Quest To Replace Old Blue--Finale (AKA Thank you Obama and my fellow taxpayers!)

Previously on The Quest, our heroine had decided on a car, but had held off buying it because of lack of funds. With the knowledge of what she wanted, her only obstacle was money. Will she finally be able to replace her once trusty steed with something a little more shiny? Will she like it? Find out in the final installment of The Quest to Replace Old Blue:

Well, it's been almost a year since I first started looking/thinking about buying a new car. It has been almost 9 months since I had sold Old Blue, and while juggling schedules to arrange cars between my family was a small annoyance occasionally, it wasn't too bad. I was fully prepared to keep it up, too (my family, probably not).

Then, recently, Congress decides to pass a bill for a "Cash for Clunkers" program. I had always planned on trading my family's Expedition, which my brother used and lovingly referred to as "The Beast" (you can't tell in the picture, but the driver's side window was guerilla glued shut, and the leather inside was all torn up) to help me in buying my car. But with this program and talks of it running out of money, now was as good a time as any to buy my new car. I had a sizeable amount of money saved up to put a reasonable down payment on the car.

The timing/decision-making process to buy the car now rather than later literally took a day. On a Tuesday, I had heard about how the program was running out of money and discussed with my family that night about purchasing my car sometime that week. My dad and I went to the dealer on Wednesday after work and negotiated a price. Then Thursday after work, we finished the paperwork, made the trade, and drove off the lot in my new Beauty.



It happened so fast, and believe me I (and my family) was scrambling around the house/emailing/faxing to get all the right forms and necessary paperwork. (The government requires a bunch of extra papers, e.g. a year's proof of insurance, a year's proof of registration, etc., for the CARS program.) The whole experience of negotiating and working out the loan/financing was enlightening (car salesmen really are tricky folks).

So, it's official; I have purchased (well ok, started making payments) on my first car. I haven't christened it yet, but I'm open to suggestions (perhaps New Blue?). (The car is Glacier blue; it's kind of hard to tell in the pictures.) I feel I need some more time with it to really know and understand it. We need some more time to get to know each other. But, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


THE END

Quest to Replace Old Blue Part 3

When we last left our heroine, she had found a viable option but was berated by the salesman. Continuing on her journey to once again brave another dealership or two. We now take you back to her story:
With a renewed determination to narrow down which car I should buy, I again went back to the internet to research what other cars I could possibly want. I found that Toyota had just come out with the Venza.It's very similar to the Honda CR-V, so I decided I should test drive it. Right next to the Toyota dealership is the Nissan dealership. So, on the same day, I could test drive the Venza and the Nissan Rogueand Murano (it's a little bigger than the Rogue).So, again my dad and I, on a Saturday, drive over to the Toyota dealership. The salesguy is incredibly nice at first, and he offers all kinds of things. When we sit down and I try to tell him I want to test drive the Venza, he asks me questions like I'm going to buy it. Asking me what features I want, how I'd pay, etc. I emphasize that I just want to test drive, and apparently he didn't like that. He leaves and comes back saying that they are sold out and the one he has in the front has already been sold. He says sorry he can't help and we leave. He didn't give me a card, he didn't get my phone number, nothing. Fine. The Venza was too expensive for me anyway.

On to the next! Nissan. The guy was great; he was definitely new because he had to start over. It was funny. I definitely liked the Murano better than the Rogue, but both are more expensive and "luxurious" than I would like. The Nissan guy did call a few times after the test drive, but he wasn't as annoying as the Honda guy.

Well, it's been a while since my many test drives, so what is my problem? I feel like the Honda CR-V is my best bet, but I want to save up more money to put down so I have a smaller monthly payment. I don't know when I'll get it, but hopefully it's soon. When I have to juggle with my family for a car to go somewhere, I get more and more desirous for my own car. We'll see when it happens. Part 4 of my quest will come; I just don't know when. Stay tuned (and enjoy my other random happenings in the meantime.

Quest to Replace Old Blue--Part 2

When we last left our heroine, she was on a quest to find a new steed to take her in her travels. After a rather disappointing experience with her first test drive at the dealership, she still did not lose hope, and continued on to the next. And now back to her story...

I did some more research and decided to look into the Honda CR-V. A few weekends after the first test drive at the Suzuki dealership, my dad and I went over to the Honda dealership to try my hand at the CR-V.
Well unlike the rather dismal welcomage by the Suzuki dealership, we had a salesman outside jumping to help us inside. He offered us drinks and asked if we needed anything. It was overwhelming how nice he was... a little too nice.

