Tribute

I'm gonna do a good ole fashion play on words here. This post is a tribute to our dearly departed 1994 Chevys. It's also to announce Team DeBoer's new Tribute. The SUV that has some mighty, mighty shoes to fill.

After much searching, researching, deliberation and debate, to the credit of Mr. DeBoer, we selected, test drove and used trade-ins to purchase a 2003 Mazda Tribute. Before I impress you with it's stats, let me first pay a fond farewell to the bitchin' Beretta and the Cav.

It was a scary, albeit sad, last hurrah down Ruggles to the dealership. Before departure, we stripped the contents of each making sure to only hang on to the necessities: Dad's camo seat cover, steering wheel cover, visor CD holder and red notebook he used to keep track of gas mileage. We were sure to donate both manuals as well as the Beretta's how-to tutorial cassette tape and repair manual we rec'd a few years back from the resourceful Ole. We didn't want to shorthand the next lucky recipient. (I know, I know… I'm sure they're going to the junk yard to be stripped and shredded but you don't have to say it and I don't have to acknowledge it. Let me have my "farm" would yah?)

The Cav topped out at a mighty 218,338 miles and the Beretta, not far behind, ended with a mere 190,956 miles. I took photos of the odometers as proof. That's right. Call me what you will but I've had the Beretta since 2002. I paid for every red cent of it by myself and put over 100,000 miles on it. She's been towed more times then I like to recall, she was showing her age with a few rust spots, she may have had a missing hubcap and a few others that were cracked and her brakes might not have ended up uber reliable but she was 17 years old for cryin' out loud. Thanks to all the work Dad did on her, I'm proud to say she made it this far. And who doesn't crave a teal car? Come. On. As for the Cav, well it was Dad's. No further explanation needed but I must tell you, we got more compliments and offers on that car then you would guess because of the great shape it was in. Mmm-hmm.

They were great cars, they will be greatly missed and I think most feel it's great we got rid of them.

Cut down in their prime.

Sad DeBoers.

Alright, alright. Without further adieu, here's our new, fancier, more reliable, larger, safer and all around better vehicle: the 2003 Mazda Tribute. Now when I say Mr. D did his homework, I mean Mr. D did his homework. Obnoxiously so. He was obsessed and was on Auto Trader constantly. Then he was on Consumer Reports constantly. We do not make these decisions lightly and in keeping with that tradition, Shawn exhausted all resources, not to mention my patience, in his search. In the end, he made the perfect choice. I credit him for his diligence whilst I do a happy dance that's he done! We now have a SUV with more room, push button 4-wheel drive, a hitch (for Shawn's future dream boat), much fewer miles (67,000ish), new tires, a roof rack and ample space for us, Cletus and the boys (who will be banished to the waaaaaay back). It's pretty, it's perfect and because it had a clean car fax report and passed a pre-pruchase car inspection at our local mechanics (thanks to a coupon), it's priceless.

Notice the shimmer? The shine? The new tires?

The Tribute's profile. Eat your heart out.

I have to say, I feel like we're quite the grown ups now. We have two vehicles in our driveway that were made in the 2000s. Maybe we'll even start parking one in the garage. Maybe…