OK - this whole car buying process is actually really funny.  Like I said before, I did as much as I could online and now have appointments scheduled with a few dealerships to meet in person.  Tonight was the first meeting.  I will not be buying from these guys.  See if you can guess when exactly they lost the sale!

( Click for all the details! )

Current Mood: amused

I've decided to buy a new car.  My car is 16 years old and has almost 208,000 miles on it, but until recently I was prepared to drive it forever.  The decision process went roughly like this:

Random people over the past 5 years: Dude, you need a new car.
Car:  *cough*, *sputter* *massive exhaust leak*
Mechanic (about 50,000 miles ago):  We can get a few more miles out of it!
Car:  *rattle* *thunk* "check engine" *seatbelt breaks*
Mechanic (about a month ago): just to give you a heads up, you won't pass inspection without a new whoosawhatsit which will cost at least $800.  There's probably other stuff as well....when is your inspection due?
Me: End of January
Car: *groan* *clank* *SCREECH* "check engine...please?!?!"
Family (over Christmas):  THIS IS AN INTERVENTION.  WE INSIST THAT YOU GET A NEW CAR. (note: heavily edited for space)
Me: Well this is unexpected.  I'll think about it.
Every person I talk to: Yes - for the love of god get a new car!  You're spending more on maintenance than a car payment would be!
Me: Well, I don't want to rush into anything....
Car dealers:  We will give you money to buy a new car
Me: Hmm....let me think about it some more..
Car: "CHECKENGINECHECKENGINECHECKENGINE" *probable fuel leak*
Me:  Maybe I should do a ritual to seek divine guidance.  Hmm...who's the god of cars....Hermes maybe?  Doesn't he cover transportation?  I'll see if I can find an incantation and maybe get some new incense and-
Booming voice from the heavens:  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD WOMAN, JUST GET A NEW CAR ALREADY!!!!!  And if you refuse, don't go praying for me to save you when you're stranded on the side of the road in freezing rain because that ancient relic finally gave out!
Me: Uh, can I still pray to you for a good finance rate?
Booming voice from the heavens: I'll see what I can do.

And so I decided to buy a new car.  I have to tell you - it is seriously stressing me out.  I've never bought a new car before!  I've pretty much decided on a Toyota Yaris; I know a few people who have it and they all like it, it has good reviews, good gas mileage, it's affordable and comes with standard ABS, AC and traction control, which several of the other compact cars don't.  I was able to find all this out online and via email correspondence with a couple of dealers. 

But I can't actually test drive the car online, so I'm going to have to go meet with people in person now.  This is causing me much anxiety.  I've heard too many horror stories about pushy car dealers who try to take advantage of buyers, especially female buyers who they assume are stupid.  I am crossing my fingers that I don't run into any salespeople like that.  So I'm going to one dealership this Thursday (they also have Hondas, so I'll also be test-driving a Honda Fit for comparison purposes, even though I'm pretty sure I want the Yaris) and another one on Saturday morning.  The place I'm going to on Saturday has been very nice to correspond with; they've given me several quotes for cars with different options and have been very upfront about additional fees, etc.  I have a good feeling about them, but I figure I need to check out more than one place - right?  I'm looking at Thursday as my practice run at a dealership, since I don't really want to buy from them.  I might throw in another dealership on Friday - they just emailed me a quote that looks too good to be true, but I guess it's worth checking out.

Anyway, wish me luck.  Hopefully by next week I'll be at least on my way to getting a new car, and totally NOT STRESSED OUT AL ALL!!!!!!

Tags: my car
Current Mood: stressed

Anyone know where that quote is from?  (No one ever gets my quotes.)

Anyway, Happy New Year!  I'm celebrating in my traditional style - pizza, beer and the Twilight Zone marathon.  It's also a full moon tonight (a blue moon, in fact!), so I'm planning to do a bit of a ritual later tonight.  Hopefully that will start the new year off on the right note.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's Eve, and that 2010 is awesome for all of us!

Current Mood: relaxed