A New Car For Me

This post will definitely be the dorkiest post I've ever written (maybe...I think I may have written about my beading and jewelry-making...that may be dorkier). I promise you, there will be plenty of pictures of my new vehicle that may bore you beyond reason.

Our day started out early, mine more than The Boyfriend's (his started after I made his mating call...the sweet sound of the coffee grinder). We hit the road and established a strategy. Basically, he'd follow my lead. I wasn't sure if I was going in as Go-Go Girlpower, or maybe I'd present as flaky and unsure of myself...only to whollup them with a heavy dose of "give me my car, give me what I want, and give it to me NOW...and also, if you could, at the price I demand.".

The first place was good practice. I don't remember the dudes name, but he was obnoxious. He was hyper, unfocused, and totally cheesy. I told him I couldn't spend any more time with him and walked out after he started "building" our car on the Toyota website...something I'd already done a couple nights ago on my own. Lame.

The second dealership had a salesman that had no sales skills as far as we could tell. He was nice enough, but his glazed eyes and pachouli scent indicated why he was dazed and unmotivated to show us anything. We kind of "hung out" with him, talked about a couple cars he's owned, and left. A couple more lots and we were thoroughly uninspired. Well, that's not altogether true. I was motivated by a gas guzzling Mazda 3 (24/30) and a Cooper Mini. The Boyfriend did his duty and brought me back around to the goal at hand...fuel-efficient, safe, sexy (I added that adjective to the list of requirements), no high-performance tires, safe. I dubbed him Mr. Poopy-Pants. He was extremely offended and corrected me...he is to be known as CAPTAIN Poopy-Pants...the downer of all cars fun, exciting, and unpractical.

The Car
I hadn't planned on a new car...or if I did, I'd envisioned a Toyota Yaris or Honda Fit. After test driving both of those, my beloved Mazda 3, and a used Corolla...I found the one...a 2006 Honda Civic.

It's not what I thought I'd get (but not outside the realm of possibility; I do come from a Honda family and have driven an '88 Civic and '93 Accord...both fabulous cars). The miles per gallon - 33 in town and 40 on the highway (slightly better than the Honda Fit, which is a couple thousand cheaper, but MUCH less car).

The Civic was redesigned this year, with a dashboard that feels like the cockpit of a spaceship. The actual dash has two levels with blue lighting. The ride is so smooth and really tight in handling.

I hate to admit, but I added on an accessory that wasn't really necessary. I would have been safe and fuel-efficient, but would I have been a happy consumer? I think not. Even though my last vehicle was a hatchback, she was pretty sporty. The new Civic is meant to be sporty...but it screams sedan to me. So I had a spoiler put on. I'm a little embarassed even typing that, but I knew I'd come to love my replacement (that really blows my old car out of the water) in the way that I need to more quickly and intensely with this ridiculously overpriced addition.

So I figured out what I wanted. And...the dealership had none of it. Not only that, but they can't really move much on the price, because those vehicles move on their own. At the end of the day, it came down to me dropping some cash, them getting theirs, and me getting an automatic, with tan interior, in Cosmic Blue (all Captain Poopy-Pants had to say was that this color was kind of cheesy-soccer-momish and it was not an option).

Yeah, not so much. I told our salesperson my frustration, and she said that they're making an order on Monday and I could pick exactly what I want. I chose Galaxy Gray Metallic (which looks tan in the photo, but it's really more of a smoky dark gray), a 5-speed stick, with dark gray interior. This also means it will take 4-6 weeks to come in, which ALSO means The Boyfriend and I will be sharing his car for 2 weeks to a month. Interesting. It's true, we work within a half mile of each other, but I have class out in the county on Tues/Thurs, as well as a meeting every Wednesday even farther in the county. He thinks he's going to start riding my bike to work, or we'll work it all out another way.

So by the time we have a routine figured out, my car will be here. And, by that ime, I might even realize that I HAVE a new car.