Locking in Kim the Hundai

Kim the Hyundai will be with us for another year at least - we have taken the plunge and bought her new front brakes and winter tires, enough to keep her safe for another year, if we add such sundries as new wiper blades and perhaps some gasoline. With Jenn extending her schooling until next December from Next September, it seems that with two winter seasons to go, it would be prudent to put snow tires in place. We also took care of the Input Shaft Speed Sensor problem and did some general cleanup.

I think I may have spoken ill of Kim the Hyundai on a number of occasions, saying that she is boring, thirsty, ugly, and causes problems. This may well ignore the fact that poor Kim has now taken us exactly 100,000 kilometers further down the road. She is 10 years old, she has nearly 200,000 km on the clock, and she keeps running. And then consider the items that have actually required replacement:

Tires (Summer)
Tires (Winter)
Spark plugs & Wires
Timing Belt
Struts
Thermostat
Front and rear brake pads and rotors and rear calipers
window lift
input and output shaft speed sensors

With the exception of the window lift (an inexpensive but annoying repair), the brake caliper (inexpensive), and the transmission speed sensors (inexpensive and easy to do one's self) all of these items are normal wear and tear items on a car.

She doesn't rattle, she doesn't creak, she doesn't rust. She starts on the first try every time. Her heater blows hot and her AC blows cold. She gets 9L / 100 KM in my normal commute. Kim doesn't complain. She does her job and is quite happy to let Joy the Mazda sleep in the garage and hog the glory.

Oh, Kim, I know you will take me another 20 or 30 thousand klicks down the road, I just hope you won't be sad when we finally have to part ways.