and then -- it hit me. i sank back down into the warmth of the bed and smiled. i have a new car, as of last week, and have no need for gathering beach towels and soaking up rainwater and airing out the smell with the windows down and heavy doses of febreze.
yes, the huge news in the mann household these days is that we did get a new car. and not just a new-to-us car, but an actual, real life, NEW car. the kind that they had to remove the sticker on the windshield. the kind that had single digits on the odometer. the kind that has no stains on the seats or crumbs in the corners or damp musty odor that the kids swear smells like dead fish. (what? most cars don't have that? oh.)
the reason it's such huge news is because we manns just simply don't do new-of-any-variety cars often. you might remember that chris drove my college graduation present until the wheels were just about to fall off, and then replaced it with a used sedan. my aforementioned leaky SUV was actually a hand-me-down from my parents a few years ago, and boasted a small sum of 127,000 miles on it. so when we finally succumbed to the reality that we desperately needed a new car -- unless we spent more than half of the car's value to get the leak fixed -- used vehicles were the only sensible option.
until it turned out that they weren't. there was some crazy financing deal going on and after crunching the numbers, it turned out we could either buy a used SUV with 30,000 miles on it, or spend $20 more per month and get one with that sticker and single digits on the odometer.
no brainer.
this is, hands down, the biggest thing that has happened to my children this year. they are ecstatic. for weeks as we discussed the possibility, they'd get off the bus every afternoon and crane their necks around the bend to see the driveway. and every afternoon they'd be crestfallen to see that same stinky car sitting there. "when are we going to get a new car?" they'd ask, over and over again. and despite their tendency to border on whining, liam especially had a point. "i'm tired of everything getting soaking wet even in the backseat!" he'd complain, as he had the pleasure of sitting on the passenger side under the leak. it really was sort of marshy back there.
so with me they went last thursday evening to the dealer, more excited to see our new purchase than i think they were to go to disneyworld. they staked their claim on their seats, pushed all sorts of buttons, and marveled at the drop-down DVD screen with its wireless headphones. (come to think of it, we still haven't tried that thing out. i told them the car had to be running for at least an hour before it came on since it's only good on long trips.)
and lest i paint a picture that it's only the kids who are excited ... i must admit i sat in the darkened driveway that evening after the kids were in bed and played with my new toy for an hour. i've set all my favorite radio stations on FM and XM -- and even made chris his own favorites list as well. i stored all of my regular destinations in the high-tech navigation system and alphabetized my top five on the home screen. i set up my iphone bluetooth and recorded my voice for hands-free commands so i can now simply say, "call chris" and, voila!, his phone starts ringing. (if i can figure out how to change that, i'm considering changing it to "call Hot Stuff". too much?)
the biggest thing i learned through this process is that car buying is not for the faint-of-heart. chris was on standby for any questions i had, but 99% of the process was done by little old me. i did the research, narrowed down my options, and test drove. i met a dozen or so car salesmen, most nice, a few slimy, and all hankering for my business. i called around for deals, negotiated, threatened to walk away, and then did walk away. and i finally wound up with what i think is a great deal (although, really, who says that they just bought a car and paid way too much?)
if history holds true, i figure i will likely be driving this car until liam graduates from high school. the kids might actually learn to drive in this thing. by then the floorboards will certainly have crumbs and the seats might have a stain or two. and the new car smell will have long been replaced by stinky soccer shin guards and sweaty basketball jerseys.
but what it will not have is a pile of beach towels on the floor soaking up the rainwater. because there's one feature this car -- a 2012 buick enclave, in case you were wondering -- does not have.
a sunroof.
picture coming ... stay tuned
No comments:
Post a Comment