It may not have been a real Mercedes like her keyring suggested, but in this week’s My First Car Series, Suzanne reveals how her Nissan Micra helped her overcome her driving fears.
When I was 25 I finally bought my first car – and now five years on I still remember every single detail, the good and the bad.
I forked out £500 for Mercedes, which was the name I gave her after finding the mechanic had given me a Mercedes keyring. Sadly it was just a keyring, not the real-deal itself.
I bought Mercedes just a few months after passing my driving test, when I suddenly realised I was half-way through my 20s.
At first I was scared of driving the car as I was quite nervous behind the wheel, but I soon settled in and we ended up becoming a great pair – enjoying a long, happy, and particularly interesting few years together.
One day, after sending Mercedes off for her second MOT, I received an unexpected knock at the door and sadly it was my mechanic looking back at me. Of course it was not going to be great news.
The mechanic informed me that Mercedes had holes in the bottom of her exterior and was growing plants through the bottom. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting to hear, but I simply got the holes fixed and we carried on like nothing happened.
But Mercedes wasn’t just a car to me, she was a friend of mine. A friend who drove me around while I was heavily pregnant, a friend who was there during my break-up and a friend who gave me my independence in my 20s.
But sadly, not all friendships can last forever.
Like most concerned parents my dad became increasingly worried about the smell of burning in Mercedes. Whenever temperatures rose above 15 degrees she didn’t know how to handle it. One time I was so hot and frustrated (and heavily pregnant) I abandoned her in the middle of the street and walked home.
My dad said sadly Mercedes was no longer safe and encouraged me to sell her.
I got £115 on Ebay - which was not bad going considering she began to resemble a flower bed, opposed to a vehicle.
Share memories and pictures of your Nissan Micra or tell us about your first car here.
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