Buying a car

We’re buying a car. I’d post about something else, but really, buying a car is kind of all-consuming.

What makes the purchase really interesting is finding yourself squarely in the $2-3K bracket. There is not much car out there for that much $, but alas, there we are.

The minivan was given its last rites the other day when we took it in to see how much dough it would take to get the A/C working before we drive, in 2 weeks, to DC, the city of legendary heat and misery. The answer, by the way, is too freakin’ much, but along with that answer came the sorrowful pronouncement of the mechanic that we cannot, under any circumstances, drive to DC until we redo the front end. “Blow one more band on those springs and she’s gonna’ shoot right through the tire.” Dang.

Now,  said van has been nickel and diming us for a long time. All of our vehicles have. It’s what happens when you run them into the ground and show little care for their well-being on the way down. But when you have on your hands a rustbucket on wheels with a rear end that sucks rain in rather than keeping it out – a vehicle that has more new (to us) parts than original – and they tell flash you the estimate of over $500, you start considering your options. $500 is neither a nickel nor a dime, and frankly, it’s about 500 times what the buggy is worth.

Car shopping ranks right up there with curtain shopping for me. It might be worse. The noxious fumes are still present, the price tags are exponentially larger, and those hocking their wares are potentially a good deal slimier. Thank God there are some good people out there that genuinely want to help you through your own personal mini-crisis.

Tonight, after days of staring deep into the interwebs (and all the horrid headaches that follow), and many hours busting a move around the Chippewa Valley test-driving everything from the dangerously-out-of-our-price-range to the very-real-endangerment-to-our-lives, we might be on our way to a good deal. Fingers crossed.

See you on the other side,
KJ