Roxy's 11th

For those of you who don't know her, this is my car Roxy, a 1.4L 2000 Nissan Sentra EX Saloon.  She'll have been with me for 11 years this Feb.  Yes, eleven.  My folks got her for me in Feb of 2000, when I was still in college.  I used to drive a 1.6L 1990 Nissan Sentra SGX (who I named Bu) that  was a hand-me-down from my Dad, but it was ill-maintained, and I had trouble keeping it running.  She would stall in the middle of the road every so often, and sometimes she wouldn't start again.  It was hard for me to let go of Bu, especially because I've had so many adventures with her.  So when Roxy came, it was bittersweet.  I had a brand new car.  But it wasn't Bu. 

At first, it was awkward.  "There's not enough power."  "It's just not the same."   But as the months went along, I started feeling more comfortable with Roxy.  After installing a racing air filter, front and rear strut bars, racing exhaust and performance suspension parts, Roxy wasn't half bad.  In fact, Roxy was kicking major butt.  I would go to Friday night races with her, take her out to the track to stretch her legs, and just drive the hell out of her for 11 years. 

This Feb, Roxy is turning eleven years old.  That's pretty old in car years.  But you know what?  She still kicks ass.  She's never staled on me.  Never had any major operations.   Never overheated.  The A/C is as cold as the day I got her.  All the power windows and door locks work.  She's never let me down.   You want to talk about quality?  The water in the radiator is the water that came with Roxy from the casa.  Yes, the water is eleven years old too.  I've probably topped off the water once or twice (with less than a cupful of water) during the last decade.  Now THAT's quality.  Roxy is running as smoothly now as she was running 10 years ago.  I'm not exaggerating.  Of course there are more than a few rattles and bumps, but what's to be expected from a car plying 160,000 kms on Manila's roads?  Yes, Roxy has circumnavigated the world 4 times over in the last decade and still runs awesome.  Beat that!

Today, Roxy and I are going on another adventure.  We're  climbing up to Baguio in a few minutes, and it will be Roxy's fifth time there.  I expect nothing short of a wonderful drive on this, Roxy's eleventh year.  See you all when we get back!