‘What is my car’s name’ Linn asked one morning on the way to school. I never thought about it and never named our Mazda after my first car, Hilda the old Merc. I replied ‘Mazda’. So I took this opportunity to tell the kids that Papa has bought a new car in Sweden.

‘What is the new car’s name’ Linne asked quickly. I told her ‘Audi’. So that is how ‘Goodbye Mazda, Hello Audi’ came about. But the kids don’t want to know Audi.

‘No…it is Hello Mazda, Goodbye Audi’ our cheeky monkey says. The kids then try to teach me how to say Mazda…’No, it’s MAZda….no, it’s MazZZZZZZda…no, it’s MazDA’. They really like the Mazda.

I must say that it is a great family car. It has served us well. Just yesterday, a car dealer asked me what is the mileage. My response of 50,000 km was quite a surprise for a 2 year old car and Shu Ping asked me to check if it is correct. I thought about it. We have been making 30km trips x 2 each day with the car, picking and dropping the kids to school. We have driven to KL, Malacca and driving cross country have never been an issue for us. We sometimes just go for car rides to get them to take their afternoon naps.

So, we will miss you Mazda. Specially your sliding doors.