This is the first car we've bought together and the newest car either of us has ever owned (only by 2 yrs though). The car we traded in for this one, the '95 Geo, was bought in '99 by my Studly Hubby who owned it for 7 yrs. We traded it in for $400. The car dealer was embarrassed to even have the Geo on their lot and immediately moved it to their "back lot" as soon as we signed it over. They kept trying to convince us to keep the Geo and have two cars ('wouldn't it be nice to be a two-car family??'). We were not tempted. We were also not tempted to try to sell it ourselves, since it is a stick-shift covered with midwest rust it is pretty worthless here in Seattle.
Yesterday we washed the new Honda and waxed it and put new plate-covers on it and cleaned the windows and the dash and took it out for a joy-ride around Green Lake. We got awesome new plate-covers that look like a monster is eating our license plates.
We also bought some touch-up paint from the Honda dealer and tried to cover up some of the dings and scratches on it. It was a Flexcar rental car so has quite a few scratches and dings but I consider that good for the nerves because now I won't be so paranoid about running it into a bush or a street sign. And it's a bonus that it was a rental car because the engine was meticulously taken care of as confirmed by our mechanic.
The car-buying experience was interesting. First we decided whether to buy a car and what price range would be appropriate, then we narrowed down what we wanted to four cars (Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Mazda Protege and Hyundai Elantra) by studying the Consumer Reports and every car in our neighborhood. Then we systematically drove to dealers around the city to test drive the cars. We never got around to the Mazda but tried the others and liked the Honda the best by far (Corolla was second best). We checked that the car insurance wouldn't be too insane, went home to look for a better deal (the one we test drove was the best deal), looked up the CarFax report, and then went back the next day and bought it.
The only big pain in the neck was dealing with the car dealer. We walked in at 10 am on Saturday wanting to buy the car. By 5 pm that same day we were finally sitting down with their accountant going over all our warranty and loan options. The whole time in between we were sitting around waiting. Considering we were planning on spending a big heapload of money there I was pretty miffed at their inefficiency. I hate it when people waste my time like that, but it's hard to find a way out of it other than to throw a fit (which I was on the verge of). They knew we wanted their car so they knew we would wait. We probably won't go back to that dealer again (although they did have the best deal).
But we sure love our new Honda!!
9 comments:
I can't believe it took you that long to buy a car! I swear when my husband and I went into to test drive/buy our Nissan Xterra they practically threw the keys at us - and signing the papers was a whirlwind!
Yay for a new car! :) I hope you guys have loads of fun with it!
Congrats on the new car. I love the teeth on the plate holder!
I had a Honda Civic two years ago. It was a great little car. Very comfortable to drive.
I love the plate holders! (The car too--I feel like Hondas are a good choice!) I'd ALMOST consider taking off my U of WI plate holder for the ones that you have--and that's saying a lot.
Congrats! Looks like ya done good. ....but can't believe they had you sitting around that long...
I just drove my new car in to an old lady I am not even kidding I feel horrible that I did it. But hay what are you going to do life is life and I have the hottest Honda Bike VFR I would like to sell?
It's been years, how is this car now? I bet it's still running good. Honda Civic is known for good mechanic engineering to give its driver the best and comfortable driving experience. 2004 Honda Civic is a good family car as it is well-built automobile that offers great space and comfort.
Mardell Tobin
Routine maintenance and careful driving habits are the secret to long life of cars. Don't let the engine go idle; this will cause poor mileage and dirty emission. On winter, the least you can do is turn your engine on and drive gently just to warm it up.
Basil Glenn @LexusOfLansing.com
Nice, you surely know how to take care of a car! Applying touch-up paint is indeed efficient in covering minor scratches. I like the plate covers too! Such accessories really add character to a vehicle. Anyhow, with the kind of care you provide to your car, I can feel that you're truly determined to keep it running for a long time.
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