Wednesday, August 24, 2011

We have a NEW (to us) car!


After months of Kieran and I searching we hopefully have found something that'll run for a bit, a 2001, 100,000K Lexus RX300. Hat's off to Pete (of Pete's Auto Clinic, 3426 W. Bryn Mawr Ave) for kindly (aka "Free") checking out 4 cars before approving of this one (having dropped a few grand on the other car probably put me in his good graces). With my faithful assistant (who insisted on a SUV) we looked at Consumer Reports listings for the best rated used cars (artist = not new car) and scoured Craigslist for our choices. As someone who has never purchased a car before (I delegated that to the wives) and knows nothing about cars (I can drive, add oil and put air in the tires. I also have the ability to impress the ladies by rollin' down the widows and crankin' up the classic rock), it was a little unnerving. Thankfully, having my daughter along made it a fun (as possible) adventure. We found out that used car lot owners will tell you a car has never been in an accident, yet had been totaled, dealers will pretend there're "owners" and sell half bondo autos on their driveways and enjoyed the "hard sell" approach of the large lots (thought I had joined the Broadway cast of Glengarry Glen Ross as "Rube #3"). So, the combination of "I'm tired of looking" + "This seems to be a reasonable price" = Purchase!
Beep! Beep!

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