A new car, Part 2

In Thursday's post, I discussed going through a lot of trouble getting a new car. Those troubles continued up to the point that I got to drive the car off the lot.

On Monday, I went back to the Daewoo dealership to see the other slightly used cars. They had a red sedan with 7,000 miles on it and a green hatchback with 6,000. The sedan (a Lanos) was about $500 less than the hatchback, so I said that would be the one I would buy. I didn't get to test drive it. I gave them the contact information for the credit union. They called them and said that things were getting in order for me to buy the car. I would still have to wait one more day for all the paperwork to go through. GRRR!

They gave me the information on the car and told me to go buy insurance for it. There was an independent insurance broker that I had been using for the past couple of years. I went to them to get insurance. They told me that they couldn't insure a new car unless I brought it to them. Then the manager explained something to me. The dealerships will do something they refer to as "the stunner." They'll tell you that you cannot drive the car off the lot unless you have insurance, and you're going to have to buy their insurance, which has considerably higher premiums than the average insurance company. The manager said that if the salesman drives the car to the insurance broker, he is covered by the dealership's insurance. I would need him to drive me there.

On Tuesday, I went back and I did not even give the salesman an opportunity to pull "the stunner." I told him the insurance broker told me to have him drive me there with the car. He didn't argue with me. We drove to the broker and got the insurance policy. The agent took a polaroid of the car and then I got to drive it back to the dealership. This was the first time I'd actually gotten to drive the car.

It had been almost 15 years since I had been with my parents to get a new car at a dealership. I'd forgotten all the stuff Mom and Dad had to go through before we could drive the new car. We had to spend HOURS just waiting, WAITING for everything to finalize and we could go home. ALL THOSE MEMORIES CAME BACK THAT DAY! I normally went home after work and took a nap, but I had gone straight to the dealership that day. I was so exhausted. (And it didn't help that we had to drive to get the insurance, which took about an hour to do.) And there were so many forms I had to sign. And I was trading in my old car, so there were even more forms for that.

Finally, everything was completed. They handed me the keys and I was free to go. The thrill of owning a new car gave way to a feeling of relief that it was all over and done with. I got in the car and was on my way.

The first place I drove to was Fraz' apartment. She was actually excited about the new car and we went for a little drive. When I came home, I was able to show it to Abed. I was really tired, so I told him I wasn't in any condition to go driving that night, but promised him a ride the next day. I did follow through on that.

Through all of this, I never told my parents what I had been up to. I was hoping I'd be able to take a weekend off, drive to New Mexico and surprise them with the car. Abed was going to go with me so I could drop him off in Tularosa. I called Dad to see if he was going to be home. He asked me about my car situation. I told him I had gotten it fixed and everything was fine. I called Mom. She said she was going to be out of town that weekend. This meant that our plans to go to New Mexico were being scrapped. Abed and I decided to go to San Francisco instead. There wasn't really a lot to write about in our adventures, but we did stay with Soulster at his apartment in Oakland while we were there.

(But I should add that during that road trip, I sort of turned into my parents after getting the new car. Before we left San Diego, we were running behind and Abed needed to get something to eat. I got mad because I didn't want him eating in my new car!)

And I had some other positive reactions to the car. Those will be the topic of tomorrow's article.