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?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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!