DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Laura At St. Mary's

Q: Why Elsie?

A: Because that's what my daughter named it. It has that built-in navigation and she just said it reminded her of an Elsie.

Q: That's a good name. How long have you had it?

A: I've had it since…four years.

Q: How did you get it?

A: Through a dealership.

Q: Did you buy it new?

A: Yes, four years next month, that would be. Its birthday is coming up.

Q: Do you plan to celebrate?

A: No.

Q: Good. That would be a little weird.

A: Yeah, that would be weird.

Q: Why are you here today?

A: Church.

Q: How long have you been going to this church?

A: Four years.

Q: Why did you decide to come to this church?

A: It's our community. We don't live that far from this church, so we love that. We love the school and we fell in love with the fathers.

Q: What neighborhood do you live in?

A: I'm actually in Tahoe Park, 95820.

Q: How old are you?

A: Forty-three.

Q: What's your car's main use?

A: I guess pleasure. A little bit of work, but not much.

Q: You don't use it to commute?

A: Well, just here. I'm a stay-at-home mom. I do contract work for foster care organizations during certification, so sometimes I do that. We truly bought it just for a safe reliable vehicle.

Q: How much time do you spend in your car in an average day?

A: Less than an hour.

Q: What do you do during that time?

A: Drive back and forth. Just errands and picking my daughter up and, like I said, just very little work.

Q: What's your favorite day trip from home?

A: I would guess if we do one the most, it'd probably be wine tasting.

Q: Napa?

A: We go up. Like up Highway 16, Amador Valley.

Q: How often do you go?

A: Just a couple times of year, probably. I drive my husband and he drinks, while my daughter and I play.

Q: That doesn't sound like a fair trade-off.

A: I don't drink. It's just fun. I like to see the wineries and the vineyards. It's cool to do—especially if we have out of town friends that'll come and we'll go.

Q: Where's the craziest place you've driven to?

A: This summer we were in New Orleans and it was baking hot. We rented a car and went to Alabama to go to the beach. That was like our spur-of-the-moment thing.

Q: Who did you go with?

A: My husband and my daughter.

Q: How long did it take you to get there from New Orleans?

A: About six hours.

Q: You drove that far to get away from the heat?

A: Yeah, it was hot. We just thought it would be fun, driving along the state lines and stuff.

Q: What was your first car?

A: My first car was a Chevy Sprint, three-cylinder tin can.

Q: Wow!

A: I know. See, I just aged myself right there.

Q: How long did you have it for?

A: I don't know, maybe eight years? Six years?

Q: Did you like it?

A: It was a car.

Q: What happened to it?

A: I sold it just to get a more reliable, better car.

Q: Do you have any rules in your car?

A: No screaming, no putting stickers on the windows because I can't stand that. That's about it.

Q: That's it?

A: Well, you know, no smoking, no drinking, that kind of stuff.

Q: What do listen to in your car?

A: Kid Rock is my all-time favorite, so I try to listen to him as much as possible. My daughter's favorite right now is Katy Perry, so it's usually between those two.

Q: Do you ever rock out or sing along?

A: Yeah, well, my husband is in a couple of bands, so we listen to him too. We sing along.

Q: If your car had a human emotion, what would it be?

A: Sad because it's always on empty. Actually, hungry. I always tell my daughter my car is hungry because I hate getting gas.

Q: What are some of your favorite features of the car?

A: I like the navigation because I always get lost. I like the fact that I've actually figured out how to set the clock in it. On most cars I can't and this one's really easy. I always liked the heated seats in the winter, when I'm jumping over here, when it's cold.

Q: Do you ever use those seats to go up to Tahoe?

A: I went to Tahoe for work a couple of times, but for the most part, I don't like the idea of driving in snow.

Q: I've never done it, but I don't want to.

A: Okay, you get it! No snow for me.

Q: What's your absolute dream car?

A: I'm good with what I got. I don't have a dream car. I just want a car that's clean and nice, comfortable. I'm really happy with this one.

Q: Is there anything else we should know about your car?

A: No. It's just a solid good car.