Houzz Logo Print
okmoreh

OT: I know I am middle-aged because

17 years ago

last week I bought a red car - "Impulse Red Pearl" to be exact.

We can talk later about accessorizing the interior.

Comments (34)

  • 17 years ago

    Oh that's cute! I bought red this time around, too. First red car I've owned since I was 19 so that ought to tell ya something! Wish that was the only way I exhibited middle aged but I also have CRS disease ...............Can't Remember Sh*t ;-\

  • 17 years ago

    I recently got a VW Beetle Convertible which my kids call "Mom's MenopauseMobile."

    ...the cream beige color matches the exterior of my house exactly, and my neighbor claims the top looks like beige cashmere..I guess I didn't go all the way off the deep end!

  • 17 years ago

    Congrats on the new ride! And I completely understand that middle-aged thing! I don't have her anymore, but here I am with my last baby. My vanity plate read, "MIDLF Z." ;-)

  • 17 years ago

    Ok, all you ladies in those spiffy little cars, just wait until you hit your 50s. Here's your future! :-)

    I bought a 4-door, 8 cylinder, Toyota Tundra TRUCK! It's DARK GRAY! When you're retired, you like to HAUL stuff like plants/mulch/soil, home decor/appliances; friends in the backseat who also need to haul stuff. LOL

    Enjoy those cute, classy rides! Fun, fun!

  • 17 years ago

    I've been eyeing a red porsche turbo for myself.

    I think 50's is middle age wonbyherwits - I won't be buying no truck, I want something flashy then I can pay someone to haul the messy stuff. LOL

    Sky

  • 17 years ago

    This is a funny thread.

    The heck with the cars. I'm more interested plastic surgery and who I will go to for it.

  • 17 years ago

    I'm 50+ and just last week bought myself a Lincoln MKX, color White Chocolate. Yummy!

  • 17 years ago

    I just bought my daughter a brand new red car - I wanted something that other cars could see easily. If it had come in bright yellow I would have bought that.

  • 17 years ago

    red porsche turbo

    My new car is just a humble Toyota Corolla.

    wanted something that other cars could see easily

    That influenced me. The only Corolla colors are black, white, gray, silver, blue, and red. The dealer appeared to have one of each.

    When you're retired, you like to HAUL stuff like plants/mulch/soil, home decor/appliances; friends in the backseat who also need to haul stuff.

    I've kept my last two cars until they were ten or eleven years old. If I do that with this one, I'll be replacing it just before I retire. A truck is improbable but a station wagon (if they still exist then), crossover, or whatever new mutation has developed is pretty likely.

  • 17 years ago

    Red Cars=Cop magnets
    I've only owned one red car and received three speeding tickets while driving that car. No more red car--no more speeding tickets. Or it could be the fact that driving school finally lightened my lead foot. I was in the market last year for a car and took my gear-head son along with me for some test drives. He suggests a Cadillac and I responded "That's an old lady car". Well I relented and test drove one and end up buying it. My wheels are a Diamond White Cadillac STS and this "old" lady loves it. I tell everyone it's going to be my last car and my youngest son always breaks into song:
    With a purple umbrella and a fifty cent hat,
    Livin', lovin', she's just a woman.
    Missus cool rides out in her aged Cadillac.
    Livin', lovin', she's just a woman.

  • 17 years ago

    love2weed, you're not the first person I've heard say that. My dream car is a red Lexus convertible. I'd be pulled over because they'd take one look at me and think I stole it!! HA!

  • 17 years ago

    Well I like big cars. I drive a surburban. My last three cars have been surburbans and I love them. I can haul just about anything I want in there. The back seats fold down so I can haul lots of 5 gallon trees and shrubs all in one load, 10 foot pieces of crown molding, bricks, rocks, block, sand, mortar, slate, tile, desks, beds, end tables, or whatever decorating item I find. And I have used it for all of these things in the last three years and then some.

    In a pinch I could even sleep in there if I had to or I could pull a trailer and sleep in that and if I had a boat I could tow that too. I can go 500 miles on a tank of fuel without stopping on a long trip and I like sitting up high so I can see the traffic ahead of me. A suburban is very practical for me, it does have leather upholstery though.

