In some ways, 2006 does not seem very long ago.

We had the internet, cell phones and lots of tech.

We didn’t have the iPhone — that would come a year later.

But still, 2006 was a good year for technology. In my own case, I purchased this 2006 Impreza Outback in August of 2006 at a dealership in Baltimore, trading in a 2003 Mini Cooper. My rationale for getting the Subaru was multi-faceted. On the one hand, the Mini was approaching the 50,000 mile marker, after which all repairs were on me the owner. On the other hand, I was now planning to be married with a child, not conducive to Mini Cooper constraints. A third factor was the job I was doing and a January 2007 big bang go live and wanting an all wheel drive car to be available, in case of snow and other weather.

Plus the 2006 Impreza was sporty and had other features that I liked.

Knowing I was going to be doing a lot of driving between Baltimore and Reston, in those pre-podcast streaming audio days, I was looking forward to listening to music CDs but also educational CDs. And this baby had — still has — a six-capacity CD stereo. Six!

This has been a lovely car for us for many years — it is in fact the one car that I’ve owned for the longest period of time: a few weeks from 15 years.

We have had other cars in the years since 2007 but the Impreza was a steady, solid friend of a car. We had a 2006 Subaru Outback, that we replaced with an Toyota Cienna minivan in 2010. We replaced the Mini van with a 2014 Chevy Volt in 2014. Later we replaced the Volt with a 2019 Subaru Forester.

But the Impreza chugged along. Still chugs. It has 130,000 miles but has been garage kept for most of its lifespan and we have kept the car up to date in terms of service and repairs. This car has a lot of life left in it.

From a technology perspective, as the years wore on, the 2006 tech began to seem antiquated more and more. This car doesn’t have many sensors and certainly doesn’t have blue tooth connectivity or a back-up camera. The cruise control works just fine but it won’t adjust speed according to the car in front of you, like the 2019 Forester does.

It’s a great car and we are sad to part with it, or to be more precise, I am sad to part with it.

Time moves on and while we could keep the car going for another 100,000 miles easily, we want a pickup truck for other reasons, like being able to throw paddle boards and the kayak in the back and pop over to the lake. The Impreza is not well suited for easy carrying of paddle boards and kayaks. Possible, but clunky and time consuming.

With the new truck we have purchased, it’s a breeze.

So we are donating this 2006 technology, hoping someone will enjoy a solid car for however long it will last.