Loyal to the End: A Man and His Car
April 29, 2004
by Mike Spinney

It finally happened. My Infiniti G20 (the Spinfiniti) took to the road for what will almost surely be its penultimate drive on Wednesday, April 28, 2004.

I have no complaints and am pleased that the car actually got me home. It showed serious signs of giving up on me southbound on Interstate 495 near the Interstate 93 exchange. Loud noises started coming from behind the firewall, like a muted Tommy gun in a North Clark Street garage. From thereon, it was a struggle to keep the car at the prescribed speed limit.

On downhill grades I was able to gain enough speed to use momentum in an effort to beat the forces of gravity, but it was touch and go. On the byways that lead to home, I was grateful for each turn of the wheel that brought me closer to my destination.

I’m partly to blame. Three years ago the Spinfiniti was showing signs of age, so I decided to save a little dough on upkeep, figuring I’d be trading it in soon. One month led to another, and another, until one year had elapsed. I took the car in for an inspection and, when it passed, I decided to keep it on the road for a while longer.

Oil changes regularly waited more than 10,000 miles. Tune ups? Forget it. During one amusing episode I actually lost one of my rear brakes, much to the dismay of the car behind me, so after putting the money into a repair, I couldn’t justify a trade so soon. Same deal when I picked up a nail in one of the tires and ended up having to buy new rubber.

Another successful turn at the inspection station in 2002 and I decided to avoid incurring any additional car payments again. Besides, my hand will be forced come September 2003, I argued to myself when the car, inevitably, fails its annual checkup.

I actually took the car off the road briefly in August of 2003 when problems started to arise that turning the radio up a little louder couldn’t fix. Sure, little things like the FM antenna breaking, the heat/AC not working, and the antenna motor burning out were annoying, but it wasn’t anything that affected the mechanics. But the onset of a lack of engine power was a concern, and a sound indicating unwanted friction was troubling.

One local mechanic took a look and said it wasn’t worth the money. Something about a bearing in the cylinder, and that a fix would cost more than the car was worth. Another mechanic confirmed that diagnosis and said heavier grade oil would help...for a while.

Amazingly, the car passed its 2003 inspection, so I continued to drive it. This time out of necessity. When I got laid off in October, finances dictated squeezing every last mile out of the ride. The odometer had eclipsed 190,000, so I figured I’d try to roll it over to 200,000. When my windshield cracked a couple months ago, I knew it wasn’t going to make it.

The frame was shot and driving over frost heaves had the effect of torquing the body, exerting too much pressure on the windshield. What started as a small crack now occupies the lower driver’s corner and threatened to craze even further into my field of vision.

Still, the Spinfiniti soldiered on, until yesterday when I headed to Maine for one of my freelance gigs. The ride up was uneventful, but the ride back down turned out to be a swan song.

Today, the car sits in my garage. I’ll empty it of its contents in a couple days. One last trip is in the works, but it will take some planning. I’ll need to find another vehicle at a dealer close enough that I can limp into the parking lot and, in trade, relinquish ownership of a car that I often derided, but that I now must admit has been a loyal machine. Right to the very end.

(Mike Spinney is a volunteer staff writer for 2 Walls Webzine)