We never had to do any major repairs on the Pilot in all of those years - just routine things. As it aged and as I racked up the miles, things started to deteriorate, like the radio, the keyless entry, the power locks, etc., but nothing beyond minor inconveniences and I never felt the need to put money into repairing stuff like that. Last year, the air conditioning stopped working, and that was the first time we really contemplated replacing it, but since C works from home, I simply drove his car to work on the days when it was unbearably hot (which, in Virginia, is way more often than I care for). The important thing was that it was still driving very well and by the time this school year began, we'd decided that we'd drive it for as long as we could, but had a plan to replace it in the spring. It was truly an amazing car!
On Friday, October 24, I was driving to work and the transmission failed. It wouldn't shift gears and I couldn't get the car to go. Of course this happened on a fairly busy road on an upward hill, annoying all of the cars behind me and causing an emotional breakdown on my part! I immediately called C, and he suggested I turn the car off and back on so as it maybe get to a safe place to park the car, which worked, and he and Avalanche came to rescue to me. We ended up getting the car home - C drove it while Avalanche and I followed in his car - although it was a bit of an ordeal that required many restarts and a low speed. It's been at our house ever since, while I contemplate where to donate it, as it just doesn't make financial sense to pay to replace the transmission at this point.
I've cried about the end of my time with my Pilot. It had a personalized plate and many decals on it and I've been recognized by strangers just because they'd seen my car parked at school. I love that car and will miss it so much!
In the meantime, we've been researching cars. Unfortunately, the car we really wanted won't be out until the spring at the earliest and we simply couldn't wait that long. We're very fortunate because C working from home has allowed us to function with only one car for the last few weeks, but with it getting dark earlier and earlier now, there have been days when I've gotten home too late to take Avalanche to the park, and since we don't have sidewalks anywhere near our house, going to a park every day is how he gets his exercise!
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We made many visit to car dealerships, and while I am fully aware what a privilege it is to purchase a car, I really do not like car dealerships or car salespeople. It became a chore in the evenings to go and look at cars. There were a few models we really liked, but honestly, the cost of cars is insane to me!
We ended up choosing a 2025 Volkswagen Taos, and were lucky to get a great price because of end-of-year discounts. I'm very happy with it even though it will never by my Pilot and I'm excited to get another personalized plate in the coming weeks! I won't lie, it feels super weird when I drive it, but I'm sure I'll grow accustomed to it in due time. It's smaller than Pilot and noticeably smaller than C's Subaru Ascent, so Avalanche doesn't quite know what to make of it yet, but he was happy to jump into it to go for a ride!
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| our first ride together in my new car! |
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| my Pilot passed 258,000 miles on October 13 |
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| I never thought I could love a car this much! |
The many decals on my Pilot:
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My new Taos:
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| we've had this blanket for over 25 years and it lived in the backseat of my Pilot since the day I bought the car for all of our pups and now it's in the backseat of my Taos! |
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| making himself at home |
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| we have a long-standing tradition about being very particular about the first song played in any new car we buy and this is what I chose... my favorite U2 song! |
Happy Tails to you!
