Two Dipsticks Garage

Whether you loved or hated your first vehicle, it will always be that first taste of freedom.

Sometimes you did Dukes of Hazard style driving and jumping, sometimes you drop your fire poker shifter out the bottom of the hole in your floorboard, and sometimes you unintentionally cause it to rain gravel on everybody else's car in the truck stop parking lot where you were the dishwasher to support your vehicle addiction.

The stories of your first vehicle are legend and you somehow managed to survive.

You have a friend with a ridiculous collection of vehicles. Some run. Some even run well.

Stephen has a brother just like your friend. 

Evan's collection of vehicles include: 1964 Chevrolet C10 (Charlie, in the shop), 1994 Toyota Pickup 4x4, 2002 VW Beetle Turbo S, 2005 Mazdaspeed Miata (starts), 2006 Toyota 4Runner V8, 2011 Mazdaspeed 3, 2012 Lexus GX460, and the recent sale of a 1989 Ford Probe GT Turbo.

That's the road going vehicles. The dirt vehicles will be listed in another episode.

If you missed The Cartastrophe Series, a three part burner, you'll probably want to catch up on those to make sense of what's in Stephen's current stable.

And, there's one on the way. It's a non-gender reveal party at Casa De Chance in Georgia.

So, you purchase one used vehicle, a hybrid, and it craps out. Then, you purchase another used vehicle, a turbo, and it craps out. 

You're determined to make things better for your spouse, and the formula of buying a used vehicle around $15,000 seems to be a recipe for disaster.

What's the answer?

Husband Math would suggest that you rinse and repeat. And, that's where we catch up with Stephen in Part III of his 11 month journey that began with a Surprise hybrid vehicle that replaced her beloved, yet aging, 2012 Chevy Malibu.

If buying one surprise car for your spouse doesn't make sense, then certainly, the answer is to....buy another.

In Part II of The Cartastrophe, the logic of Husband Math continues to go in the opposite direction that Stephen had intended...even without a hybrid.

POP! BANG! Check Engine Light!

What's worse than having a used hybrid with a battery pack that junks out on you? 

Having a completely different vehicle with an unknown issue that very few people in the world actually know about.

Let's go back to Once Upon a Time, when you decided to get married, and you're very happy,  and you have an internal itch that tells you that your spouse would be very happy if you surprised them with a different vehicle.

The keyword there is 'Surprise'...and that's where all your Husband Math goes begins to breakdown, just like the new to you car did just five minutes from the dealership.

Then, things get worse.

With all the good intentions in the world, Stephen managed to begin an 11 month journey of one cartastrophe after another.