New Car

Just before Christmas, actually on the day my daughter arrived with her family, I wrecked my car. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, but my car was totaled. I made it through Christmas by borrowing cars and keeping moving. (Not injured does not mean not sore!) My daughter kept nagging us to get out and get a new car. However, with a house full of company it just didn't happen. The truth of the matter is that we just weren't ready to buy a car and our hearts just weren't in it.

Car shopping is vastly different now. It used to be that you would go to the local dealer and see what he had. Then you made a choice based on his inventory and your finances. Deal done. It's not nearly so simple now. First off, the local dealers have been closed down. That means you have to shop further away from home. Also, now the Internet has opened up the possibilities of price checking, car shopping, and comparisons. No longer are you bound by the dealers you have locally but can reasonably seek out any make and model. That means researching and comparing hundreds of cars to even decide which type you want.

Once you narrow down your search to the make and model that you want, all you have to do is find that car at the price you want. This involves checking dealers, Internet sites, auto auctions, and private sales. Poor hubby spent night after night glued to the computer checking for cars. He had decided on the make and model but was having trouble finding the color he wanted. The one we liked came in 8 shades of gray (80% ), black and white (15%) and red (5%). Guess which one we wanted? Yep, the red one. You would think it wouldn't be that hard to find but we spent weeks trying to find the perfect one. Several times we gave in and decided to go for the black one (I really didn't want another gray car!) but the price would be wrong or it wouldn't have the features we wanted. Then back to the computer.

Finally, one night he found two really great cars. The price was right and they were red!! One was in Jacksonville, FL and the other in Milwaukee, WI. I was holding out for the one in Florida, seeing as how we were cold and snowy here. However, the one in Milwaukee was the better deal. Through all of this, a friend who is a car dealer had been helping us find the perfect car. He was wonderful and placed the call the the dealer in Milwaukee and made the deal. Now all we had to do was get it home.

Two days later we flew into Milwaukee to pick up the car and drive it home. We left on a sunny morning looking forward to a nice little "get-away" time. The pilot announced that the weather was about 25 degrees and cloudy in Milwaukee. Moments later the stewardess came on and announced, "Your pilot has not been entirely honest with you. It is 25 degrees and it is cloudy. However, it is also snowing and they are under white-out conditions. However, they are plowing a runway for us to use. Have a good trip." That sounded a little different.

We landed on the newly plowed runway with no problems and dodged the snowplows to our gate. We were met by a driver from the dealership who assured us that this was just a little snow and would quit soon. I was reassured, after all we were in the north where everyone knew how to deal with a little snow. Unfortunately, the four wrecks we passed on the interstate didn't reassure me of this much. The driver was right in that the snow quickly ended.

Two hours later when we left with our shiny, spotlessly clean car the roads were wet, but cleared of snow. They really do know how to handle snowy roads. Now we were on our way--only 8 more hours to go. Everything was fine until we got to Chicago. Nothing would do but for hubby to go straight through downtown (it's shorter). About halfway through the snow started up again. By the time we had gotten through Chicago the roads were covered and traffic slowing down. After one rather slick snow covered ramp, hubby looked at me and suggested we stop for the night. Fine with me---there is nothing more nerve wracking than driving on slick roads in a new car!!

The next morning we continued our trip on clear dry roads (they really do know how to deal with snow). The fun part was watching the landscape change. We left Milwaukee in a snow covered world of deep drifts and pure white scenes. The further south we came the more ground we saw. By the time we arrived home the snow was gone and we could see grass again.

The first thing we did was go through a car wash!! My pretty red car was mostly gray. Then on to show off the new purchase to hubby's office. They are delighted that he has finally gotten a car so they can get something done besides listen to his car hunt. I think everyone had been helping search for the "perfect car".

Thanks guys! It is perfect.