Becky

Ode to Benny

Around this time two years ago, I brought home my pride and joy—and my biggest purchase to date: my SUV.

My first car was a Chevrolet Cobalt that I had for seven years—throughout high school and college—and only had ~28,000 miles on it when I traded it in. I didn’t drive much, and going to school about 10 miles away didn’t rack up all that many miles. But it was a good first car for me. I named it Blueberry; it was a dark blue color and was named after the car from the show Psych, which was a blue Toyota Yaris. The furthest the Blueberry ever went was to New Jersey. But other than that trip, I mostly stayed local.

Once I had my first real job, I needed four-wheel drive for those New England winters. Plus I wanted to not feel so low to the ground; I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m short but I wanted to feel more comfortable to see around me as I was driving.

There’s a Chevrolet dealership we’ve been going to for years because my grandfather worked there for about 50 years, and my mom and uncle both worked there are some points, too. The owner and vice president know my family. I went up with my parents during February since they had Presidents Day deals, and I knew I wanted to get an SUV.

I test drove an Equinox but felt like it was a little too big for me. Then I test drove a Trax, which is a smaller SUV, and it felt more like my size. My fear with the Equinox was that I’d end up hitting something backing up; the funny thing is that my mom has an Equinox and I still feel weird driving it on the few rare occasions when she lets me. The Trax I test drove was silver, and I had wanted to get a SUV in red. The sales guy told me they had a cherry red Trax coming in the next week, but it didn’t have the sales attached to it—like the silver one did—and I’d have to pay $5,000 more just for the color.

So I took the silver. It’s grown on me. If it was white or black, I probably would have said no, because those colors show the salt from the winters more than other colors. Benny is a 2016 Trax, and it was surprising that it was still on the lot in early 2017.

My dad wanted to make sure that buying my SUV was something I could do on my own. With the Presidents Day sale, the extra sale tag on the truck, the trade in of the Blueberry, I was able to put a significant amount down and only have to finance some. I’m ~halfway through my five years of payments, which are reasonable.

I’m proud of myself for being able to buy an SUV on my own. Its name is Benny, named after Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi. I took him home two years ago on Valentine’s Day, and my dad wanted to drive him home from the dealership. I obviously said no because I wanted to drive my own SUV home.

Benny hit 11,000 miles last week. I’m driving a little bit more than I did with the Blueberry, but I intend on having Benny for a long time. He’s been out to Boston for a Red Sox game, I drove him to Rhode Island last year to visit one of my friends from college, and he’s been out through Worcester, too. I’ve figured out that my commute to work is about 100 miles per week; the University is about 10 miles away and it takes me a half hour to get home by back roads, but that’s because I always hit traffic trying to get out of the city.

My two favorite things are the back up camera and the sun roof—which I’ve only left open once in the rain and it was a drizzle. The only complaint I have is that the trunk is a little small, but the back seats can be pulled down so I get a little more room. I have those Weathertech floor mats—the ones that are custom made for each vehicle—which are awesome, especially during the winters. Once it gets nice out, we’ll pull them out and clean them off Benny is also reasonable for me to wash by myself in the driveway.

How did you get your car? Do you have a name for it? Where’s the furthest you’ve traveled in your car?

23 comments

  2. Awww this is cute! I’ve had two cars in my life: Chester and Tom Selleck. Perhaps I will add it to my list of post ideas and make my own post about my cars haha

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  3. My first car was a … I think 1984, or maybe 1986 … Dodge Aries that I bought just before my senior year in high school in 1989. My parents and I were looking at a used-car lot, but didn’t see anything we liked. As we were getting ready to leave, the owner drove the car in from the auction where he had just gotten it.

    I drove it through college, which was about 70 miles away, and drove it until it could go no more. It got the nickname the “MacGyver” car, because of all the tricks my father had to do to keep it running.

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  4. I’ve never had a car that only mine, but my husband and I currently own a cute little Yaris called Yolanda and a motorbike named Trisha. I’m glad I’m not the only one naming inanimate objects!

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  5. Aww isn’t it funny how attached we can get to a car? I’m the same way, I was so proud when I bought my car in college and I’m still proud. I drive a fiat and her name is fifi and I’ve had her for 7 years so we’ve gone to Toronto, Montreal, up and down the east coast together! I’m getting to that time where I’ll need a new car soon but I can’t imagine driving anything else.

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    • I’m glad that you’ve been able to travel so much with her! It is funny how we get attached. When I traded in my first car, I hoped it went to a good home, because it was basically in “new” condition. I never had any accidents or issues with it, and I kept it clean.

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  6. I think we’ve had this discussion, but just in case… My car is Fiona. She’s a 2009 Toyota Corolla. Sadly, she hasn’t been too far from home, but she does put in a lot of miles fairly regularly. I think the farthest she’s been is Virginia Beach, which isn’t even out of state. I may have driven her to Nashville once, but I can’t remember if that was before or after I totaled Half-Pint (my light blue Yaris).

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  7. Love the name Benny! One of my best friends is named Benny 😊

    I don’t feel like I have ever really had my own car. I inherited my moms mini van whenever I got my license, but eventually my sister and I got a car to share. We are only a year apart and both did cross country, so it made sense for us to ride together. It was gray Mazda 3 and she actually still drives it.

    Throughout college I never had a car on campus because I really never needed one. And now I live in Chicago and take public transit everywhere. The other day I was telling Connor how weird it is going to be when I buy my first car since I have really never had my own/needed one. I’m not sure what it will be but I really like gray or silver cars, so I guess I have an idea on the color!

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    • Haha knowing the color is the most important part! But it takes some time to figure out which one is best for you, and there are so many different cars out there that at least you have a few to pick from. I don’t know how I’d do with public transit since I’m so used to driving everywhere.

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  8. I miss having a car! Being in Boston, I don’t really need one and my old Jeep was gonna quit after my senior year of college so we sold it to someone to use on their private property (it wouldn’t have passed inspection). It was my first and only car and even though it had a lot of issues come up, it was dependable enough and will always have a place in my heart!

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    • Just like first loves, I think your first car stays with you haha. I’m so used to driving everywhere all the time that I don’t know what it’d be like for me to live in a city. I guess both have their pros and cons.

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  10. My car sucks. My dad is a mechanic, fixed it up, & drove it all the way from Minnesota to bring it to me in Las Vegas. My boyfriend and I have named it Sabrina & Seabreeze as a nickname lol.

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