New Car

After fourteen years we bought a new car. Our Plum Corrola served us well, but its creaks and sluggish behavior coupled with the sounds it made when it groaned made our choices limited. Invest in it or trade it in for a newer model.

I dislike car dealerships. I dislike the lack of a common price. I dislike when the salesperson goes into some side room to speak to the boss about the price. I dislike the fact that I know that no matter how adept we thought we were at haggling we lost.

So even with all these dislikes we did what all consumers do nowadays. We went on the internet and sought out the price we were told to pay for what we wanted. It didn't give us a level playing field, but it made us feel somewhat empowered.

Our salesperson was attentive, complementary, and on our side. It was the man in the bulletproof, closed in office who made the final decisions. We sat in the car, took it for rides, played with the seat-- up and down, sideways, forward, backward, wheel telescope in, telescoped out...

We conferred, asked for additional items, and finally agreed.

It has been a week. We don't want to go to malls where people are careless with their wagons. Cambridge is scary because of what I refer to as the Cambridge PArking push. If you're attempting to maneuver into a spot that is too short a driver is permitted to tap the car behind and inch it backward a wee bit.

I expect that in short order we'll be taking our coffee into the car, eating an apple or cookie, and generally becoming more laid back. But until then the nterior is pristine...