Frances

Installment 3: Summer 2005

Frances is a white 1990 Toyota Camry DX. She has 209,000+ miles on her, and she is owned by someone else. She no doubt ferries that person to and from work or school every day, as well as to other important things. I decided to rearchive this page because I have already sold her. But there are pictures here.

Installment 2: Spring 2005

Frances is a white 1990 Toyota Camry DX. She has 209,000 miles on her, and she runs. She takes me to and from school every day, as well as to rehearsals and proms and such important things. I decided to reestablish this page about her because I want to sell her.

Reasons You Want to Purchase Her:

• I can provide the full service history, and a good history it is. She has always gotten her oil changes on schedule, and she has been meticulously maintained by her former owners.
• Automatic seatbelts: you'll love to hate them.
• A nifty eject button on the dash.
• You can remove the key from the ignition when the car is running if you jiggle it a bit. Then if you lose the key you can't turn the car off.
• All her parts still work. I make no guarantees about the cassette player, but everything else works fine, including the A/C.
• Fold-down back seat so you can store a bunch of stuff.
• An easy-to-close trunk, if you're gentle. It's agonizing to close if you're violent.
• She's gone 209,000 miles. She's not planning on stopping anytime soon unless you kill her.
• Once when I calculated it out I figured she got 27 miles per gallon. That's better than either of my parents' late-model cars.
• She has a name, and she purrs.
• You don't have to keep the name if you don't want to, but you do have to keep the purring or she'll die.
• She seats four large people moderately comfortably, and five medium people easily if you don't mind getting personal with somebody in the backseat.
• Power locks and windows; I totally was expecting manual when I first got her but I got power. It was a nice surprise.
• She has four shiny new plastic wheel covers from Walmart.

Installment 1: Fall 2004

Frances is a white 1990 Toyota Camry DX. She has 203,000 miles on her, and she runs like a dream. She takes me to and from school every day, and in the future she will take me to any jobs I might procure, in addition to rehearsals. I decided to make a page about her because I am so grateful to have her.

Where She Came From

Frances came about because I am taking a class at East Chapel Hill High School in the mornings. After it ends, I have to find my way back to (just plain) Chapel Hill High School, across town. This would have required me to ride a shuttle across town, or have my parents come and drive me to and fro.

Frances also came about because of how much time I spend in rehearsals. It has become quite a necessity to have a car, and so I do. And so, as a result of all of these elements, my parents decided to buy a car for my use. Our arrangement is as such:

• They own the car. They paid for it, and their name is on both the title and the registration.
• They pay liability insurance for the car. This was going to (perhaps) fall to me, but the difference in the premium between me driving a car of my own and me driving their cars all the time was negligible, and they picked it up.
• I drive the car for everything that I do, and subsequently
• I put gas in the car. I'm car-pooling with some people who will help me out with this, but essentially, it falls to me.

About the Name

I didn't name Frances. She was named by her former owner, who was quite attached to her vehicle. In fact, she called several times during the first week my parents owned Frances, asking how she was doing and telling me last-minute things about her operation.

Assorted Things About the Car

• She has an immaculate interior. It has been neurotically maintained.
• She has automatic seatbelts. They are annoying.
• Her tape player doesn't work, despite never having been used.
• Her engine was replaced at 150,000 miles.
• Her trunk sometimes leaks.
• The back seats fold down allowing trunk pass-throughs.
• She has had two owners. The first was in New York, and the second (who sold it to my parents) lives off Highway 54.
• She is missing two hubcaps.