Random Monday- The new car edition
It was time. I’d loved my bright orange VW bug- not just because it was cute, but also because it was most often the only orange car in the parking lot thus making it easy to find. However, we’d been together a decade and my needs had changed. There was no avoiding it- it was time for a new car. I’d put off the search for awhile. I hate shopping for cars. This is because the vast majority of car salespeople seem stuck in some weird time vortex where they use the same cheesy lines over and over.
“What’s it going to take to get you into this car?” and “My manager didn’t want to give me permission to make you this deal, but…” Honestly, do these lines work on anyone? My favorite is when one guy told me that I REALLY had to give him a downpayment right that instant because if I didn’t I could run the risk of losing the car. I believe this was meant to throw me into a panic. But it’s a car dealership. They sell cars. If they sold that car, they would get another one- because that’s what they do. THEY SELL CARS. It wasn’t like I was picking out a one of a kind, never to be seen again model. I am quite confident that the vast majority of these sales guys use lines like “My wife doesn’t understand me.” and “Of course I’m going to leave her someday” when chatting up women in a bar.
I went with a shiny new Kia Soul! In part because I sort of like it’s roller skate looking shape, but also because the sales people treated me like a grown up. The car has all sorts of features that I never could have imagined when I had my very first car, my parent’s old Oldsmobile Omega. With that car, the features included things like four wheels, a mostly working engine, and the occasional air conditioning that smelled a bit funky when you first turned it on. My new car has all sorts of gadgets including a push button start that makes me feel like I’m driving for NASA. The color is “molten” because much like nail polish, it is illegal for car colors to be called things like red. They have to have fancy names. I am still figuring out the navigation system, which randomly seems to want to tell me where to go, but there is still a lot of car love.
When I first started dating DH he was driving a Camaro, that he called Zippy. It had no floorboards on the passenger side due to rust, allowing you (should you be so inclined) to sort of stick your feet out and pedal along, Flintstone style. He loved that car.
What was your first car?
