Thursday, July 6, 2006
We are supposed to have a rare few days without rain starting today, so I had planned to spray the prickly stickery nasty stuff that's trying to return to the cleared side yard.
Instead, after Mr. T.'s call about the van, I went to the Chrysler Dodge dealership down the road to talk to someone in the service department and make an appointment for Monday.
Then, on impulse, I decided to go car "window shopping". Just to find out what's available, and how much I'm likely to have to pay.
Since this is a "backup car", which I might trade in on a "real car" in a year or two, I don't want to pay much. I will consider new or used, depending on value for price. Therefore, my criteria:
Small
Simple
Cheap
Dependable
No more than three years old
Less than 60,000 miles
Preferably an import
"Certified", with decent warranty
I can take to Mr. T. for his opinion
Seller will service, and is reasonably close to my home
Color, style, and appearance are of no importance
I hit five new-and-used dealers, and it looks like I'll pay at a minimum $15,000 for new, and $9,000 for used within my criteria.
The 2006 Kia Rio is supposed to be the best value for the money, and that's what I'm driving now from Enterprise and I like it ok for a backup car, but the nearest Kia dealership is more than 30 miles away, and that's too far if something goes wrong during the warranty period. So I don't know.
You might ask, "Why not just bite the bullet and buy the 'real car' now?" Because I need something RIGHT NOW, as soon as possible, so I can get out from under the rental fees, and definitely before the end of July, and I haven't done the research yet to select a real car. Eventually I want a hybrid, but they're not ready for me yet. And I don't know yet what shape the minivan will be in, so it's hard to plan.
Oh, something funny happened. The first place I went was to a used car dealer that I know. He said that he had only one car on the lot that met my criteria, and it was a really nice one. He handed me the keys. I got in, started it, and ...
... the "check engine" light went on!!!!
And stayed on.
The salesman looked shocked.
Gee, maybe it's me?
2 comments:
Hello,
I just wanted to say hello, because I've been enjoying reading your blog since coming across you via Lucie's blog. I've had a nice glass of wine, so got the courage to comment.
I'm sorry you're having car trouble.
I know you like online quizzes and such so thought you might like this one. Its about whether you have a "male" or "female" brain:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/add_user.shtml
I scored 10% male on this!
Caroline (in the UK)
Welcome, Caroline. Stop by whenever you want.
I took the brain sex test, and I scored about 25% into the female range. Which didn't make a lot of sense because when they went through my scores on the individual sections, I was well out of the female and into the male range on everything (except which faces I found sexiest, and the finger ratio thing).
Hey - where's your blog? Gotta get with the program, lady! Join the community!
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