He went over the features, the different versions etc. He asked me what color I'd like (and I'm thinking he might want to know in case I decide to buy), and I said, "Well, I'm just test driving, but I am somewhat partial to the blue. But, I'll take whatever, really." Then the guy says, ok, well let me go find a car so you can test drive it. Then he leaves. He's gone for a good 10, 12 minutes. He comes back into the dealership all out of breath saying that he's trying to find the color car that I want, but that there are other cars parked in front of it that he has to move. Wow, seriously? I just want to test drive it, there's one right there in the front.

So, after all of his hard work (that I felt really bad about) he let me test drive one. We drove around and he told me about the great things. You know what salesmen are supposed to tell you about. As we came back to the dealership, I decided that while I really liked the CR-V (and would most likely get it), I still didn't have as much money as I would like to put down, and I wanted to test drive a few other cars first. I told the salesman this, and he said ok and let me go.

It was a good experience, except for the fact that the salesman kept calling me, and calling me, and calling me over and over again. I would even tell him I'm still waiting, and he just didn't get it. He would wait like a week and then call me again. It was so annoying. I mean I loved his dedication, but I mean after the 10th time, I was tired of answering. He kept calling me all through October, November, December.

Then finally in January I told him (again) to stop calling, that I wasn't ready to buy right now, and when I was I would call him. He finally got the hint, and he hasn't called again. Thank goodness cause it was almost making me feel like I didn't want to buy a car from him while in the beginning I did cause he was so dedicated, but then it just got aggravating. So, by this point, the Honda CR-V (possibly from another dealer) is my top pick replacement. But, I found out about some other cars I wanted to test drive before I made my final decision, meaning I had to brave a few more dealerships again... stay tuned for Part 3 in the 4 part series...

Quest to Replace Old Blue--Part 1

Dearest Old Blue,
We had so many great memories, didn't we? We drove from Texas to Utah and back, twice. We had some adventures in Vegas and Salt Lake City with many different people, friends, and roommates. And like any relationship, we occasionally fell on some hard times, like when your tire blew in the middle of Tuccumcari, NM, and when you shook me up when you weren't aligned, and then I had to replace several parts to keep you going. And even though you didn't have an air conditioner to keep me cool in the hot summer, I was faithful. Well, I'm sorry to say that this relationship cannot go any further. No, it isn't you; it's me. Don't worry. You will make someone else very happy. I just don't think I can keep you any longer. My needs have changed, and I have moved on. I'm sorry, but we'll always have the memories.
With sincere fondness and love, Mattie

Well, if you haven't figured it out by now, Old Blue was my car that I had all through college. It was a silvery blue, 1990 Dodge Spirit that used to belong to my grandmother. Where did it go, you might ask? Well, until very recently it was here:
Across the street... since Thanksgiving (the mailbox in the foreground is my mailbox). Yeah, I sold it to my neighbor who bought it for his sister, but kept it in his driveway, garage and in front of his house up until a week ago. Believe me, it was torture, especially the rare times in which I needed a car and didn't have access to one. Old Blue was there taunting me across the street. But now that it's no longer there, I miss it.

No, I haven't found a replacement yet, so I'm currently carpooling to work with my dad and then using my dad's car (a Kia sportage) when I need to go somewhere. So, for now it's working, and there hasn't been too many conflicts. But, while I haven't bought a new car, I am currently looking. Oh boy has this part been an adventure. This is the first installment of my four part series in the Quest to Replace Old Blue.
Part 1: I've done alot of research on the internet, and I narrowed down the kind of car I want. I want a crossover-type vehicle or small SUV. It has to be an automatic, and aside from the standard features cars come with nowadays, I would really like an iPod hook-up. I don't want to spend a whole lot of money, but other than that, I'm pretty flexible. Since I had done as much research as I could, I decided to test drive my new-found options.

The first place I went was a Suzuki dealership. I test drove the SX4 Crossover Vehicle:
and the SX4 Sport Sedan:I liked them ok, but the dealership was terrible! We couldn't get someone to help us (usually cars salesmen are jumping out the window to help you), and when my dad and I test drove, the salesman didn't talk to us the entire time (when I drove the Sedan he didn't even come with us). It was a very sleak and inexpensive car, which was tempting, but the salesmen sucked, and Suzuki isn't exactly known for their cars. I decided against the Suzuki and I have yet to hear from the dealership since I test drove, which was in September/October. Unfortunately, I didn't have the same luck of not being called with the next dealership....

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Quest to Replace Old Blue.