Tuesday, October 13, 2020

I'm your vehicle baby, I'll take you anywhere you want to go

"I'm your vehicle woman, by now I'm sure you know that I love you, 
I need you, I want you, I've got to have you child. Great God in heaven you know I love you."
-Ides of March "Vehicle"  



Flashing you back to the 70s, this song is stuck in my head right now, for a lot of good reasons. First off, it's an absolute banger. I never knew the name of the band until I went to find the link, and I watched about 6 versions before picking this one of a much older ensemble, I think this is from 2014 maybe, compared to their 1970 version. Second, that horn section. Shut up anyone who can't get behind this. And finally. It's a banger. 

Doug and I are looking for a new car right now to replace the VW. And we may have to replace the Pontiac too. 

For long time readers, you know that the VW Passat was sold to us on the cheap by my cousin when my aunt died. We call it the Essie Mobile in honor of her. It has been having some exhaust issues, and the catalytic converter is dying. We had someone at a local shop weld the pipe in place to the converter last year, and since our state has rules like "you don't have to have it inspected again ever" this is no big issue. The car has run fine.

But the pipe and the converter are no longer friends, and we find ourselves with an exhaust leak into the car, power and acceleration issues, and a check engine light. The estimate on the catalytic converter was 1200.00, and KBB says value of the car is about 700 bucks. 

Ha. 

Looked up the Pontiac on KBB too and trade in value on that isn't even 300.00 so I'm dying laughing. Oh, cars. 

Anyway, Doug and I have very different opinions on car shopping. I've drawn the line on him buying any more cars from some guy at his house. We lucked out with the Lincoln that we got from the guy in NH who was dying. I would like for us to go to a dealership and buy a used car from a dealership. 

Dealerships are required to make sure the vehicle passes inspection (you only gotta do it once!) without it costing the buyer any money. So that's on them. I like that. Second, I'm willing to take out a loan, but Doug has his life-long "I'm never getting a loan because a bank is not going to get a fucking penny out of me in interest." But. We could get a 0% financing loan - and the bank would very much not get a fucking penny out of him. 

We have a good amount of money in the bank, so we could put a decent down payment on a car, and pay a small monthly payment but pay it off faster the way I've been paying bills. But he's vetoed that and wants to buy a car outright. 

Add to the fact that I want a hatchback if we get another dog, because I didn't like having the dog ride in the back seat and fall all over the place when we took turns. It wasn't fair to any of our dogs once we didn't have a hatchback. So I told him he better buy one. When we have to replace the Pontiac, if he wants some sort of another pimpmobile, he can get a pimpmobile. 

And, I've gotten spoiled with having the rental car in Oregon, and a rental car now while we're shopping, and I want bluetooth. Living in Radio Jail is the worst, and being able to listen to all the stuff I want to (mostly Guster related) 

And, I would like a car made in this millennium. Not partying like Prince wanted us to in 1999. 

He asked me how much I thought we should spend. Knowing that a new subaru would be like 45,000 dollars, and that's just insane, and knowing what I kind of want, I told him I was prepared to put down 8000 and get a loan for the rest for a car made 2016 or later. Like, a 20,000 car. 

He clutched his heart like he was Fred Sandford and he was going to join is wife in heaven. 

He said he could do better, still make me almost happy (probably not the bluetooth part) and spend a fraction of what I thought we should spend.

While I for sure respect the no bank's gonna get a fucking penny out of me philosophy, I really feel like we're getting too old for this shit, and I'm a pretty princess who deserves bluetooth, and a hatchback for her yet non-existent dog. 

So we will see what we end up with. He's deep in his research and is looking at dealerships (thank goodness). He may have found something for his price that meets what I'm hoping for and we'll maybe go see it tomorrow afternoon. 

More to come. I am sure.

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