    Before that I drove old cars, like my 64 Buick Electra, 66 Dodge Polara, 65 Olds Cutlass - all had big engines with 10:1 compression and would go real fast - lots of fun.

    I agree about the red cars, I already have a lead foot I don't need a red car to draw more attention to my driving style.

  • 17 years ago

    Congratulations on your new car!! How exciting, don't you just love that new car smell??

    I have lots of different vehicles...SUV's do it for me from mid-sized to large(excursion diesel - too big)

    DH is in the car business - not cheesey used car salesman type. He took a passion - cars - and makes a living. We like off-roading. We get lots of mid-life crisis people wanting these beast - 4 door Harley.


    This is what he is really into...This one is going to Canada.

    >
    No debates on gas issues, please. To each his own :)

    Smiles:)

  • 17 years ago

    I drive a 1995 Ford Escort wagon, bought used in 1997. Navy blue. Works for me, as I only drive about 3K miles a year. I will likely be driving this car until it dies (which may be any time now), and my next car will be something similar.

    I am 54, and have NO desire for a truck or an SUV, nor a sports car. Well, I would actually love a 1960's era corvette convertible, but not for speed, nor because of a mid-life crisis. I have wanted one of those since I was in my 20's. LOL

    If I have a choice, my next car would be a rich grey, or black. No red (tho I love the color) and absolutely no white, ever. It's just me, but white vehicles look like service vehicles, like the company cars issued by the utility companies and village departments.

  • 17 years ago

    Sports Car??? I'm about ready for a walker, LOL.

  • 17 years ago

    When I had a red car I was stopped much more for stuff by the police than when I had/have a silver car! Don't know why.

  • 17 years ago

    The conventional wisdom is that grey and silver cars blend into the background, while red cars stand out.

    I'm not sure. I owned a red car once before, 20 years ago. I never got a speeding ticket while driving it, but it was rear-ended three times in one year.

  • 17 years ago

    We drive a Toyota Camry and a Toyota highlander. (Need 4 wheel drive in Maine and we have a second home at a ski area.) Now, What do I want to drive??? I want a 67 or 69 red mustang conv. Maybe next year????

  • 17 years ago

    When you have a family that looks like mine (yes they are all mine, except for the cute, bald dh) you are still driving a mini van or a Suburban. By the time all of my kids are grown I'll be to old to be driving ;-)

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • 17 years ago

    Ah, Sanborn, you bring back memories. When I was young, I had a red corvette. When the 64-1/2 Mustangs came out, I traded it for one of those. We kept it, repainting and upgrading it through the years so the kids all drove it to college. After the last one got his master's, we decided to sell it because we could not split it up equally. I see it from time to time. The people who bought it for their kid to go to college on, decided to reclaim it after he graduated and the father who has passed middle-aged crazy drives it around town from time to time. I think they use it for show-and-tell. It always makes me long for yesteryear when I see it. I drove all the kids around as babies in that car, then they drove it off to college. When I see it, it is a very nostalgic feeling I get.

  • 17 years ago

    okmoreh--don't we get to see a pic so we can live vicariously through you. I rudely forgot to say congratulations.

    The only red car I had was a red Chevy Vega when I was in college and it was a lemon (yes, a red lemon!).

  • 17 years ago

    Here's the manufacturer's photo.

  • 17 years ago

    I was what my DH calls a "motor head" in my 30's and early 40's. I bought a new vehicle every two years, and I always had two vehicles at the same time to keep the mileage down and to have one SUV and one sporty car. I treated myself to nice vehicles in those years between being divorced/single mom and remarried. When you've got a high-stress job and commute and a mom on your own...got to give yourself something. Of course, it was the high-stress job that paid for those cars!

  • 17 years ago

    Now I'm reading to choose accessories for the interior of the car.

    First I thought of fuzzy dice, but I figured someone would tell me that they're out of style. Pillar candles? Faux fruit? Bowls of cinnamon-scented pinecones (saw these in BB&B yesterday)?

  • 17 years ago

    I meant "Now I'm ready to...."

  • 17 years ago

    I've seen *leopard-print* fuzzy dice in the automotive section of the Evil Empire, I mean, Wal-Mart.

