The Story of the Ute

The ute is probably one of Australia's iconic symbols. You just chuck a load of stuff in the tray, dogs and livestock even, and drive it around. Up to about 2009 I managed to not even own a car, getting by with public transport and a personal shopping trolley (not called a granny trolley anymore because I was using it). That was, until I moved to Port Hedland, where public transport was virtually non-existent. There, I bought a second hand Holden Commodore Ute for $8000. It has been incredibly useful, if a bit of a petrol user because of the engine designed for moving heavy loads.

My ute covered in leaves from Cyclone Rusty

The person I bought it from once told me I only needed to service it when a warning light came on. The 'Check Engine' light came on and I can't remember why but for some reason I thought 'all good I'll check it later'. That was, until all of the lights came on at the same time and the engine stopped. I used the inertia of the car to move to the side of the road; fortunately, the road linking Port and South Hedland was not busy at the time. The mechanic found several things wrong with the car that needed replacing. After that, I got it serviced at the intervals recommended in the log book.

Me extracting usefulness from the ute (doesn't look like extraction though)

Today I got it serviced at one of those intervals. The list of things that needed fixing before the next service was long, daunting and pricey and I began to question whether it was worth retaining the car. We shall see.