The Way Car Buying Should Be

Saturday I did some Christmas shopping for myself. In the same time I think I got an ulcer or two but it was worth it for this:

This isn't the exact one I bought but very close. 2003 Pontiac Vibe. 68k miles, 2WD, 4door sedan, automatic, trunk rack and a roof rack. I have been researching cars online at CarMax for a few months now after a coworker lent me her car for a week. I was in training for a week questioning how I would get to/and from the class and she was out of the country. That week of freedom was....was like no other. Morning commute was 35 minutes instead of 75. In the evenings I left on my schedule instead of Metro's schedule. The first day without the car was painful and my sister knew. When I walked in the door the first night without the car the first thing when I walked in the door was let out a big sigh and say "I miss having a car". I have been sans motor vehicle since February 2003 and thought I could keep going strong for a few more years until all bills were paid and money was saved. Well the bills all didn't get paid and I don't have much money saved - for a car or a rainy day - but I was tired of coming home after work sighing about the commute.

I rented a FlexCar from 10:30am - 5pm knowing it could take me that long to make the drive to Dulles should I go through and drove to CarMax in Dulles on Saturday. My first mistake that morning was I didn't eat breakfast. I brought along my checkbook, a bottle of water and a baggie with pistachios, almonds and peanuts. My second mistake was I didn't bring enough food to last me for the entire day. I looked first at the Vibe and test drove that and tried the Honda Civic second. I walked in pretty much knowing I would go with the Vibe because of the lower price and the sunroof. Also I think my bikes would look better mounted on the Vibe instead of the Civic. I wanted to talk about final cost and financing so we took the car off the lot. My stomach did somersaults when the salesman put the 'Sold' sticker on the dashboard. What the hell did I just do?

Besides signing my life away on about a dozen forms everything else is a blur. I had to have some work done on the car so I went out for some lunch and to get away and shake the butterflies out of my stomach. Jen metroed to Vienna and I picked her up so she could drive the FlexCar home while I drove my new car home. She was with me when we did the inspection and agreed with me - the bikes were going to look nice on the Vibe.

I finally drove out of there around 5:30 pm broke, still hungry and full of a bundle of nerves.

Cuz it's cool: INXS: What You Need