I can’t believe I never told the story of LuLu’s test drive – especially with how we got her home, it seemed maybe it was doomed from the start! I’ll let you decide what you think. Personally, I think the universe was looking after me.
It was my niece who found LuLu for me. Then, just a nameless, white 1973 VW T2 on Facebook Marketplace. My experience with Marketplace is pretty much always the same – find something really cool, ask if its available, and discover it just sold. LuLu had actually been advertised for a week when we discovered the posting. Once we discovered she was still available, it took another week to be able to make the test drive happen.
There were a few different compounding factors to make this test drive difficult. First of all, it was a three hour drive to get to Evergreen, where she was located. Second, it was February in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Third…I didn’t know how to drive a stick. And of course in addition to all of those things, I had no idea what to look for in a 1973 Volkswagen!
I was able to recruit my cousin to come with me. He is a master mechanic so at least he could pick up on any major red flags. He can also drive a stick so the perks were two-fold. Thankfully, the weather wasn’t terrible, either.
There were a few things right away that were kind of concerning to me. Her interior was worse off than I thought. She needed a tire replaced. And the back door was tricky. He didn’t park in a parking place, but rather parked sideways. Small things, really.
After a few minutes of excited chatting and looking around, my cousin got into the drivers seat and we took off down the road. We made it probably about a mile at most headed up the side of the mountain and things went sideways. The tire that needed replaced? Yeah. It popped.
It seemed like the perfect storm of circumstances. Winter. We didn’t leave my cousins keys with the man who owned LuLu. He had driven LuLu to our rendezvous point, so he didn’t have another car. The spare tire was shredded and also needed replaced.
I called him and told him what happened and I won’t like, I was a little nervous he’d be very mad. He is the nicest guy, though, and he felt terrible about it. He started walking toward us. My cousin, and this blows my mind, steps out of the vehicle and immediately hails a ride from a woman in an SUV. I’ll give him credit. He was wearing a city reflective jacket so I’m sure it helped his cause, but it was literally the first car he tried waving down that stopped. She even gave him a ride back to where the man was and they got a ride back up to where LuLu was stationed!
As for the test drive, that was the end of it and we didn’t even make it to 4th gear! Without a spare, she needed towed. Now, some of you might look at this situation and think the universe was warning me that this was a bad idea. And maybe you’re right. But when I look at it, I think the universe may have been looking out for me. I would’ve had to replace the tire had it not blown that day. It might’ve blown on the way home. But because it did while we were test driving it, a new tire came with LuLu meaning all 4 of her tires were new. Despite its methods, I’ll give a thank you to the universe for that one.
What do you think – universe with me or against me? Comment below!
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