Rest in Peace, Paulie

Good Bye to an Old Friend

So I said good-bye to my first ever car, Paulie, last week. So named cuz she was Short and Red, just like Red and Shorty. And one of their names has something to do with Paul.

Amway, it was kinda hard. I mean, silly as it sounds, I felt all kinds of guilty about it. Like I was putting a dog down cuz I didn't wanna put the money up for an operation. As mentioned before, she blew a head gasket, and it would have cost over $1000 to replace.

Financial Options

So, for better or for worse, I decided a new car would be the better financial decision. I mentioned in a previous post my first attempt for a loan with my Credit Union. Well, not too unsurprising, it was denied. My debt to credit ratio was just too high. I wasn't going to get ANY kind of loan on my own, without a co-signer.

So Pop helped me out once again. He co-signed on my first car loan (cuz I wasn’t making enough money at the time) and he co-signed on my first consolidation loan (cuz, well, pretty much the same situation I’m in now, plus I wasn’t making enough money). For this time around, we decided it would be best to split the applications into two loans: one for the car, and one for the consolidation.

We knew how much money I’d have available to make payments, knew the interest rates, and figured that I could manage a 4-year $10,000 loan for a car, and a 5-year $20,000 loan for the consolidation. So we applied for them and, since Pop is a creditor’s dream come true, they were approved the next day.

Time to Hit the Streets Again

However, the checks didn’t arrive in the mail until the following Monday, so we couldn’t do our car shopping that weekend. And we couldn’t do it the next weekend, cuz Pop was due to work so it would be another couple of weeks before we could do this thing.

So we hit the streets on Tuesday night to re-scope our used-car options, only to discover that 95% of the car dealerships in Columbia close at 6:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I REALLY wished I’d have known that earlier cuz I’d taken time off early from work for car hunting. I ended up taking off early three days last week, but I managed to make it up elsewhere.

A Timely Recommendation

Amway, as I was discussing my frustrations with the Office Manager on Wednesday, she highly recommended a dealership in Jeff City that she’s bought from several times. (Reagan Honda, by the way… I also highly recommend them, if you happen to live anywhere near Jefferson City) So we figured we’d check it out. We called the place that afternoon, and it turns out that they had JUST gotten an ’02 Mitsubishi Galant in for trade just a few hours before. They hadn’t even had a chance to finish all of the inspections and certifications on it. And they thought they could offer it in my price range.

So we headed down to Jeff City Wednesday evening, and long story short: it was a match! I was rather relieved. I HATE car shopping. I’d mentioned to Mom earlier that it was a good thing they were there, cuz I was liable to take the first car offered. It was a joke, but when she relayed that sentiment on to Pop, I don’t think he took it very well. I suppose Pop and I have a typical relationship. When he’s in a good mood, we’re like each other’s sibling we never had. When he’s in a bad mood, he’s the disapproving father. However, to give Pop credit, he’d been rather stressed during this whole process as well. But when he responded that we would take weeks… even months, if necessary to find the right car, it was all I could do not to beat on something in frustration.

An Excellent Deal

But it’s all good. He highly approved of the Galant… it’s actually a VERY good deal. It’s got a WHOLE bunch of bennies: cruise control, keyless entry, power everything, tilting steering wheel, sunroof (which I’m not the most thrilled with, but it’s got a li’l cover I can slide closed, so I’m happy) and some other stuff I can’t think of off the top of my head. She’s an ’02 with only about 37,000 miles on her… a kind of cream color exterior with beige interior. I wasn’t so sure about the color, but she seems to fit me… both of us being so damned pale and all. And Pop managed to work the price down so that my pre-approved check from the credit union would cover both the car and the taxes. So it really worked out very well.

Amway, she wasn’t ready to go right then and there on Wednesday night. They had to finish up her inspections and such, and they would be closed early on Thursday. So we did all the paperwork that night, and agreed to come back Friday night to get the car. In order for the insurance to transfer smoothly (and I could keep all of my good-driver discounts) I needed to make sure I was no longer in possession of the old car by time I needed to be insured for the new one.

The Dirty Deed

With the mechanic’s stop-gap, Paulie hadn’t been overheating badly again until that Wednesday. We decided she just wasn’t gonna make the trip to Jeff City to trade her for the new car, so I was just gonna have to “dispose” of her locally. I called around to some local junk yards, and only one offered any money for her. The rest kindly offered to have her towed at no charge. *snort*

Now, don’t get me wrong… it’s not like I was in dire need of the $35… but somehow, it just didn’t feel right that she wasn’t worth anything at all. So Friday at noon, Pop came by work and followed me to the junk yard so I could drop her off, then took Mom and me to lunch. It was hard to just leave her there, among the piles of parts and rotted out cars. Mom and Pop just rolled their eyes at me. Lol Which I understand… I mean, it was silly. But I still felt bad.

Is That Really My Car?

So I was officially car-less for about 6 hours. But everything went smoothly, and I brought the new car home Friday night (utilizing my handy-dandy new cruise control). I’m still getting used to her. I don’t know when I’ll stop feeling like I’m driving a rental. I’ve already experienced that confusion of coming out of the grocery store and looking for a little red car. And then trying to remember what the new car looks like. Thankfully, mine was the only one with no tags but the temporary in the window.

I’m thinking, as soon I get the tags, I’ll put her bumper sticker on her. It’s been waiting for a few years now. I found it and decided it was going to be the first sticker on “the new car”… whenever that happened. Well, it’s happened now. Pop doesn’t really approve of bumper stickers on cars, and I think he’s harboring feelings that he has say-so over what I do with my car because he helped so much with it. I can understand that to a certain extent. So I’ll respect it for a short while… until I get my tags, anyway.

Oh, and the bumper sticker: “Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup” I mean, how can you resist a bumper sticker like that?

Ivy

Amway, after thinking on it for a while, I’ve decided to name her Ivy… short for Ivelyn. A name I’ve always loved but never figured I’d find the right person/thing to fit it to. But it fits her. I’m even thinking of a custom vanity tag… with Ivy in the name. But it’s still just a thought… gotta see how much it’ll cost.

She’s very comfortable to drive… I think I’ll finally be able to take cross-country trips in my own car, rather than taking rentals cuz I’m afraid I’ll break down somewhere in Iowa. So I’m pretty happy with her. Everybody I’ve talked to has had nothing but good things to say about the Galant. Consumer Reports recommends it. When the Office Manager went out for lunch today, she had to call me from her cell phone to tell me that she really liked it… that it was very cute and doesn’t look like an old lady car at all. Lol I guess the name “Galant” evokes images of old ladies.

Okay, I’m not sure if I’ve gotten out everything about the car, but this is getting long, so I’ll have to catch up anything I missed later. Besides, I’m off to a dentist appointment in about half an hour. Laters!