DEFEND YOUR RIDE: Joy At Garfield Park Conservatory

Q: How did you come about this car?

A: The first car I had was a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am that my parents bought me. After having that car for a couple of years, it started to give me quite a bit of trouble. It was pretty much the end of the road for it. I knew it was time to let it go. Plus, I felt it was time for me to have something that was in my name. So I went to a used car dealership, picked out this car, got it financed and that was the end of that. That was about seven years ago.

Q: What attracted you to this car?

A: I was looking for something in the Chevy family. So the salesmen showed me this car and I immediately like it. It was spacious, which is extremely important to me because I don't like small cars, and it was black.

Q: So you like black cars?

A: I did, but not anymore. You have to keep them washed and waxed all the time. If you don't, the car looks really dull and ugly. So I'm over black.

Q: What are some of the features you like about this car?

A: Well, I can tell you about what I did like about this car because to be honest, I'm over it. I liked the fact that my headlights have a sensor so as soon as it gets dark, the lights just turn on. I liked the space, and yeah that's about it. You can tell I'm totally over this car because I honestly can't think of anything I like about the car really!

Q: Do you have a nickname for your car?

A: Yes, I call her Kenosha.

Q: Why do you call your car Kenosha?

A: It was the name of my cousin who passed away. So I named the car after her as a way to honor and remember her.

Q: Do you have any rules for your car?

A: No smoking!

Q: Has anyone ever tried to smoke in here?

A: My mother tries to sneak and do it. I can't really say anything because she is my mom. But she is honestly the only one who tries to do it, so I let it slide. But I really hate for people to smoke because it stinks up the whole place.

Q: How much longer do you plan to keep this car?

A: Not that much longer. Maybe another month or two and that's it.

Q: What type of car do you plan to get next?

A: There are so many cars I want to get, but it will probably be a Toyota Camry.

Q: What attracts you to Toyotas?

A: They're known as being reliable quality cars, which I like. If I buy a car, I want to keep it for a long time. I don't want to buy anything and it keeps breaking down on me.

Q: Are you going to trade in this car or keep it?

A: I'm going to keep it. Since my son will be getting his license shortly, I figured that I could just keep this car and give it to him. This way he can have something to call his own and won't have to wait around on me, or take the CTA all the time.

Q: Are you nervous about him driving?

A: Of course! He, on the other hand, is pumped up. So we will see how this goes, but I have talked to him quite a bit about driving the speed limit, wearing his seatbelt, not having a lot of passengers in the car, and drinking and driving. So hopefully he soaked all that information up.

Q: What's your absolute dream car?

A: A BMW or a Range Rover.

Q: Anything else we should know about this car?

A: Despite the fact that I've had ups and downs with this car, I will miss it.