Say goodnight Gracie
So. Eventful weekend.
On Saturday I came to the conclusion that with the coming Sacramento Summer I would require an air conditioner in my car which functioned properly. It then occurred to me that with my now stable job, respectable income, and low-cost living that there really was no reason why I shouldn't get a new car. I mean, I love Grace with all my heart, but the poor girl has more quirks than a line-dancing emo.
So, I start doing some research. Found out that Grace's trade-in value on Kelly Bluebook was $825, and that Carmax had some models that I was looking for (Honda Civic, Honda Acura, Toyota Corolla, and Nisan Altima). I called up my friend Tre to get some last-minute shopping advice since she really knows more about cars than anyone else I know. I was greeted with "Sorry, I can't talk right now, my house is on fire. I'll call you back."
...
Jeremy and I then headed out to pay Tre a visit. The entrance to her apartment complex was blocked by three fire engines, so we parked out on the side road and hiked over. Tre was sitting on the corner, not looking all together happy as firefighters trudged up and down her stairs carrying what was once her bathroom ceiling and chatted about how they were grateful to get out of a meeting. Apparently her shower fan had ignited, shortly followed by the combustion of some ceiling insulation. Fortunately, she wisely avoided pouring water on the electrical fire and immediately called the fire department. They put it out nice and quickly, and all the damage had been contained in the bathroom. Once everything was nice and in order, Tre ordered us to go and get our car.
Off to Carmax we went, notorious home of no haggle pricing and non-pushy salespersons. Biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard in my life. For some reason, the associate who helped us thought that we were interested in the complete history of carmax. At one point, he even brought us to the middle of the sales floor and expressed with outstretched arms, "Do you feel that? Do you feel the energy around here?" Now, I understand that it's part of his job to throw out this pitch, but for the love of God stop treating me like I have the brain capacity of an eight year old. With every trivial utterance he made I felt a little string tugging me towards the exit. But this place seemed like the easiest way to sell off Grace, and I wanted to check out its inventory.
The cars there weren't too impressive. We wandered around for about an hour, checking out a few stickers, but the "no-haggle prices" all seemed a lot higher than I expected them to be. Eventually I found a Civic that was in pretty good condition for a decent price, and I kept it in mind as I went back to my sales rep and asked him how much he would pay me for Grace.
Then he got nervous.
Then I got nervous.
Two-hundred and fifty bucks. They were only gonna shell out two-hundred and fifty f#^$in' dollars to buy my beloved Grace. Sunburned and pissed, I stormed out of the place without giving them a chance to negotiate up and drove home.
After a nightmare-filled night and a pleasant mother's day morning, my mom convinced me to head out to Hertz to see their selection. I had come to the conclusion that Grace should definitely go to charity (which would bonus us a $1500 tax write-off), which means that in order to purchase a new car I'd have to have one of my folks drive me. My mom was kind enough to help me out, which just proves how amazing she is to be so generous on her day.
Hertz was awesome. The sales rep was helpful and nice, the selection was small but incredibly rich in quality and wholesale prices. I test drove a couple vehicles, but absolutely fell in love with a desert-sand colored 2005 Toyota Corolla. She only had 26,000 miles on her, which isn't too shabby for a rented car, and everything from the wheels to the engine were in pristine condition (excluding a few scrapes by the driver's door, but I can have them patch that up for free). And with a price of $12,900 I couldn't walk away. An hour or so worth of paperwork later (and an awesome APR thanks to my mom's co-signing powers) I drove the beaut home.
Her name is Serenity.
On Saturday I came to the conclusion that with the coming Sacramento Summer I would require an air conditioner in my car which functioned properly. It then occurred to me that with my now stable job, respectable income, and low-cost living that there really was no reason why I shouldn't get a new car. I mean, I love Grace with all my heart, but the poor girl has more quirks than a line-dancing emo.
So, I start doing some research. Found out that Grace's trade-in value on Kelly Bluebook was $825, and that Carmax had some models that I was looking for (Honda Civic, Honda Acura, Toyota Corolla, and Nisan Altima). I called up my friend Tre to get some last-minute shopping advice since she really knows more about cars than anyone else I know. I was greeted with "Sorry, I can't talk right now, my house is on fire. I'll call you back."
...
Jeremy and I then headed out to pay Tre a visit. The entrance to her apartment complex was blocked by three fire engines, so we parked out on the side road and hiked over. Tre was sitting on the corner, not looking all together happy as firefighters trudged up and down her stairs carrying what was once her bathroom ceiling and chatted about how they were grateful to get out of a meeting. Apparently her shower fan had ignited, shortly followed by the combustion of some ceiling insulation. Fortunately, she wisely avoided pouring water on the electrical fire and immediately called the fire department. They put it out nice and quickly, and all the damage had been contained in the bathroom. Once everything was nice and in order, Tre ordered us to go and get our car.
Off to Carmax we went, notorious home of no haggle pricing and non-pushy salespersons. Biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard in my life. For some reason, the associate who helped us thought that we were interested in the complete history of carmax. At one point, he even brought us to the middle of the sales floor and expressed with outstretched arms, "Do you feel that? Do you feel the energy around here?" Now, I understand that it's part of his job to throw out this pitch, but for the love of God stop treating me like I have the brain capacity of an eight year old. With every trivial utterance he made I felt a little string tugging me towards the exit. But this place seemed like the easiest way to sell off Grace, and I wanted to check out its inventory.
The cars there weren't too impressive. We wandered around for about an hour, checking out a few stickers, but the "no-haggle prices" all seemed a lot higher than I expected them to be. Eventually I found a Civic that was in pretty good condition for a decent price, and I kept it in mind as I went back to my sales rep and asked him how much he would pay me for Grace.
Then he got nervous.
Then I got nervous.
Two-hundred and fifty bucks. They were only gonna shell out two-hundred and fifty f#^$in' dollars to buy my beloved Grace. Sunburned and pissed, I stormed out of the place without giving them a chance to negotiate up and drove home.
After a nightmare-filled night and a pleasant mother's day morning, my mom convinced me to head out to Hertz to see their selection. I had come to the conclusion that Grace should definitely go to charity (which would bonus us a $1500 tax write-off), which means that in order to purchase a new car I'd have to have one of my folks drive me. My mom was kind enough to help me out, which just proves how amazing she is to be so generous on her day.
Hertz was awesome. The sales rep was helpful and nice, the selection was small but incredibly rich in quality and wholesale prices. I test drove a couple vehicles, but absolutely fell in love with a desert-sand colored 2005 Toyota Corolla. She only had 26,000 miles on her, which isn't too shabby for a rented car, and everything from the wheels to the engine were in pristine condition (excluding a few scrapes by the driver's door, but I can have them patch that up for free). And with a price of $12,900 I couldn't walk away. An hour or so worth of paperwork later (and an awesome APR thanks to my mom's co-signing powers) I drove the beaut home.
Her name is Serenity.