“Sweet 16”

When I started my last job in 2003 as a traveling salesman, I needed to find a reliable car to use as my “company car.” I had long admired the body style of the Chrysler PT Cruiser because of its similarity to vintage sedans of the 1940’s. I eventually settled on a “Woodie” PT Cruiser because of it’s similarity to a “beach buggy” and in many ways it resembled a sleigh with the wood-grain trim.

            My son liked my choice and suggested I add a vanity license plate to my new sleigh. He suggested “CU 12-24,” representing the night that Santa leaves for his trip around the world to deliver presents. Thus, began the love affair between me and my PT Cruiser. The car became my brand and with the added “Santa” and “North Pole” stickers, everyone recognized it as “Santa’s Car.”

            When I was downsized from the corporate world in 2008, I had finished the payments on the car and continued to use it as my sleigh for my Santa work. I enjoyed driving it everywhere and routinely put thousands of miles on the car as I carried out my duties.

            On Palm Sunday of this year, I was on my way to church when my car just literally stopped in the road a few blocks from our sanctuary. Fortunately, a policeman pulled up behind me and he and a couple of volunteers pushed my car into the parking lot of the church. After church was over, I called my wife to come pick me up to take me home. The following week I contacted AAA and had them tow my beloved PT to Beamer Tire, the garage that has been servicing it ever since it was new.

            After a few days, my friends at the garage called and gave me the bad news. The engine was blown, and a rebuilt engine would cost more than the car was worth. They suggested I begin looking for a replacement of my beloved PT Cruiser. I was devastated. It was like losing my best friend that I had enjoyed spending the last sixteen years with. I began to research used cars because I couldn’t afford a new one, but I wasn’t having any luck finding anything that I could afford that had the “personality” of my car.

            I researched alternatives for another week and finally inquired of the service manager at my garage how much a rebuilt engine would cost. He gave me a quote and I told him I would have to think about it for a few days. I began to think that my “friend” was worth the considerable investment of a new engine. In my mind, it deserved to be “resurrected,” and I don’t mean to be disrespectful to the fact that all of this was happening during the Easter holiday.

            Finally, I “bit the bullet” and told the manager of the garage to go ahead and order the new engine and proceed with the project of rebuilding my car. They called a few weeks later and told me the car was ready to pick up. I was excited as my wife drove me to the garage to pick up my friend. Once I arrived, I pulled out my credit card to pay the bill, and the mechanic who had been working on the project told me to wait and let him test drive it one more time. Unbelievably, the transmission quit a few blocks from the garage, and they had to push the car back into the bay! I was too far into the project to back out now, so the mechanic told me to check back in a few days.

            Thankfully, after returning from a trip out of town, my wife and I stopped by the garage and they told me the “good news” that the transmission had not been connected properly to the new engine and after a few tries, they were able to correct the problem. I was able to take my friend back home that evening.

Randy Everhart, Manager and Justin Carr, mechanic at Beamer Tire in High Point

            Thinking back over the whole ordeal, and the fact that it happened over the Easter holiday and beyond has made me reflect on how easy we give up on possessions and even people in our lives when there is still a new life in them, just waiting to be recovered. I’m glad I didn’t give up on my friend, and I’m looking forward to spending many more years together.