Thursday, May 22, 2008

Something happens and I'm head over heels

I have a new car--that's it over on the right here. Observant viewers will notice that this is not a C30 (love) nor the Jetta (money) so prominently featured in my previous post. Rather it is the barely referenced 3rd choice (and dark horse): a Honda Civic Hybrid.

How did I end up with the third, nearly dismissed, option? Well, last night, post my last kickball game for the season, I stopped into the Honda dealership on the way home to discuss total pricing of the car (so I'd have that to compare with the other 2 options).

As it turned out, they had 2 Civic Hybrids left in stock (of the 6-8 they had delivered over the weekend), one of which was the Galaxy Gray one you see (which is the colored I like for this car). So I sat briefly in the car, and determined that I'd be ok with the leg room within it (the big factor that had pushed it near disqualification). The salesman (Steve) and I then talked price and financing, and the numbers were alright with some fund shifting (particularly given the 2.9% financing American Honda offered).

I went home Wednesday evening, crunched some numbers, and then basically decided the price was do-able, with a minor delay on the down payment while my banks were sending the funds from one locations to another. So on my way into work in the morning , I called up Steve and left him a message that I wanted to buy the car. We then spoke at lunch, and I confirmed the hold on the car and that I would stop by after work, today. I thought this would be just to fill out the paperwork to clear it out until next week when my down payment check could clear.

After work, I drove into the dealership and began filling out forms. As I did, Steve grabbed my keys to inspect the car (to get the value for the trade-in). When he returned it was with my license plate and frame: at this point I asked if I was getting the car that day, and he said yes. I was surprised, but happy and somewhat bummed--I'd mentally prepared myself to have my '97 Saturn SL1 through the weekend (never mind the $40 in gas I put into the tank the night before).

But my having the Saturn for any longer was not to be; instead I drove out of there in my new car and headed off to see the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull--which I just returned from, and which was good. However, I'm now sleepy and miss my old car a wee bit, so I will say night and head to bed. Hasta.

Something happens and I'm head over heels
I never find out 'till I'm head over heels...

1 comment:

jarret said...

I was the first passenger, the HYBRID ROCKS!!!!