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The search for a car is over.
Feb. 22nd, 2003 01:19 pmI haven't been able to post for a couple of days, so let me catch you up. LJ has been hinkey for me for reasons unknown. Anyway, hub's clutch got all fuxored right as he was starting his new (non-Nerdz) job. This is a good time to happen if it had to happen, because with Nerdz he had to have the car to go out to 3-4 calls a day hauling computer bits- but now he just has to get his ass to work, which is about a mile and a half. He's walked it and taken his motorcycle, but we got flooding rains Friday so I decided to be Mrs. Nice Guy and give him a ride in at ungodly early. As I'm driving home, I hear an ad for Auto Trader magazine, and think 'I should pick one of those up.' So I mosey by a grocery store and do so. Then I leaf through it, and find this ad as well as several Tacomas and other likely candidates (though some are in San Antonio). This ad has a website, which takes me here (if you are not a link chaser, it's a '97 Honda Odyssey with 66k miles on it). It looks good; the price was a bit outside of my range, but I call him to get more details. Everything about it is fine, he's selling it for his mom who has gone overseas. So I call the mechanic, who is momentarily uncertain if these were the cars that had Isuzu engines in them, which would be bad. But no! A quick call to the nice parts guys at Howdy Honda (but I'm told never to actually buy a car from them) clears this up- no, he's thinking of the Passport. The Odyssey is a Honda Accord 4 cyl. So the mechanic gives it a thumbs up. Edmunds, Consumer Reports, Car Talk, and MSN Auto all seem to like these cars. Next step- look at the car.
I ask the seller if I can go look at it right then, but he puts me off until the next day (today). Hub, Gordon and I all drove out this morning at 10am and checked it out. It's almost flawless; there is a ding here and there and the visor mirror over the driver's seat was in shards (held in by the flip cover). The floor is not level, so we will have to cut a piece of foam or something to level it out when we want to camp out, plus it narrows to about 40 inches wide and has some protruding hook things where the seats go when they're all up, which will be more stuff to work around if camping. But these are minor complaints. The owner complaints spoke of a noisy engine- but hub's Acura is all riced up and very noisy, and this wasn't even as bad as that. They also complain of poor acceleration (it wasn't any worse than my car) and things like uncomfortable arm rests (I don't even have an arm rest on mine now). All things that when you compare them to a new car are concerns, but when I compare them to my current car, are not even up to 'trivial'. So I'm all jazzed.
Gordon is doing his thing where he's pointing out all the flaws to the seller to try and break his spirit, and whispering to me advice on how to haggle. I got flustered, and asked the guy if I could use his bathroom. He took me into his house, and when I got there I said "I like it; I'll give you $9000 for it." I will not go into the complicated research I used to come at this figure *wry smile* He said "No, we really wanted more than that..." *long pause, where I refrain from commenting* "like $9500 or $9600." "OK," I say, "how about $9500?" He hemmed and hawed, but eventually agreed. We had the cash in hand, but he wants to meet at the bank since they have the title, and do all that then. So that's planned for my next day off (Wednesday)- and then I will be in possession of a white Honda minivan.
WOO-HOO!
I ask the seller if I can go look at it right then, but he puts me off until the next day (today). Hub, Gordon and I all drove out this morning at 10am and checked it out. It's almost flawless; there is a ding here and there and the visor mirror over the driver's seat was in shards (held in by the flip cover). The floor is not level, so we will have to cut a piece of foam or something to level it out when we want to camp out, plus it narrows to about 40 inches wide and has some protruding hook things where the seats go when they're all up, which will be more stuff to work around if camping. But these are minor complaints. The owner complaints spoke of a noisy engine- but hub's Acura is all riced up and very noisy, and this wasn't even as bad as that. They also complain of poor acceleration (it wasn't any worse than my car) and things like uncomfortable arm rests (I don't even have an arm rest on mine now). All things that when you compare them to a new car are concerns, but when I compare them to my current car, are not even up to 'trivial'. So I'm all jazzed.
Gordon is doing his thing where he's pointing out all the flaws to the seller to try and break his spirit, and whispering to me advice on how to haggle. I got flustered, and asked the guy if I could use his bathroom. He took me into his house, and when I got there I said "I like it; I'll give you $9000 for it." I will not go into the complicated research I used to come at this figure *wry smile* He said "No, we really wanted more than that..." *long pause, where I refrain from commenting* "like $9500 or $9600." "OK," I say, "how about $9500?" He hemmed and hawed, but eventually agreed. We had the cash in hand, but he wants to meet at the bank since they have the title, and do all that then. So that's planned for my next day off (Wednesday)- and then I will be in possession of a white Honda minivan.
WOO-HOO!
