Saturday, December 06, 2003
Buzzzzz:
There is a background vibration in the house as we get closer to buying a new car.
Palpable excitement.
It started with the 'which' of it. Which of the two cars will be replaced; the 1997 Cherokee or the 1984 Town and Country Le Baron Convertible/Mark Cross Edition.
Sadly, the convertible Woody. We got him when we arrived in Palm Springs---the Cherokee brought us across the USA. He was a forlorn little guy sitting in a garage lot with a 'for sale' sign on him. We took him home and scrubbed him up and bought him quite a few new clothes and parts. We have used him day in and day out for almost 7 years.
It is a complicated decision; but not too hard to make, once you figure that the Woods is wheezing and not really reliable for any long distances. The Jeep is also on limited milage. We are an 'Enterprise is our second (third) car' house. Always better to rent for the long trip. But the Cherokee has an easy 50,000 more miles to go before we put him on a short leash.
Woods is 110,000 miles; the Jeep is 54,000. And so on. I will spare you the details.
We need two cars because it is Southern California and you gotta drive two at a time. Some believe that you really need THREE cars for two people to really be SoCal folk.
We need a 'rough' car for the dog and stuff.
We need a convertible for the fun of driving. It IS Palm Springs. We have the top down year round.
So it is the convertible. We have more fun than we do rough stuff, although often, they are the same thing.
We have been through the mill on the Toyota, the Honda, and the bigger Mazda; all of which compete with the Chrysler Sebring. We have thought bigger and grander (but not better) of the Audi and the Volvo.
And we have to come out with the Sebring. It holds four (not easily but the others do not hold two easily) and, importantly, we can continue to go to Crystal Chrysler for service. It turns out that service trumps almost any detail about the car itself.
White. Beige top. No frills. Well, other than the car itself.
It will be our main car and, for awhile, we will eschew Enterprise as a second car and use the Sebring for longer travel.
Now the 'when' of it. Soon. We thought that we could use the deductability of the sales tax this year but it turns out that there isn't any deductibility any more....when did that happen? But, there ARE deals at the dealers--outright discounts, rebates! And besides, the momentum for the car is going so we will make haste slowly but surely.
Now for the bottom line.
The Woods will go up for sale in the Town and Country Club Newsletter so that we can get its 'real' value as a near-antique. It is relatively worthless on a trade-in.
While we wait for a buyer, we will have THREE cars! We will have (at least temporarily) made it into the SoCal culture!
There is a background vibration in the house as we get closer to buying a new car.
Palpable excitement.
It started with the 'which' of it. Which of the two cars will be replaced; the 1997 Cherokee or the 1984 Town and Country Le Baron Convertible/Mark Cross Edition.
Sadly, the convertible Woody. We got him when we arrived in Palm Springs---the Cherokee brought us across the USA. He was a forlorn little guy sitting in a garage lot with a 'for sale' sign on him. We took him home and scrubbed him up and bought him quite a few new clothes and parts. We have used him day in and day out for almost 7 years.
It is a complicated decision; but not too hard to make, once you figure that the Woods is wheezing and not really reliable for any long distances. The Jeep is also on limited milage. We are an 'Enterprise is our second (third) car' house. Always better to rent for the long trip. But the Cherokee has an easy 50,000 more miles to go before we put him on a short leash.
Woods is 110,000 miles; the Jeep is 54,000. And so on. I will spare you the details.
We need two cars because it is Southern California and you gotta drive two at a time. Some believe that you really need THREE cars for two people to really be SoCal folk.
We need a 'rough' car for the dog and stuff.
We need a convertible for the fun of driving. It IS Palm Springs. We have the top down year round.
So it is the convertible. We have more fun than we do rough stuff, although often, they are the same thing.
We have been through the mill on the Toyota, the Honda, and the bigger Mazda; all of which compete with the Chrysler Sebring. We have thought bigger and grander (but not better) of the Audi and the Volvo.
And we have to come out with the Sebring. It holds four (not easily but the others do not hold two easily) and, importantly, we can continue to go to Crystal Chrysler for service. It turns out that service trumps almost any detail about the car itself.
White. Beige top. No frills. Well, other than the car itself.
It will be our main car and, for awhile, we will eschew Enterprise as a second car and use the Sebring for longer travel.
Now the 'when' of it. Soon. We thought that we could use the deductability of the sales tax this year but it turns out that there isn't any deductibility any more....when did that happen? But, there ARE deals at the dealers--outright discounts, rebates! And besides, the momentum for the car is going so we will make haste slowly but surely.
Now for the bottom line.
The Woods will go up for sale in the Town and Country Club Newsletter so that we can get its 'real' value as a near-antique. It is relatively worthless on a trade-in.
While we wait for a buyer, we will have THREE cars! We will have (at least temporarily) made it into the SoCal culture!
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