I know I haven’t posted anything that I have written myself in a while, so I thought I had better let everybody know what I have been up to.  The task is finally completed and I now have a bit more time to get caught up again while doing other tasks that need my attention not related to Christian Political View. 

Shopping for a vehicle can be challenging for anyone trying to get a good buy on a used vehicle. This is especially true if one has a husband that thinks his savoir-faire tactics about getting the best car deal, is sure to snag the best possible deal.  My husband in particular thinks any used late-model vehicle should be half price of the original sticker price.  Regardless if has only three thousand miles and all the bells and whistles, top of the line or bottom of the line automobile.

He portentously enlightens the car salesman that he has done his homework when it comes to automobile shopping. Meaning, that his wife, yours truly, checked CARFAX and Consumer Reports, but forgot to check Kelly Blue Book.  He gets himself ready for the battle of haggling by role-playing with himself. With the short drive from our house to the dealerships, he manages to negotiate between the sticker price verses what he is willing to pay; with such finesse that is sure to impress any Middle-Eastern camel dealers.

He tells me not to get too excited about any vehicle because they won’t come down on the price, which I agree there and the biggie we are just looking.  Hey,  don’t worry,  I know after all these years never get my heart set on anything,  I consider myself lucky if I get to pick out  the color. 

We debate trading in or selling the old vehicle, but never relays one way or the other to me, which he wants to do; when the salesperson inquires, hubby turns to ask me, naturally I say the wrong thing.  By the next dealership, oh no you aren’t  putting me in that position again.  I refuse to answer. We look at different SUVs, various small vehicles where ground clearance is so low I would be praying that the car won’t get hung over on a speed bumps, potholes, traffic lane reflectors, a frog that happens to hop in the way or various other common road hazards.

A couple of weeks ago when he told me how much he wanted to spend on a new car, which he has cut back several thousand dollars since we first started looking. I informed him that he couldn’t buy a new car anything for that amount.  I now have a hard time finding a used vehicle for that amount in decent condition that isn’t over 10 years old, vehicle history shows that a law enforcement agency reported a vehicle crash or Consumer Reports advises to avoid this vehicle model like the bubonic plague.  This led up to me making a joke about going out a buying a Rolls-Royce if that is all he wanted to spend.  We could drive it to his favorite store, Dollar Tree, and to his favorite restaurant, that offers half off coupons, not to forget the thrift stores and yard sales.  Yes, anybody that is anybody drives their Rolls always having a jar of Gray Poupon just in case of emergency.

Using a handy-dandy search for vehicles, they did have Rolls Royce to sell, new ones a tad over the limit by $240,000 dollars.  Used the magic price range gizmo for a used vehicle search and several popped up.  When Rolls-Royce built this car, Jimmy Carter was president. We tried to see the vehicle as the price and the fact that it is a Rolls, piqued my husband’s interest. Made an appointment to see the vehicle but the owner was a no show. The owner did call, apologized, and asked that we call him back. My husband wants to wait him out thinking he will drop the price.  Strange, I wasn’t disappointed; truthfully, I really didn’t feel anything that the Rolls slipped out of our fingers for the second time.  Sorry to disappoint anyone but, I did not have a Lucy Ricardo-style crying jag over not getting the Blue Rolls-Royce.

He made offers on vehicles a couple of times before  would ask me if I thought we just bought the vehicle. Once I said yes, they will take the deal and they did, thankfully I did not have to settle for the lavender colored SUV. A couple of weeks ago he made an offer and he asked me if we made the deal, this time I said no.  We left the dealership without the vehicle, which I didn’t want to begin with.  Whoever owned this vehicle before was an oblivious fan of a certain rival college football team.  Perhaps that is why they wouldn’t come down on the price because so many fans live in the area.  Or maybe just maybe he had the Rolls in the back of his mind.

It’s back to square one, at least the amount he says he wants to spend has come up a bit.  Good, I can find plenty of gently used “cheap” vehicles that are manual transmission but Consumer Reports says to stay away from like a toxic waste dump.  Things are improving. Using Consumer Reports as a guide I find plenty of the right make model and price, but alas the wrong year and again way too many miles. Finally, finally, I found a vehicle right everything, Consumer Reports approved, price right on target, just one minor little detail it had a manual transmission. 

Ah, the plot has thickened; the Rolls didn’t sell so the owner has sent me an email for us to contact him. Hubby wants to think about this while at work. While vehicle shopping he keeps muttering the Rolls-Royce is a better buy. Now the opportunity has come back again. How do I compare this feeling? It’s a big decision. The vehicle is a huge gas-guzzling hog a whopping 10 miles per gallon highway, won’t be taking too many long trips in the Rolls.  Cost of major repairs could be staggering. However, insurance is very reasonable, better than our two teenaged vehicles now.  So I do I compare the decision of buying an even older Rolls-Royce to?  Getting married?  Perhaps, buying a house that is a handy-man special. The Rolls doesn’t need any work, but if it did . . . .

Hubby finally decided that if we got the Rolls would cost us too much for gasoline. Sent a message to the guy to let him know that we were no longer interested in the vehicle.  Finally! Hubby agreed that to get the year and the mileage to where he wants he is going to payout some more money. At last! I do a quick search and found 3 vehicles,  two Nissan Xterras, used  2008 and two 2009s, 2 Toyota Rav4s new 2008 and one 2010 Pontiac Vibe. The price on the Xterras were less than the other new vehicles. Great he agreed to go see the Xterras.  This time I checked Kelly Blue Book and the vehicles are at a very good price.

 A very nice young man who showed us an Xterra, but not one of the models advertised on the internet.  Things aren’t going well, hubby wants “cheap cheap cheap” again. The salesman showed us a 2006 model, again miles were too high and so was the price. The sales man then showed us another model, older but less expensive. Hubby thought the price was still a little high and the sales man had us come inside, it was horribly hot anyway and checked the Internet special price. It was the price he wanted to pay, but the age and the miles were still a little high, but acceptable.  What we went home with is a vehicle too old, mileage too high but it was the price he intended to pay.  

Candace Clark

Christian Political View