This is a story about my Best Car Ever, When you get to be my age (almost 73) unless you are very unfortunate, you have owned many vehicles. If I recollect correctly, I’ve had 18. Not counting my new truck! I’ve had foreign and domestic. I’ve had compact, midsize, and huge. There were the sporty ones: a Fiate, a Ford EXP Esort (I dubbed it my Mustang wannabe), a real Mustang and a Sporty Honda Fit. There were three Caravans. Two hand me downs; a Camry and a big Ram truck. Yet, the best by far was our 2017 Kia Sorento.
I loved that vehicle. My wife did all the pre-buy research: Consumer reports and all things Google. We found a great salesman who searched high and low to find just the right vehicle. Thank you Brian. I know you enjoyed the Scotch! It had lots of extras: a third seat, a back up camera (Brenda’s favorite feature) a strong 6 cylinder engine, all-wheel drive, and a 5000lb towing capacity.
My wife is an independent, self employed RN workman’s comp case manager. She subcontracts with several companies. None alone can afford their own case manger to cover her large territory. Before the pandemic we were driving at least 1000 miles a week. In addition, I am a semi-retired Episcopal Priest and driving 2 hours one way for 5 years to do Sunday service for a small congregation.
Then add to that we purchased 22 acres of land 7 hours away from home in northeastern Arkansas. Our trusty Sorento not only drove those 14 hours but pulled a trailer loaded with two ATVs and supplies. Plus you must imagine the last mile of that trip. It is a private dirt road that winds steeply up and steeply down with little or no room to pass an oncoming vehicle. In fact the first time we drove there we were in the Camry. When we got home we discovered our engine block was cracked!
Partly because our income was sufficient I took better care of this vehicle than any other. I had the oil changed regularly. If my service tech recommended anything I agreed to the work without hesitation. The whole team new me by name and I them. The vehicle also gained what you could call a fan base on Facebook were I regularly posted the growing miles with pictures of the odometer showing that latest palindrome from 1001 to 50005, 100,001 all the way to 232,232! Through it all, including multiple flat tires, replacing the rear suspension, and minor dings and dents from me backing into a stone wall I could not have been more pleased.
Then one day the check engine light came on.
However, before continuing I must take a detour. This happened after a three month “season” of financial hits and expenses. I unexpectedly lost my church position. I had to replace the tires and the windshield on the Sorento. Our grandson lost his retainer and it was $508 to replace. The freezer died. Turned out to be a minor problem with a hunk of ice stuck in a fan: another $120. The oven computer panel malfunctioned. We decided we could live with the problem rather that replace. Yet another $120. One of the ATVs needed an upgraded fuel pump $600+. My wife got a broken tooth: estimated $3000! You get the picture. I did my best to hang on to Romans 8:28. ““All things work together for good who trust n the Lord.”
So I called Melody my service advisor about the check engine light and she told me to bring it in. I planned to do it the next day. On my way I noticed the light was no longer on. I called again. A different gal answered and suggested I wait until it came back on, if indeed it did. She also asked if I had purchased gas, recently. I had. It is common knowledge or perhaps folk lore or even urban legend that this can often cause your check engine light to come on.
A day latter I was up early to have breakfast with a friend at IHOP. The light was on. There was a noise. It seemed to be coming g from the rear. I had read the manual regarding the check engine light. It seemed to me that it might indicate a problem with the exhaust so I didn’t begin to worry. I decided to go to breakfast and after to the dealer.
As I left IHOP the noise grew louder. Soon I realized the noise was not in the back but right there in front! Time grew fuzzy. In no time a big clunk and it died. I can’t remember how or the sequence I managed to pull off to the side of the road. I knew it was too serious to even bother trying to restart. I got out my phone and started to call AAA for a tow. However, before I could finish dialing smoke came up from the engine covering the windshield. It was time to exit the vehicle with haste! I quickly grabbed a few things: my phone, iPad, a collection of keys for the RV, and ATVs.
In what seemed like a few seconds help arrived. First a young woman from the Air base started directing traffic to the far lane,. Then two men, one parked in front and the other in back, came running with fire extinguishers. By now flames were flaring out from under the front. Meanwhile, I was on the phone calling 911. I swear the fire department was there less than 10 minutes maybe even less than five. Next I was calling my insurance company. Then I remembered my Glock in the door of the Sorrento. I called to the two guys with the fire extinguishers and they rescued it.
The police arrived about a minute before the fire department. They came over to talk and seeing my Glock picked it up and said they’d keep track of it. Finally I called my wife, Brenda, and with a little explanation told her she needed to come and get me.
Once the fire was out and the firemen left, I was able to retrieve a few more belongings from the vehicle. Including two boxes of 9 mm ammunition that had been in the glove box. When I asked the police for my gun back they said they’d just keep it until my wife arrived. I explained that I was a pastor and not likely to shoot anybody and that my wife was probably more likely if it came to it. They kept it all the same and give it to her when she arrived. I believe I looked a bit crazed.
Once we gathered all our stuff and the firemen and the police were ready to leave we set off to go shopping for a replacement. We had in fact been contemplating buying a new vehicle in the near future. However, we have been waiting for the completion of our house we are building on our land in Arkansas. We needed to have a good vehicle in the meanwhile and so shopping we went.
Our first stop was the Kia dealer. One of our contemplated options was a Telluride. It is slightly bigger than the Sorrento with better towing options. We would’ve purchased another Sorrento except they no longer come with a 6 cylinder. Due to current supply chain issues there were no new Tellurides. They had one used. However, it had a history of small collisions. No thank you.
Meanwhile, I had been researching the Nissan Pathfinder. It’s about the size of a Sorento. I liked it because it can have both a 6 cylinder and 4 wheel drive. The Nissan dealer is just a half mile down the street. When a salesman greeted us asking how he could help I answered. “You can sell me a Pathfinder.”
““No can do,” he replied, there are none available in the whole country.”
So we test drove an Armada, a Forester, and a Titan. A few hours later and we are proud owners of a huge Titan pickup.
To celebrate and debrief we went to Outback. We began telling our waitress about our day and she said, “Don’t tell me it was a Kia!” Turns out Kia and Hyundai have a history of fires. Do as I did and Google it.
While waiting for our insurance company to settle I looked up the probable value on Blue Book. It seemed to suggest we could get between $4,000 and $6000. The hold up seemed to be their investigator. Finally after three weeks they were ready to settle. I couldn’t believe my ear. ““If you have no objection we’ll have a check for you Tuesday for $23,616.20.” I about fell out on the floor!
The season of financial woes came to an abrupt end. We not only repaid our savings for the down payment on the truck. We paid off our burial policies and Brenda’s tooth with some left over. Plus I changed my assessment. I had been telling people that the Sedona was the best vehicle I ever had until it burned to the ground. Now I say ““Even in death it’s the best!” All things did work out.
