Thursday, April 06, 2006

Big News

In my last post (which feels like a month ago) I said that I couldn't get to the yarn store and it was "a long story". Well, the story just kept getting longer, and this is the first I've felt like blogging about it. Sometimes emotions are just too raw to send out into the internets, and a little resolution and perspective is required.

So I'll try to keep this short, without yadda yadda-ing the whole thing.

Friday afternoon I had some car problems which were new. My car has 165,000+ miles, so problems are periodic, but I can usually fix them at least temporarily. Well, after much time on the phone with my father and reading the service manual we weren't sure what the problem was and it was beyond my confidence to attempt to fix it. (Besides, I don't have a garage, and some work you just don't do in a parking lot.) I was stranded for the weekend. On Monday I took it to the closest service station, rented a car, and they called me later at work with the verdict: your horse has a broken leg, and has to be put down. There was no compression in the fourth cylinder, requiring an overhaul or replacement of the engine. The mechanic didn't even try to get me to do it. He just told me it wasn't worth it.

I cried. I cried a lot.

So, moving along, as most of you know, finding a car to buy can be a long process. I hadn't been looking or thinking of buying a new car. I had a bit of money saved, but not as much as I would have liked. Renting a car long-term is expensive. What to do, what to do? Long story short, I had looked around the internet at used cars, but a co-worker happened to mention that because we work for a company owned by DuPont, we get a special deal on a lot of new cars. Ford was one of the few makers with rebates available, and I had rented a Ford Focus a few years ago, and had been pleasantly surprised. My mother vetoed the Chevy Cobalt due to poor reviews, even though it's available in purple. A Corolla, a replacement for what I had, would be expensive new or used, considering my lack of financial preparation.

So, I went to Ford.com, "built my vehicle" and found the exact car at a dealer nearby. I sent off an e-mail requesting a quote, but it was after business hours. The next morning I got the quote, I applied and was approved for credit online, and that afternoon I headed out to the dealer where my car was already gassed up and washed for me. I took it for a test-drive, kicked the tires, and bought it for less than a used Corolla. I didn't cruise the lot on a Sunday afternoon, I didn't amass a pile of glossy brochures and business cards to match, I didn't read any Consumer Reports books (but my mother did), I didn't compromise on color or extra features or anything. It was the most surreal car shopping experience I've ever had.

So here it is, the reason I won't be buying much yarn for a while (gonna have to get used to those payments):


It's been a bittersweet experience. I'm still despondent about my old car, but I find New Car Smell to be therapeutic.

12 comments:

Gwen said...

Oh Beth. My heart is sad for you. But what a beautiful car! You did a good job and I'm so happy for you...even if will have to curb the yarn buying.

I'll have to live vicariously through you, because although I just paid mine off, I'm trying to wait a year before buying a new one...

It really is beautiful.

Gwen

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on the new car! It sure does suck to have to put down your faithful old car (been there), but driving a brand new car isn't a bad experience.

Reighnie said...

Very nice!

Congratulations on the great deal. I wish my car buying experience was like that.

I love your blog. You are so talented.

Emily said...

I am glad that the story turned out well, even though car stuff is always disconcerting.

Lauren said...

I think a car is probably better than yarn anyway.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about your old car!

Your story reminds me a bit of one of my car-buying experiences . . . Hub and I were moving back to TX and needed a car ASAP. We had a frend who had a Saturn, so we drove his for a day, and liked it. Then we called the Saturn dealership here in Dallas, and arranged everything by phone and fax. The day we moved, we flew to Dallas, rented a car, took the cats and ourselves to our new apartment, signed the lease, got the keys, dropped off the cats. Drove to the Saturn dealership, picked up our car, drove back to the airport to turn in the rental, and finally went to our new home.

Crazy.

Anonymous said...

It's the baby sister of my car! Too cute. I hope you love it as much as I love my Focus Wagon.

Anonymous said...

Beth,

I'm sad and happy for you all at the same time. New Car looks very pretty in the parking lot.

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll adjust to the payments!

Anonymous said...

I love it! Have a great weekend driving around.

Unknown said...

Got my bag finished! I love it. Made the casing a little too narrow, but it works. Did you give the length of the cording? I couldn't find it, so just guessed. Now to use it tomorrow while I walk around the Fleece Fair I am headed to.

Kirsti said...

The new car looks (and I'm sure smells) wonderful. And hopefully you can at least squeeze in a skein of sock yarn here and there....

Nomad said...

How are you liking your focus so far? I may be buying one tomorrow (used 2003) and I was just wonderig how you're settling into it.