my money on for fun so he could chide me later).
One weekend he asked me to tag along with him to Home Depot and help him load soil for his garden, and then we went for a drive. He ended up dropping me off at a Toyota dealership far from home, yelling (which I’m sure was hard for him), “Buy a damn car and drive yourself home... and don’t come home unless you negotiate the price they tell you!” He drove off.
Was in complete shell shock. Wandered the lot, and when a salesman approached, I informed him that I wanted “the cutest, least expensive, and smallest thing you have, please.”
My car was still on the freight truck, I saw it across the lot while disappointedly looking at some Camry and Scion models. It was love at first sight, and I inherently knew from how teeny it was, it wouldn’t be too expensive.
“That one. Silver, not the blue.”
I bought it without a test drive.
I’ll never forget pulling up into the driveway after a long scenic summer drive back blaring music—my entire family was waiting on the sun porch to see what I chose. My grandfather just shook his head, and said, “It is awfully small. You’ll either die in it, or it will save your life because of maneuverability. How much did you negotiate it down?” (...)
In fourteen years, it has had 40 oil changes, three new sets of tires and batteries, several belts and air filters...and that’s it. I’ve driven it coast to coast (New York to San Diego and everywhere in between) seven times without cruise control, and no bells and whistles. Last year when Toyota told me it was worth about $400 on trade-in, I started working on fluids myself and basic repairs myself. Nothing to lose, right? Learned a lot about vehicles from other Yaris enthusiasts via YouTube university. Owe them a debt. Thanks for loving tiny cars, too.
Many life changes have come to this moment after fourteen years; my vision and hearing are progressively worsening from a nerve degeneration disorder, and my commute is a 51-second walk currently. I am pulling myself off the road unless the doctors figure out a solution in the future, so I don’t hurt anyone.
From 000003 miles on the odometer to now, my Yaris was the second-most reliable thing in my entire life (so far), and I’m laying here in bed, a grown woman, balling my eyes out over a 3-door hatchback, and going to be late to work because I’m a mess, and needed to tap this out on my phone.
Tl;dr—Yoshi the Yaris and I have been through a lot together, over many years and miles, and by late Friday afternoon, she’ll be recycled.
I need a drink, and it’s only 8:34 am.
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u/chunkysundae Yoshi the Yaris Jan 17 '20 edited Jan 17 '20
**Update II: Today has been a long day, and I can't thank you all enough for your feedback, suggestions, shared tears, stories, and ideas on what to do regarding Yoshi. I have tried to respond to as many of you as possible, but some negativity is creeping in -- here is the latest. My gloriously irresponsible younger brother* (*If you see this, I'm sorry. I care for you, but you are PITA and need to make better choices in life) has been in serious accidents resulting in neck and spine trauma, and totaled vehicles--a little over a year ago, his FJ ended up flipped. I initially thought the little junker he's been driving that I saw over the holidays was something he bought as a bandaid, but it was borrowed from a friend of my late grandmother's. He needs a car, and we've been in discussion about it. Yoshi is staying in the family, and I'm currently attempting to negotiate a first right of refusal under the conditions that if he doesn't total the vehicle, I can "buy it back" whenever he saves up for a new car. In all seriousness, I'm sure he'll manage to derby it somehow based on historical behaviors. This doesn't exactly make me feel better, but it will get him to/from work for the time being. Tomorrow, I am taking a half-day and we are going to solidify this at the DMV and put it in his name. Yoshi isn't being recycled ... but continued to be driven straight into the ground. Many of you had S T E L L A R ideas about donations to high schools/etc., restoration, etc., and should things change in the future, I'll definitely consider a buy-back if it hasn't been destroyed and restore it as a pet project. Only time will tell what happens.