The comfort of this place
We decided that Nick was officially not worth fixing last Saturday when I called my mechanic and he said, "If I were you, I wouldn't bother fixing it--it's probably a good time to see what you can get out of it." I mean, at the rate he had been breaking down lately, I could have gotten the computer fixed, and then the next week something else might have gone bad (though he did say everything looked fine). On Monday, when I called again to let them know my official decision, he said one of the mechanics at the garage would be willing to buy it for "Two, three hundred dollars... he might even go up to four hundred"--the two junkyards I had called would only take it for $150. So I sold it to the mechanic for $400 and the mechanic will fix it up in his spare time and use it to get around town (I mean, Nick was fixable, but it just wasn't worth it to me to pay the parts and labor, whereas a mechanic obviously won't have to pay labor...) So Nick will live on (after some major surgery), and I'm $400 richer for it.
So that took care of that. Next problem was finding a replacement vehicle--I spent the week poring over car ads and searching around online--I found things like a stripped-down '99 Taurus (that didn't even include a radio) and other miscellaneous things like that. And at some point during the week we discovered the Chevy Cobalt--pretty much bottom-of-the-line, but Dad and I played with numbers and discovered that we might actually successfully be able to buy a new one with financing for the next six years... then we discovered that we probably couldn't... then we started truly exploring financing options.... and in the meantime a ton of people started suggesting options in terms of what we could get. One of those people was one of Dad's coworkers who knew of a good guy up in Fenton (quite a ways north of where I live) who could probably figure something out for us--Dad put in a car to that guy... Busy week, all told.
Today we finally made it out to actually physically look at cars. The first place we stopped at was a Pontiac dealer where we received a very blatant sales pitch on a 2002 Saturn. I mean, it was a really nice car and all--only 33,000 miles or so on it, and we even talked them down to the price range we wanted. But... I dunno. Their sales pitch had me on defensive, for one thing, and for another--there was no "halo" around the car. It's not that I honestly expected God to shoot down a beam of light from Heaven with a neon sign saying, "Lisa, buy this car!"--it's just, I dunno. Put it this way. When I shopped for prom dresses, I saw many that were very nice, but I only fell in love with one. That's the Halo. Or when we went and explored a bunch of college campuses, even though I was tired and cranky and had a migraine when we visited, I knew I wanted to go to Grand Valley. That's the Halo. And the Saturn didn't have the halo. So we left a deposit--just in case we decided to buy it after all--and left, had lunch, and went to the place up in Fenton.
That guy was much more awesome. First, his business philosophy is that you earn more customers by treating your customers right. Common philosophy, right? Well, he was a much better salesman in that he didn't come across as trying to sell us a car... he came across as being a good guy who was trying to help us out. He looked at the car repair histories of the two cars he thought would work (a 2004 Oldsmobile Alero and a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am) and showed us the Bluebook price of the Alero in comparison to his selling price--he only wanted $300 more than the Bluebook trade-in price and was more than willing to bend over backwards to help us figure out the best financing options (he basically got it the cheapest for us without having Dad on the title). I mean, okay, so ultimately it's the seller who has the Halo (not necessarily the car itself)... but dang, in comparison to the Saturn... heck, the Alero even "named herself." She might as well have come purring up to me saying, "Hello, My name is Sonja, I'll be your car for the next six or more years, barring catastrophe."
So basically, my car problems should be over for a while *knocks furiously on wood* I only hope that the fact that she has a name didn't just forfeit her to the same violent, bloody fate that both of her (named) predecessors have now suffered. Ah well... it feels like life is sort of straightened out for the moment...
Edit:
Just for kicks and stolen from zionchild:
Take the quiz at dicepool.com
You are the large, round, friendly d20! (You probably didn't know this, but the shape of the twenty-sided die is called an Icosahedron.) You are the friendly, outgoing, outspoken, leader of friends. You are often looked up to, even though you don't normally deserve it. Most other types secretly wish they were you, and you'd give them tips on how, if only you had a clue yourself. Your charisma is often all you need, but you have your occasional moments of brilliance as well--just never when it's actually needed. You are the all-around good guy, a dependable chum, a respectable foe, and an inspiration to those who need one. Who says you can't get by on a smile and good looks alone?