By February of 1999, I had paid off the loan that I used to finance my CD release. I thought about taking out another loan from the credit union to produce another one. However, there were some things I needed to take care of now that I had an extra $300 every month that I could use.
I needed to get my car fixed. For the previous six months, my car, a 1978 Chevy Citation, would not start. I didn't even bother to renew the registration or pay the lower-costing Planned Non-Operation fee. The time had expired for that. I needed to replace the starter on my engine and get it smog checked. The "Check Engine" light was on, and I knew I wouldn't be able to get it checked without getting that fixed as well.
After I had the starter replaced, I went and had the oil changed. I also paid to have some of the other fluids flushed out. Before I planned to completely fix it and pay for the registration, I drove it for a day. I was so glad to have a car again.
However, Abed and I were going to go to an event at the Casbah and my car started having the exact same trouble starting as before. It was going to start then, but I recognized it would eventually reach the point when it wouldn't anymore. I got instantly depressed and didn't feel like going to the Casbah. Abed called Hird to come pick him up so he could go.
I just sat there. Everything I had planned for depended on the car working like it did before. The CD release, going to the clubs, trips out of town, etc. were no longer in my grasp. I was at odds at what I was going to do.
I saw a news report about a new car dealership in Mission Valley. It was for Daewoo, a Korean car and electronics company. They had an interesting marketing plan in which they got college students to drive the cars around and promote them. If a student got someone to come in and buy a car at the dealership, he would get a commission on the sale. In addition, at the end of the program, the student would be able to buy a brand new car at half price.
I liked the idea of getting on the ground floor of something new. That Saturday, I drove my car over to the dealership. I met a salesman. He had been in the car sales business for more than twenty years. I don't remember how the conversation got steered this way, but he showed me some of the "slightly used" Daewoo cars they had on the lot. He didn't tell me this, but I knew that these were the cars that had been driven by the college students. He showed me a green-colored sedan with an automatic transmission that was selling for about $9,000. I remember that it didn't have automatic windows. I got to test drive that. We discussed financing. He said they would be able to accept my car as a trade-in, but I wouldn't get more than $500 for it. I couldn't argue with that.
However, he told me that he used to sell the Chevy Citations, like the one I owned. He said there was a factory defect that may have led to the problem I was experiencing, and I may be able to take it to the Chevy dealership and get it fixed for free. If that was the case, I wouldn't need to buy the car. The Chevy dealership was nearby, so I drove over there to arrange to have them diagnose the problem and see if it was something they were going to have to fix without me having to pay for it. However, I still had to pay $60 for them to look at it. The dealership kept it for the weekend and told me they would call me on Monday.
When they called back, they confirmed it was not a factory defect and would cost at least $900 to fix. I told him not to fix it and I would be by to pick it up.
After getting the car, I stopped by the Daewoo dealership and found the salesman. I told him I wanted to buy that car that I had test-driven. A big smile came on his face. I knew I would be able to get a loan through the credit union. However, there was one problem. This was the middle of March. The credit union was tied to school hours and this was Spring Break. They would be closed for the entire week. I would not be able to arrange financing through them. The sales man said it wasn't a problem. I could finance through their bank and then have the credit union pay them off.
(As it turned out, I wasn't the only one inconvenienced by Spring Break in Artesia that year. My step-brother Tad also needed a loan that very same week and got very upset that he was going to have to wait. Since then, the credit union separated from the school and now runs like a real financial institution.)
I had only declared bankruptcy less than five years earlier. I was aware that this was going to reflect on my credit report. The salesman said it shouldn't really be a problem. However, it was. I was initially declined. He and a manager said they would try everything to put it through since I obviously had the right income level and had recently paid off a loan. But it did mean I wasn't going to be driving that car home that day. I was disappointed.
They had told me to keep checking back to see if there was any change. I kept calling back the next few days and they kept assuring me they would hold onto that car for me. On Friday, the salesman called and said they had sold that car. They had other cars available close to the same price, but they were all standard transmission.
During that weekend, I walked by a Mitsubishi dealership and saw that they had new cars for about $1500 more than the Daewoo I was looking at. I didn't like the box shape they were known for. I mean, I knew they were good cars, but I preferred the smooth styling of the Daewoo. I would only get a Mitsubishi if all else failed.
And it almost did. More on that on Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment