buy a small, fuel-efficient car

Well, I managed to make the sales guy mad, then smooth it over effectively. Heh heh. But anyway I was successful in putting him on the defensive, which was a nice shift.

Then the mechanic phoned me, and explained a whole bunch of stuff. He’s pretty good at explaining, and now I understand that the 3 scan codes that came up are not 3 completely different problems, but 3 indicators of one problem – which sounds a lot less expensive.

He also said that they did a scan last week and none of these codes came up, so it’s one new problem, not 3 issues from before that the dealership was trying to hide.

Based on those codes, he said the problem is not a potential safety issue, but it will affect fuel efficiency. (So at least it’s not an urgent matter, but it is something I’d like to have fixed as soon as I can afford it.)

He’s going to phone e back with the actual codes that came up so I can Google them, just for my own information.

My notes from phone call:

aircare certificate available online—> vehicle readings, use VIN
new O2 Sensor
new catalytic converter
($1100 spent on vehicle repairs by dealership)

vent valve / evap leak
3 codes: (related area)

We’re in contact (Well, I say we, but mostly my boyfriend) with the dealership and the mechanic’s shop.

My boyfriend is expecting me to deal with them because I have free time and he doesn’t. a) I don’t know the first thing about cars, b) I’m not really sure how my boyfriend worded his verbal agreement with the sales guy in the first place, c) we are getting the typical run-around.

First of all there’s Mickey, the sales guy we talked to. Then there’s Chan at the garage. Then there’s someone who’s named Tyler on the dealership side. And there’s another guy at the garage whose name I don’t know but who is not very helpful.

Mickey is playing good-guy, but I think it’s a smoke screen. My spider senses tell me that Chan is more honest than the others, but who knows?

At this point, my only advantage is that I have PLENTY of free time to pester them with. Maybe when I talk to them next I’ll mention that it’s looking like my next job won’t start until November, so I have far more time than money between now and then. _{Does that sound like a threat? :-)}

I know that it’s a waste of time & effort to phone and complain unless I have a goal in mind.

Well, my car is a lemon – I’ve had it less than 2 weeks, and it has been in the shop about 1/3 of that time.

The most ironic part is that while my goal was to buy a fuel-efficient car, it seems that this particular car is only small, not as fuel-efficient as it’s supposed to be. The check engine light is on, so we took it for a scan and there are at least 3 different parts of the fuel system that should be repaired.

The car works, but apparently the “Check Engine” light on means that something is wrong with the fuel efficiency – it’s either leaking gas, polluting more than it should, or something else. So ironically MY car is not fuel efficient until I can throw a bunch more money into it (I don’t know how much yet) – and I haven’t had a job since this time LAST YEAR! Argh!!!!

I really hope I can find some kind of job soon – especially one that doesn’t require a car!

Last night I wasn’t sure if my boyfriend was going to make me take the car back (because of the ABS light). But today he phoned the dealership and they said it was a fairly simple thing and they’d pay half of the repair cost (total would be ~$200).

So I guess that means I get to keep my little car! Yay.

Next task is to figure out how to drive it.

“did the thing that I thought I couldn’t do”, just as the 43T sideline sage told me this morning.

Now my boyfriend is mad at me because I bought the car while the ABS light is still on (it stays lit), and now that I’ve paid for it they aren’t going to fix it. So he’s grumpy and keeps reminding me about it over and over again. Grrrr.

Aaaaanyway – I called my friend who lives in the same suburb as the dealership this afternoon and she came with me and helped me drive it to a mall where there’s a subway station. She gave me good advice about lots of driving stuff too. She’s gonna make a great school teacher!

Then my boyfriend and I went to pick it up after he got home from work. _{That’s when my sense of accomplishment turned to misery.}

who might be able to help me go get the car.

Some people I don’t want to ask because it would be a huge pain in the butt for them, other people are working, etc. The car dealership is NOT in a convenient location at all.

So right now I’m thinking maybe I should go buy it myself, insure it (at the dealership) and then find somewhere to park it near the dealership and near a bus stop. Then when my boyfriend finishes work we can just go and pick it up without having to keep the sales guy waiting and doing all the paperwork in the evening.

This will require a bit of planning.

Also there is one friend who I haven’t checked with yet. If she’s not working today then maybe I can ask her.

“You must do the thing which you think you can not do.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Yesterday we were suppose to pick it up, but were waiting for the required repairs, which stretched out interminably.

Now we’re supposed to pick it up today sometime, but now my boyfriend will be working all day (probably until 7pm). I could go by myself I guess, which would put me WAY out of my comfort zone, and I’m sure the dude would find some way to rip me off.

Plus then I’d have to deal with driving it back all by myself (unknown part of the city suburb, highway onramp, merging, lane changes, plenty of stoplights AND a nice big fat lefthand turn.

:-( to be honest I think that part might actually be dangerous.

What to do, what to do.

I think (hope/pray) that we have made a decision. I know I have, but since I don’t have any money (it’s my boyfriend who’s buying it) I keep getting dragged to see more and more cars.

Problem is, he keeps getting distracted by cars that are twice the price of what I want. Yes I know they are much nicer cars, but I don’t care, I just want something small and basic. And I know that if he does end up spending more (even though it’s his idea) eventually he will blame me for it!

And, the car we are looking at (VW Golf) is not as fuel efficient as I would have liked – I wanted the diesel version, but there are none available (used).

and picked up copy of the “Roadsense Book” that new drivers are supposed to study before doing the written part of their driving test.

I am so glad I already have my license! They seem to make you jump through a lot of hurdles to get your regular standard type of driver’s license these days.

We’ve been looking at a few cars over the past couple of days, to be honest I’m getting bored of shopping for cars. I want a VW Golf, preferably a diesel because the fuel efficiency is so much better. In contrast my boyfriend keeps trying to steer me towards BMWs because that’s what HE likes :-(

It’s all getting a bit tedious, considering that I dislike driving in any case.

but somewhere in the back of my mind I am concerned that having a car will make me get fat and lazier. Well, not “fat”, but less fit than now.

To partly confirm my fears, I saw this article about transit riders today.

Not only does walking to the stop give exercise, but also getting flung all over the bus when there’s standing room only and the driver stomps on the brakes can really work your biceps as you cling onto a bar and try not to inadvertently biff a short person in the head with your bag.

The article doesn’t discuss all the benefits of coming into contact with so many bacteria and viruses either. We bus riders probably have built up higher immunity levels than car drivers.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t particularly like taking the bus, I even hate it on occasion (I loooove the subway though), but I just don’t understand why car people are so anti-bus/bike/walk.