So I have a new car now. A Ford Taurus LX, 2000 edition. Nice car with a lot of options over the base model, at least as far as Ford's web site says. My mom bought it for me after only looking for one day, surprising since she likes to take her time shopping so as to get the best deal. It's more like something I would do. Anyway, it'll take me a couple of years to pay her back for the car.

After driving my sister's Toyota Corolla for a couple of weeks, the Taurus is huge by comparison. I'm afraid I'll sideswipe something, although I'm sure I'll get used to it in a few more days. The big things that I want for a car are: big enough for five people to sit comfortable, with trunk space to match; power door locks, windows, which are very convenient; cruise control which I think is a necessity in an hour commute. Everything else was pretty much nice to have but wouldn't kill me if it didn't have it.

Of course, it's not until you have those features that you realize how nice they are. Cassette AM/FM stereo for music, power driver's seat (which may or may not be a good thing, too many choices and all), air conditioning, power steering and brakes, ABS breaks, cupholder (one of which has a groove that I snugly fit my CD walkman into, strange), and a bunch of other little things.

The anti-theft system is nice, although annoying at times. I don't like the chirping it does when it arms or disarms -- too noisy for my tastes. It's also rather aggressive if you're not careful. Since it only has door sensors and a sensor in the ignition, if you just sit there it doesn't know someone's in the car. I parked and was arranging some things when it honked me a couple of times, I guess it wanted me to keep a door open or leave the key in the ignition so it knows I'm still inside and alive. It also doesn't seem to want to start the car if I use the key to open the door, instead of the remote control. And if I open the trunk with the key while the system is armed it also honk four times. All of which have made me quite jumpy around my car when it's not running.

Some things that are a bit different than my old Taurus (or maybe I missed those things in the owner's manual): it recommends using overdrive all the time, unless in hilly terrain that'll make the automatic transmission shift into and out of overdrive constantly; use gear 1 going downhill so the car doesn't speed up as much; use 87 octane unleaded gas; leave the A/C on something other than off so that the car can breathe when it's not running; the cruise control can be adjusted in increments of 1 MPH while driving; the fuel empty indicator comes on early so you still have some fuel to drive with; an RPM gauge; recommended oil changes at 5000 miles instead of 3000 miles.

All in all, I really like the new car. It's big but not gigantic. I've driven an SUV and it's not a nice experience. It's much quieter than the old car, due to it being new I suppose. I miss not having any radio buttons high up on the dashboard, so I have to look down to change the radio station or adjust the volume. The trunk looks bigger, but maybe that's my imagination. The top of the dashboard is huge, probably some weird design thing with the windshield.

My mom registered the car, so when she gets the license plate and registration info I'll have to go back to change it to my name. Then I have to get insurance for it; my mom had to get insurance for to cover it during this period. I'll probably stay with 21st Century, unless they don't want to cover me. It'd be nice to use AAA but I'll probably be too lazy to try to change.

I'm hoping this car will last 10 years, which would be 350000 miles at current driving rates, although that's unlikely to remain that high. Maybe 250000 miles in 10 years. Don't know if the engine will last that long, but I think I take relatively good care of my car.