My new baby
Submitted by Faith on February 19, 2009 - 11:56
I bought a car, you guys! I got a new car! (Well, by "new" I mean something that was not born in 1994, like my old car.) It's this, a maroon 2003 Toyota Echo!!!!!!!1111
(That's not actually MY car, but it's the same make and year. Mine doesn't have the guard thing on the nose.) I bought it ALL BY MYSELF, too. I saved my pennies all last year, scrimping by and not spending much on any luxuries (other than the occasional graphic novel or sushi meal), then went out on my lonesome and shopped around and talked to scary used-car dealers, and found this little thing. Is it not ADORABLE? And it has AIR CONDITIONING. I've never had a car with air conditioning.
I also got it for exactly what I wanted to spend, which was really surprising. I was at this one dealer looking at a 2002 Mazda, and after driving the Mazda, I mentioned I was off to go drive a Toyota (a 2000 Echo which was really too expensive, but I wanted to see it anyway). The dealer pointed to a Toyota in his own lot and said "I've got one of those. How about that one?" The price on the windshield was $1500 more than what I wanted to spend, so I shrugged and said "No thanks." The next day I came back to take the Mazda to my mechanic to have it checked (prognosis: not so good), and the dealer again mentioned the Toyota, saying he couldn't sell it because it was a standard. I said, honestly, that I just couldn't afford it, and took the Mazda down to my mechanic.
When I came back with a list of what was wrong with the Mazda, the dealer shrugged, said he'd fix the Mazda, but would I consider the Toyota, because he couldn't get anyone to look at it, due to the standard shift. And then he priced it $1500 less than what it was originally offered for, exactly the price I could afford. I agreed to take it out for a drive, and liked it a lot, a lot more than the Protege. I drove it down to my mechanic, who exclaimed over the car's condition (said it looked like it hadn't seen a winter), and recommended it highly. So I bought it. I never thought I'd be able to afford such a nice little car. It's BEAUTIFUL. No rust, just clean and lovely, with only 100K on the odometer. I'm completely thrilled. And it's all thanks to me being able to drive standard ... and preferring it, frankly. I love driving standard, and I'm really excited I found another standard car to drive. It's the only way to fly.
And now my car needs a name! Originally I was going to name it Kenzo (hee!), and I would have if I'd ended up with the Accent or Protege, because they looked like Kenzo cars. Serious and practical and probably given to preaching high minded morality. But this one doesn't. What should I name it? Suggest a name I like and you get a gold star.
In conclusion, I would just like to say that used car shopping by yourself when you are a young woman is terrifying and I felt physically ill from it all, but I'm glad I did it. I got a great little car for the price I wanted and ... hey, I did it! I'm an actual adult, doing adult things! Who'da thought?
