I had the new car bug bad.
My car is 11 years old and in very good condition, but it IS eleven years old. So I convinced myself that it was time to get something newer.
I thought I wanted an SUV. Not because I needed either the 'sports' or the 'utility' part, but just the 'vehicle' and thought it'd be nice to have a place in the back to set up my dog's crate so she'd be safe and out of my way.
I was torn between the Toyota RAV4 and the Hyundai Santa Fe. I drove a 4 cylinder RAV4 and wasn't impressed with the get-up-and-go. I drove the Santa Fe in a 6 cylinder and it was okay, but it horrified me when I saw the BLUE lights on the dashboard. Now granted that was in board daylight and it's probably swell in the dark, but my God in Heaven it's UGLY! I won't say what I said about the color when I was describing it to a friend because it's horribly politically incorrect and I could probably be sued just for thinking it these days. But UGLY, just butt UGLY! Heck, hairy old men's butts are prettier than that blue is!
So I went back to thinking the RAV4 was the way to go but I needed to drive a 6 to be sure. Me and a pal went to the dealership and I whipped out the business card of the salesperson I'd already dealt with and, as luck would have it, he was either off or run off that day. I also tried to hand over my driver's license and insurance card. I told The Other what I wanted and that I wanted to drive it alone with just my bud for company and he said okay. He ran off and did Lord knows what and I waited and waited some more. He'd said he was going to start one up and let it cool down the insides, etc. Now I wasn't about to start thinking: WHAT? How efficient is that A/C if he has to go to all that trouble. This is after all TEXAS and it was spiking 80-something which is pert near balmy by Texas standards...but I digress....
He pops back in the door and again I hand him my insurance card and driver's license. He takes both and goes running off AGAIN and we wait some more. Finally here he comes and he's got a clipboard in his hands.....he shoves the clipboard at me and says SIGN THIS. I said THIS WHAT? He says it's a standard paper blah, blah, blah that'll keep the cops from stopping us or some such B.S. I say I didn't have to sign that with the other two new vehicles I've driven alone, one of them from this very dealership and he says something like WELL YOU SHOULD OF. Well, sir, 'bout then my cranky pants got bunched up good and tight and I said NO, I'll just go to another dealership. I turned and hauled butt back to my car with my buddy tagging along behind probably thinking WOMEN!
I will admit that later....MUCH later I got to thinking that the first car guy did throw a paper tag up on the dash and said something about COPS, but it wasn't a big deal....he just said it along with and this is how to adjust the seat and this is how to adjust the mirrors, etc. Sooooo .... maybe the cops are just sitting around waiting for me to take a car off the lot so they can pounce on me and make my life a living hell, but I DON'T THINK SO.....
We ended up going to CarMax and looking at used and there wasn't anything there that grabbed my attention, but I did get my car appraised and the number they came back with is not the point....the point was they'd checked off everything they check off to the good. My car has a few little problems, but they didn't even note them..... so I got to thinking why am I going to get rid of a car about which I know every bolt and nut and how often those have been serviced? I took two Tylenol and killed the new car bug.....at least for the time being......
Anyone that knows me knows I'm just the type to have taken The Other's treatment as vindication to say TO HELL WITH IT, I'll walk before I deal with jerks like him. They need my money a lot more than I need their shit.
Oh, did I mention that my car has 54,600 miles on it and that when I bought it there was 245 miles on the odometer. Not bad for a little old lady from near Pasadena, huh?
I guess the whole point of this little ditty is that there are lines and when someone crosses one of them you gotta do what you gotta do and I come from a long line of folks that would rather cut off our own noses to spite our own faces that put up with crap when the crap line has been crossed. It's the principle of the thing. You have to stand up to honor your own principles. It's a rule.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Car salesmen give me the creeps!
As the friend in question, my observation going into the whole mess was "why does she need a new car when this one works just fine?" I know it let you down a single time not long ago but getting a new one is no indication of 100% reliability either. Better to spend a couple bucks and have a GOOD mechanic you TRUST to go over it with a fine tooth comb, testing all the things he would as if he were going to buy it for his teenage daughter.
As far as the Toyota salesman (Rene Valdez), he wasn't so bad and I wouldn't hand over the keys to a brand new $20k car on the basis of a TDL and insurance card either; I can tell you that my department makes a LOT of auto theft reports under those same circumstances and both of us (well, mostly me) looked mighty scruffy that day. I don't fault your decision, one of the perks to having money is the quirkiness to spend it as you see fit under your own rules of conduct, but I can't fault his either.
Carmax was another experience, "Rad" being an interesting name for the gentleman that assisted you. I know good darned well that under any other circumstance, you'd have been on high alert around him, just as I suspect he'd have been around me if I were in uniform. Still, aside from the repeated powerpoint presentation (designed by the company to lessen consumer frustration when told their used car they want to unload isn't worth what they hoped for), he seemed pretty cool.
I like my gas hog for the comfort it offers and I can afford the price of gas as high as it goes. Still, I considered some of the 4 cylinder "Nagasaki nut buckets" as our deceased friend would call them as likely candidates for future purchase. I'd like to get another year out of mine but getting a two year old car (which is what 2007 models are being called these days) is starting to grow in the back of my head, thanks in part to going with you on your expedition.
Lainey, ain't it the truth though! I liked the first guy at the Toyota dealership... his name was Edwin Landaverde and he didn't come across like a Gallery Furniture landshark, if you get my meaning. I've walked out of Gallery 2 or 3 times now because they pounce on you and don't even let you look around.
Hugs to you gal...
Anonymous Cop Bud... (you said it not me). When that Rene guy irked me off I could of played my cop card (you!), but I agree, we did look kind of scruffy and without funds. But unless my hormone level was spiking that day, it was all in the presentation. I pegged the guy as a jerk and life is too short to deal with jerks if you don't have to and *I* don't have to. What did it for me was not having to jump through paper hoops the 1st time and being able to drive by myself. NOW maybe it was because there was TWO of us...whether scruffy factored in or not, I dunno.
Thanks for going with me. I always value your take on pretty much every given situation.
I'll keep harping at you to about you and a little car. You ain't no little dude, dude and you, like me, are used to a certain comfort level. Your big old tank might guzzle, but it sure has a smooth ride and nice brakes and tons of other big car ride perks that the little ones just don't offer. It would be better to have a newer safety feature riddled ride though and that's the only thing that keeps me thinking it still might be Time to get something newer.
"I'll keep harping at you to about you and a little car. You ain't no little dude, dude and you, like me, are used to a certain comfort level. Your big old tank might guzzle, but it sure has a smooth ride and nice brakes and tons of other big car ride perks that the little ones just don't offer. It would be better to have a newer safety feature riddled ride though and that's the only thing that keeps me thinking it still might be Time to get something newer."
I'm hoping to get a couple more years out of the one I have but I'm already starting to look so who knows what will happen. I'm open to various cars, the extra kick of the Rav4 6 cylinder disappointing compared to the 4 cylinder you drove, but my needs are different and comfort can be found in all sizes of cars if you look hard enough.
PS: I could have been employed in the insurance industry based on my post, see how you are about jumping to conclusions? ;)
PPS: Had you played the cop card, you'd never have to worry about playing it again, as per our agreement. :p
Post a Comment