    Love the new car! Enjoy!

  • 17 years ago

    I want an old truck, the older the better! I've seen an old turquoise one (just perfect for someone in NM) around town here and I'd buy it from the guy in a heartbeat if it was for sale. We currently have an '03 Ranger w/extended cab that's great for hauling stuff, but it's dark blue and a little mainstream.

  • 17 years ago

    Ah, the '65 Mustang! What a great car! My parents gave me a brand new '65 dark blue 289 standard shift Mustang when I was a senior in college. Now THAT was a guy magnet! We sold it in '75 for $500! Unbelievable, huh, and it was in mint condition.

  • 17 years ago

    okmoreh, with such a nice car you may not need an accessory, but then again maybe something silver hanging from the rear view mirror to go with the wheels.

    red lover, what a beautiful family you have.

    kat123, my mom sold her 65 Mustang convertible, tan with a cream top (a 6 cylinder though) for $500 when I was in college and it was in mint condition too. She said she didn't think I wanted it. I would have loved that car.

    kim2007, I love old trucks too. DH is restoring a 54 - 5 window chevy truck, single wheel flatbed. Here is a shot of it. He has parts all over the garage on tables he has set up. We just had it painted the original color - ocean green (looks kind of turquoise in photo). It had 7 layers of paint on it: tan, white, black, red, yellow, dark green and then the original color on the bottom. It's been a lot of work and we are no where near finished. I say "we" because he has me order parts and occasionally has me help hold parts while he puts them back on the truck.

    {{!gwi}}

  • 17 years ago

    springvillegardens, that is SO COOL!!!! I'm so jealous!!!!

  • 17 years ago

    thanks kim2007, don't be too jealous, this truck is kind of like a very long, long decorating project. Notice there aren't any windows in the truck? It was in a guys garage for TWO YEARS who we hired to supposedly just sand it. He called us one day out of the blue (after us pestering him for over a year to get the thing done) and said come and get it TODAY I have other projects I have to do. The whole truck was taken apart down to the last bolt - it was a running truck when we brought it to him. In fact it had a new battery when we brought to him and it was so dead we had to buy another one.

    Then we had it towed to another guy to finish sanding it. He was supposed to have it to us in two weeks but we got it back in six weeks (which wasn't bad considering the first fiasco). We had it towed back home on a flatbed truck one month ago from the second guy who also painted it - finally after all this time. Then we pushed it in the garage.

    Now DH is looking through all the boxes of parts trying to put it all back together again - windows, hood, fenders, welting, mirrors, door panels, gas tank, bumpers, etc, etc. Since DH didn't take it apart it's harder to figure out how each piece goes back on. He did buy a manual, and thank goodness there are reproduction parts, nuts and bolts for Chevy trucks.

    Hopefully one day we'll be able to drive it again. Here's a couple of before photos.

    {{!gwi}}{{!gwi}}

  • 17 years ago

    And here I thought this thread would be something about the things we do that show others how old we are (like the music we listen to, what we love in furniture, etc).

    Okay, ladies, I just turned 50, and much of the time I drive a 93 Ford pick-up truck. The fuel mileage is HORRID (12 mpg), so when I can, I drive the little Saturn (30-35mpg). DD has to take the Saturn to college - which embarrassed her a little at first because "that's so old-fogie-ish, Mom!" But I notice she didn't want to drive the truck and pay for ITS fuel!

    DonnaR/CA

  • 17 years ago

    My two dream cars are a Honda Pilot (for practicality) and a MINI Cooper S (for fun). Since I have to remain boringly practical in order to afford our hobbies and early retirement, instead we have a Hyundai Santa Fe (bought dirt-cheap over the Internet and I will NEVER buy a car any other way - dead easy!) and a used Buick Regal which used to belong to my MIL that she gave us a gift. I'll probably replace it with a used Focus 5-door hatchback in a few years.

    But I lust over every MINI I see on the road, LOL!

  • 17 years ago

    Congrats on the car, OK.

    New house, new car - must feel euphoric. I know I'd have a slight identity fragmentation issue with that much change.

    Link is for Johnatemp. I love the action guys from The Fast Show.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Let's Off-Road!