Wednesday, January 30, 2008

ric ocasek unavailable for comment

Well, the poll results are in. Survey Says: it's time to put the Beige Wonder down.

DANG IT!!!!!

I get emotionally attached to things like... cars.
Shoot, I got emotional when my parents re-did the kitchen and changed the linoleum. LINOLEUM, for crying out loud. So imagine how much of a basket case I was when my first car got totaled:

I was driving home from babysitting one night when a car coming the other direction lost control and hit FOUR other cars (including mine). Nobody was really hurt, fortunately. The tow truck pulled my battered, crippled little car back home that night. I watched with a heavy heart as the empty shell of a car was laid back on the street, devoid of life. It was like the body of the slain Achilles being brought back to Greece from the Trojan battlefield upon which the cowardly Paris shot the fated arrow. O hubris.

And now it's time to part with my car. Again.

I've heard it said that you can tell a lot about a guy, or at least how he'll treat a girl, based on his relationship with his car. I have no idea if that's true or not, but I wonder if the same is true for girls. If not with their cars, then is there an analog? What does this experience tell you about me-- that I get attached? That I'm loyal? That I'm too cheap to invest heavily in something that could be fixed but will likely break down further at a later time, but would instead decide to move on to greener pastures?

Well, anyway... I'm not thrilled. This is going to be expensive. However, I should be grateful that I CAN actually pay for a car. And as a result, I'll have a nice, shiny new car to drive. Not that I needed one, thanks, I already had a car. Whoa, not so fast there, Andrea. It's time for you to learn the magic of car payments.

So now I get to wrangle with car dealerships. And salespeople. LOW CREDIT? NO CREDIT? NOOO PROBLEM! PUSH, PULL, OR DRAG 'EM IN! 0.9% APR FINANCING! ONLY 88 DOLLARS DOWN! 88 DOLLARS A MONTH! WE WORK FOR YOUUUU!

yuck.

3 comments:

Ian Davis said...

Check out Hondas. They rock.

Anonymous said...

Awww.Andrea....is sympathize with you! good luck car shopping....go with a Honda or Toyota...they last FOREVER! Miss you dearie.

~Beth

zatopa said...

I just can't fight the urge to play "big sister" any longer ... here goes ...

Shop around! Go to different lots before you make any decisions. Don't let the sales guys make you feel like you're in more of a hurry than you are.

Keep an eye on the interest rate. There are places that will try to pull you into a high interest rate by behaving like they're doing you a favor by extending you credit at all -- these are bad guys to deal with. Run, run, as fast as you can to a legitimate dealer. You have about the best credit rating humanly possible, so take advantage of it!

Hondas and Toyotas do indeed rule.

A certified used vehicle is not necessarily a bad deal when you're not a master of vehicle maintenance, so check out your options there.

And I know this is going to sound bad, but it's true, you will probably be treated better if you do your car shopping with a male friend.

Good luck!