Going “Topless” – Owning a Convertible, that is

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Making the leap to owning a convertible

Late last summer my husband starting showing me photos of convertibles. He also started pointing them out to me as we drove together. Next, he started showing some for sale online, and asking me which ones I liked and which color I preferred. It took me a while to catch on, unusual as I like to think I connect dots pretty well, but this interest of his was unexpected. Never do I remember him talking about owning a convertible, whether for daily use, or as a fun car.

He narrowed down his search to Pontiac Solstices, sporty two seaters which were only made for a short period of time. (circa 2006-2009) It happens that they are pretty modest in price and there were several available in New England in the color, condition, mileage, and price range he was looking for. There was even one in the city we live in, but not the color he wanted.

The Journey to Owning a Convertible

I realized that the hunt was very serious as he started showing me photo after photo of those for sale and asking me which Solstice and color I preferred. We went to local car lots after-hours to look at similar sized and shaped car models so we could have a better idea of comfort and storage. One car lot had unlocked models so we could try the cars for leg room. After missing out on a few that sold before he had a chance to connect with the seller, he found one at a dealership just over the state line in Connecticut. It was a “drop everything and go” afternoon.

Well, it was red, the color of choice, and cute, cute, cute. When it was brought around for us to test drive, all the sales people started coming over to take a look. They didn’t know it was in their inventory. It was the hit of the afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day and people in the dealership kept drifting outside and over to the car. We drove it, and that cinched the deal for my husband. I was still in a bit of shock that we were buying something so novel in our lifestyle. I mean, we generally buy Fords and for utility and value.

Going through a car dealership

I do have to mention that, although we might have paid a bit more because we went to a dealership, we were glad we did. Although we thought we had checked out the car, we discovered a problem when driving it home. The convertible top wasn’t properly latched and it was slowly retracting as we drove along the highway. We pulled over and after we couldn’t latch it, try as we might, we called the dealership and brought it back. It turned out that the latch was bent. (Not our doing.) The Subaru dealership kept the car, replaced the latch, registered it, and even delivered it, no extra charge. If it had been a private sale, we might have been out of luck, once we drove off.

So fulfilling my husband’s dream, we now look forward to clear days after work and on weekends to ride with the top down to food and fun destinations within an hour’s drive of home. This is part of my stated intention of the last few years to start exploring what’s fun and different in each city and town in our state. I just never thought it would be in a sporty “limited edition” convertible. Bring on the sunblock and hats!

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The Joy of (Pontiac) Solstice

Owning and riding in a convertible with the top down is fun, but riding in a red one with the style that the Solstice has, is an experience on another level. We are getting a lot of looks, waves, and beeps.

What’s summer without going to favorite ice cream stands? One of ours is Erickson’s Ice Cream on Rt. 117 in Maynard, Massachusetts. They don’t skimp on their ingredients and their prices fair for the quantities they scoop. Now we use the Solstice and sometimes we see other convertibles in their parking lot. One time as we were waiting in line for our cones a BMW caught our eye as it drove in. As we watched the driver, we couldn’t help grinning as he strolled over our Solstice to check it out. That moment: Priceless.