Her name was Summer.
That was her real name. I'm not making it up.
Summer had me very nervous as she itemized my car for me.
I knew the reason for her call was to tell me how much they were going to give me for The Focus.
And even though I knew I should have been getting a more than fair price for it, my stomach was still a little knotty waiting to hear the final number.
So, she is going over the things about my car that are giving me additional money.
Like that my car usually comes standard with a manual transmission and mine was automatic.
*cha-ching*
Four hundred bucks.
And my car usually doesn't come with air conditioning *gasp*
*cha-ching*
Five hundred bucks.
:)
When it was all said and done, they took out the 1250 dollar deductible and the 1250 dollars still owed on the car (weird huh? the numbers all matched...) and then they are sending me a check (or cheque for those of you in Canada).
The check is for 30 bucks more than the entire price of the car when I bought it.
Sweet.
So, now we go into serious shopping mode.
We have to find a car and buy it before the 22nd because that is when I will no longer have the rental car at their expense.
Yeah, they are paying for the rental car too!
Which would be waaaaay more exciting if the rental car wasn't the fucking epitome of BORING. It's a beige Taurus.
Yeah.
Beige.
So, the first car I looked at today was the Nissan Murano.
Initial thoughts: "Ooooh, we likey. Tis cute and stuff! And we dig the red/orange interior leather!"
Price shock? Uh, YEAH. Man, they are proud of this car. Even the 03's barely have any mark down. I am NOT paying three grand under fucking sticker for a three year old car.
Deal Breaker: Doesn't seat more than five that I could find.
Gas Dealio: city: 20 hwy: 25
Next was the Mitsubishi Endeavor.
Initial thoughts: "Daaaaum, it's long." {Not that kind of long. Perv.} "The stereo looks like a robot and a cd player had a baby, all chrome and shiney..."
Price shock? Price is about what I would expect in that kind of vehicle. Not many out there but I found this one in San Antonio.
Deal Breaker: There aren't many available. Not enough supply to keep the prices down. In my range already has about 50k miles on it. Plus, again, no third row seating OR DVD... And Daaaaum, it's long. I mean, who the hell makes a car that long but doesn't put a third row in it?? Plus, I am not sure what the deal is with the gear shift. Why is there a plus and minus sign on it?
Gas Dealio: city: 17 hwy: 13
Next? Buick Rainier.
Initial thoughts: "Ok, I do did that your car is The Rainier! Like, rainiest?
Yeah, shut up.
WOW!! Only THREE on ebay? That's insane. I've never seen only three of anything on ebay. Ever.
Here is the only one of the three on ebay that is even remotely in my price range. Don't you love how the pics look like they were taken in a chop shop?"
Price shock? Nah, again, this is what I would expect to pay for this kind of car.
Deal Breaker: Gas mileage is shit. 15-16 city, 19-21 hwy. And no third row. Which is shit because I searched for "third row" and "seven passenger"... Stupid search engine. And the pics took too long to load and I got bored.
Gas Dealio: city: 16 hwy: 21
Another Buick, the Buick Rendezvous.
Initial thoughts: "Buicks are purdy. On the outside. On the inside? Their cloth is butt-ass ugly."
Price shock? People seem waaay less excited about this model. Pricing is pretty decent w/low mileage.
Deal Breaker: Annhh. I am so unenthused. It says it has a third row but I didn't see one with it. Probably optional, like on the Explorer. I also didn't see any with DVD. But I am BORED with the Buicks, so moving on.
Gas Dealio: city: 19 hwy: 26
Now, The GMC Envoy. (AKA: The car Snow likes.)
Initial thoughts: "Annnh. Don't love it. Sorry Snow. It's just sooo very SUV. And it looks so very SUV. And the mileage? Not so good. But I do like it's ass. Nice rear end."
Price shock? Not bad for the big boy that this SUV is.
Deal Breaker: This is just too big. I don't even expect decent gas mileage. Looks too "Suburban-y"
Gas Dealio: city: 16 hwy: 21
Onto something I know, The Ford Explorer.
Initial thoughts: "I almost bought one of these earlier this year when I was first shopping. They are nice. A little boxy for me and the gas mileage isn't great considering it's size."
Price shock? Not awful, but not enough car for my dollar.
Deal Breaker: Don't want it. Drove it, liked it, but just not what I want.
Gas Dealio: city: 16 hwy: 21
Chevrolet Equinox.
Initial thoughts: "Why do I feel guilty even looking at a Chevy? Worked at Ford for WAAAY to long, lol. 'Equinox' is such a cool ass name for a car."
Price shock? Weren't enough for decent pricing.
Deal Breaker: Not enough for sale and no third row seating that I could find. Or maybe I have been doing this for like an hour and a half and I need to take a break :)
Gas Dealio: city: 19 hwy: 25
Suzuki XL-7 .
Initial thoughts: "I was VERY close to buying one of these in January. I like 'em. I think that they do a great job of staying small with lots of room.
Price shock? No.. The pricing is good. You can get an almost brand new XL-7 for much less than it's competitors.
Deal Breaker: None.
Gas Dealio: city: 18 hwy: 22
Honda Pilot.
Initial thoughts: Looks nice. Looks small also, but that is kind of what I am looking for.
Price shock? Given it's size in comparison to the Suzuki, it's considerably more. I put Hondas and Kias and Suzukis all in the same "cheaper" class than I do Fords or Chryslers and when they are pricing the Hondas the same as Ford, I get a little bent out of shape. :)
Deal Breaker? Price.
Gas Dealio: city: 17 hwy: 22
{I don't like Jeeps or Land Rovers, so I didn't do those. The BMW's, Mercedes' and Infiniti's are out of my price range. And the Mercury's and Lincolns are really just Ford's. I love VW's and Volvo's but both are too pricey for me. And the Porsche Cayenne is lovely but I would be dreaming. And about half way through if I was pretty sure it didn't have a third row, I didn't do it either. All gas mileage numbers are from fueleconomy.gov and I didn't crop pics because I didn't fucking want to. And now, to bed. Possibly the LOC mini-van/wagon review tomorrow or Friday.}
