Q: Hi Tanya! Thank you for participating in Defend Your Ride Detroit. What do you use your car for? Work? Fun?

A: Personal driving to school and work, mostly. Probably about three hours a day. I drive a lot. Friend’s houses who aren’t anywhere close to me.

Q: Do you do a lot of weekend trips?

A: We go to Canada a lot. We go all over the place and don’t really stay in one spot. I always drive.

Q: What’s the farthest place you’ve driven to with this car?

A: About a year after I bought it, my roommate and I went to Florida.

Q: Would you say that’s also the craziest place you’ve driven to?

A: No, that would be Chicago. Crazy because of the traffic and the way the people drive there.

Q: Was that you by yourself or with some friends?

A: That would be me and my roommate again!

Q: Do you have a nickname for your car?

A: I’ve had a lot of names for my car. Right now it’s Mario, a play on my roommate’s ex-boyfriend. My friend gave it that name because when she sits in the car the fasten seatbelt light comes on automatically and only for her. She says, “It yells at me just like Mario did!”

Q: Do you have any rules for your car?

A: I tried having rules, but my rules don’t really get followed very much. I don’t allow open alcohol in my car, especially since I’m a minor. I wanted to not have any food in my car when I originally bought it, but that’s been hard to maintain.

Q: What kind of music do you listen to in your car?

A: There’s a lot of country music that I play, but I listen to pretty much anything.

Q: If your car had a theme song, what would it be?

A: “Roll Up” by Wiz Khalifa

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

A: Fear! My car is probably afraid of me. Sometimes I’m not the best driver.

Q: How did you come across this car? Was it a purchase or a gift?

A: It was a purchase. When I got my license, this was the one thing I really wanted.

Q: Did you buy it at a dealer?

A: Yes, at Al Serra in Grand Blanc, MI. I thought they were really nice and it went well, but at the same time I was a teenager who walked in and said “I want to buy a car.” It was leased to one of the dealership employees, so it had about 24,000 miles on it, but it was in perfect condition. The employee had to return it after the lease was up.

Q: And when the time comes and you want to get something new, have you given any thought to what you would like to get next?

A: I would probably consider an Impala. It’s the sister car to my car. It’s a little heavier, which I would like because this car doesn’t always do so well on ice in the wintertime. My dad really wants me to get an Impala as well because of the weight.