I've always wanted to drive a convertible since the first time I set my eyes on the Barbie car I got for Christmas years ago. My Barbie seemed to love riding in it, so I thought I would, too. And it turns out that my hypothesis was right; I love my car.
I remember driving Bradley (that's what I've named it) home from the dealer like it was yesterday. I've enjoyed many afternoon drives along the beach with the top down and the music blasting. But, convertibles do come with their shortcomings.
Here are some struggles you'll only understand if you're a convertible owner:
1. Everything's got to go in the trunk
No matter how many times I go for a drive, I'm still always afraid of my purse flying out of the car as soon as I get on the highway. So, whenever I go for a drive, I either wrap the straps of my bag around the headrests of the seats, or I lock away my items in the trunk.
2. Getting rained on
It's always a gamble taking off the roof because you never know if the weather reports are accurate or not. The last thing I want to happen while I'm driving is to be forced into taking a rain shower and arrive at my destination soaking wet.
3. The seats can get really hot
If you leave the top down while parked, the seats are going to bake in the sun, especially if they're leather. I've burnt my thighs so many times that I always keep a towel in the trunk so I can sit on it on sunny days.
4. Don't park under a tree
If you try to save your seats from the heat, you'll probably park in a shady spot, such as under a tree. But, you'll soon realize that this is a mistake when you come back to your car to find a pool of leaves covering the inside of your car.
5. Bad hair day
Never expect your hair to look the same getting out of the car as it did getting into it. Your hair will definitely get frizzy, knotted, and messy, so the best thing you can do is to bring a hair-tie (which will keep you from getting blindsided as you're driving) and hope for the best.
6. Say goodbye to that hat
No hat, no matter how tight to tie it, can withstand a drive on a highway. Your best bet is to put it in the trunk where the wind can't get to it.
7. Don't forget sunglasses
From all the sun that's beating down on you, you might get blinded by the light. I always keep an extra pair of sunglasses in my glovebox because one time the sun was so strong that I couldn't see and almost got into an accident. Scary stuff!
8. The dreaded moment when a garbage truck passes
Strong smells can leak into any car that's on the road, but it's so much worse for convertibles because you're practically driving outside. Any smelly construction site or resting place for a dead skunk can put a damper on your drive real quick.
9. Is there a fly in my eye?
You share the road with more creatures and bugs than you do with fellow drivers. Sometimes you might be driving down the road feeling perfectly fine and then realize that you may or may not have just swallowed a fly.
10. Technical difficulties
Nothing is worse than wanting to take off your roof on a blazing hot day just to find out that the cover won't come off. I can sometimes fix this problem by rearranging a few things in my trunk, but sometimes I'm forced to drive with all four windows down to get the feel of the convertible back-- how awful!
11. Suffering from post-convertible-season-depression
If you live in California, this isn't a problem for you because convertible season never stops. But if you're living somewhere that gets cold during the fall and doesn't warm up again until mid-spring, you know the struggle of waiting months and months to drop your top again.
