Our own private car club

When I mentioned on January 21 that my car was failing, several of you asked if we have Car Clubs over here. We did have three. One closed after a short time; Car2Go closed in October, 2020; but Zipcar is still operating—though it’s quite expensive by my standards, at $80 a day plus a monthly fee and a few other charges. 

Sue came up with another idea of how we could share resources. She hasn’t owned a car since the accident in 2017. Her car was destroyed when someone ran a traffic light, hit her car, and smashed her left arm. Fortunately a brilliant surgeon put her arm together again with some plates and pins, and her left hand has now healed.

She proposed we find a good used car to share. I did several days of internet research, found a few choices, and offered my car for a “trade in.” To my surprise, the Toyota dealer offered us $500 for my car, and with a cousin’s kind gift of $1000 plus what I had saved, I was able to pay for about a quarter of this 2016 Toyota Prius. It's a Hybrid (part gasoline, part electric) so maybe a little less harmful to the planet. Sue covered the remaining three quarters of the cost and will pay for the insurance; I hope to be able to help with maintenance; and we hope it will last for as long as we are able to keep driving. 

I’m grateful to all of you for your ideas and kind thoughts, to my cousin for his gift, and to Sue, for the imaginative thinking and for so much more.