Rarely, does someone come up to you and want to buy your semi, beat-up dinky car. But when they do, you consider the options. Recently, that happened with me and my husband’s little yellow car. We got an offer, too good to refuse.

Back in 2005 when I was a junior in college, my parents had enough of sinking money in useless, dud vehicles that broke down every month for me. I needed a reliable vehicle for a small price. They helped secure a special, unique car, one that left a lasting impression. A 2005 bright yellow Chevrolet Aveo. My dad had the exact car in red. Ketchup and Mustard. The Boot cars, my uncle called them.

But mainly, my car went by Zippy. Now, Zippy wasn’t my first choice or ever a choice. But as a broke college student living on student loans and Rice-A-Roni, I didn’t have much of a choice. It was this car, or no car. I picked the obvious choice. Plus, Zippy was brand new. Small, just as powerful as a golf cart, but had air conditioning.

Sure, people laughed at Zippy. “What kind of car is that?” was a common question. One time, a three hundred pound former UNK football player was dared to pick up my car. He probably could have too. You could spot that yellow car a mile away. Easy to find in a parking lot. I never had to worry about people breaking into my car. Zippy didn’t come with a killer stereo system. Zippy didn’t even come with automatic locks or windows.

No one messed with Zippy but that doesn’t mean the car hasn’t been through hades and back.

Zippy survived two accidents. Once, my mom dodged a dump truck that pulled out in front of her and hit a pole. Second accident, I spun out of control on an icy, snowy road and a pickup smashed into us. Zippy was a few dollars away from being completely totaled.

But Zippy never could die. Just two months ago, the timing belt and something else big, was off. The car was one mile away from having the engine torn to shreds. Our incredible mechanic Verne said, “That car, is a good little car. Zippy will last forever.”

He wasn’t kidding.

Zippy has been to Colorado and back. Missouri a time or two. All over Nebraska and recently, an eight hour trip to the family ranch in Western Nebraska.

Zippy has been peed on, thrown up in and had every kind of coffee dumped on its driver seat. Zippy survived an ant attack after I left a bag of fast food on the passenger side on the hottest day of the year. I’ve gotten a speeding ticket with Zippy a time or two. Drove through many rain and snow storms, although Zippy was meant to be a summer car. I never had a problem parallel parking or a flat tire. My friends loved Zippy. My family thought the car was the best investment. Through the years, my husband became very fond of Zippy. He mainly drove the little car to work and as I opted for our hefty SUV instead.

Best part of Zippy? We paid the car off years ago. The luxury of having no car payments was well worth it, even if that meant driving a tiny, unattractive car.

When my husband’s coworker approached us with an offer to buy Zippy, we thought long and hard. The car was really good to us and we weren’t looking to change.

But, change is good and we took the offer. I’ll miss my little car and the memories, but it was time to pass Zippy on.

However, I’m not looking forward to car payments. Ever.