An era has passed. Back in 1995 I traded in my old Mazda B2000 pickup for a newer (1990) Mazda B2200. It was at a Saturn dealer of all places, and I felt like it was a good deal. That became my DC commuting vehicle—three-hour round trips daily. When we moved to Alaska in 1997 there was room in the 40-foot container with all our household goods for the pickup, so we loaded it on last. And it’s been a stalwart part of our Alaska lives since. Until now.

Old Blue

When I got the bigger pickup in 2002, a Ford F250 four-wheel drive, it was much better for winter, so Old Blue became a summer vehicle. And it just kept going, and going, and going. Little things went wrong, but nothing critical.

When I pulled it out of hibernation this spring, it had a second flat. I’d put the spare on in the fall, so I had two to fix. Neither was repairable, though, so I took them to the tire store to have used ones put on. They didn’t have used ones in that size, so I had to get new ones. And then there was an ignition problem. The key has been stuck in the ignition for seven years, so I’m used to that. But now sometimes nothing happened when I turned it. Most times, no problem, but this intermittent issue left me in some doubt about whether I’d be getting home sometimes.

I was on the verge of scheduling an appointment at the mechanic, when Rose’s good friend Kathy let her know that she was selling her vehicle. Their vehicles are the same make and model year, so we’re very familiar with it. I had no idea how much I’d have to spend getting Old Blue fully dependable again, and I’d been wondering all winter whether it was worth it. The tire purchase had sort of made the choice for me—onward together. But this surprise solution of swapping it out was attractive. So I bought Kathy’s car and began driving that while Old Blue just sat there, neglected.

Rose asked me when I was going to make a decision of what to do with it, and I finally listed it on Farcebook Marketplace. It drew interested parties very fast. The first one to request a look is a mechanic, which is what Old Blue most needed. He was very enthusiastic when he saw it and looked it over. I told him all of the problems it had, but it runs well and I sure enjoyed driving it in to the parking lot where we met. His enthusiasm didn’t budge from very high. We did the title paperwork and he drove it home.

As I wrote this post up and went to save a draft, I found that I’d begun a similar one with the same title three and a half years ago when its little foibles were seeming to really pile up. Here are a few of the quirks (with the timing updated):

Back when the dashboard brake light came on permanently I was worried. I put a three-inch plastic beetle model on the shelf of the inset dash in front of it to block the nagging reminder. That was at least 20 years ago now, and I’m guessing it’s a false alarm. Nice to know the bulb still works, I guess.

I haven’t been able to get the key out of the ignition for the past seven years. I know this is a security risk. It has inadvertently tested my hypothesis that it’s not a thief magnet, though. The real test was when I left it in the hospital emergency room parking lot for a whole week, unlocked and with the key in the ignition.

What a trickster it is with the often-broken driver-door lock. I crawled into the driver’s seat from the passenger side for weeks before I had time to disassemble the door panel (etc.) from inside to try to fix it. Only to find that I couldn’t, but that if I repeatedly tried to unlock it a bunch of times it would then work. So of course it’s never locked now.

I once locked my key inside while I was out hunting and was far from civilization when, in walking away and checking, I suddenly realized I’d made a terrible error. What a surprise to learn that I could get it unlocked again with a carefully cut birch branch! I had to mess up the exterior window seal a little to do that. But what’s a little cosmetic damage?

The tailgate drop stops were always gone. So, open, it hangs straight down.

The tailgate handle broke off when I couldn’t get it open at -40. Plastic piece of crap. I had to use a screwdriver and pliers on the remaining metal tab ever since.

The blower stopped working one cool, rainy day, and I was never able to get it going again. So now when the window starts to fog up I have to roll down the window and stop breathing.

The rear of the topper roof caved in from snow load several winters ago. It’s no longer dry back there, but it’s functional enough.

The turn signal handle never snaps back with the steering wheel turning, so I have to do it manually.

The stereo’s cassette deck stopped working a few springs ago; it began to eat tapes. Was I the only one still listening to cassette tapes long after the pandemic?

Anyway, Old Blue starts its next phase with someone who cares and can do something about it.