My Car And My Phone

The first order of business on my arrival in Florida was to get a new phone. My Blackberry, which I had for years decided now was the time to die. I wanted an iphone, I just didn’t expect to have to buy one right now. But I had to buy a phone and why wouldn’t I upgrade? What could go wrong? Eddie very kindly took me to the Sprint store where the salesman quickly hooked me up with an iphone 4 and a brief overview of how it worked. I knew there would be a learning curve, but little did I know that my unfamiliarity with that phone would cause one of the worst panic attacks I ever had.

The next order of business was to acquire a car. I had sold my 95 Honda Accord with over 245K miles on it before I left Washington.

I knew I wanted another Honda because of the reliability, but I wanted something a little bigger, a little more comfortable. I decided on a CRV, a “mini-SUV”. It would be perfect for road trips, camping, picking up visitors from the airport, dogs, groceries, and yet small enough for around town. Ok, so, it’s really more like a “mom car” like the mini-vans I drove for years, but, oh well, that is what I am. Guilty!

Eddie took me to a used car lot in Daytona. We were met by a toothless mechanic at the back who directed us to the overweight, bleach blond, sales manager wearing the shorts in the front office.

They had one CRV on the lot and she gave us the key to drive it around the block. It made it ¾ of the way when it died and we had to walk the rest if the way back to the lot.

I wasn’t dissuaded though, and dove into Craig’s List. I was determined I was NOT going to buy from some fast talking, slick dealer and pay more for what I was getting. I filtered out “dealers” and only looked at private parties.

There were about 5 CRV’s in the year I wanted, in my price range and with the features I wanted. The problem was that 4 of them were in Orlando, about an hour and a half away. I could not ask my brother to drive me that far and then not buy the car. What if I didn’t like it?

There was one listing in the Daytona area. I called and a young woman with children screaming in the background answered. Yes, they had a 2003 CRV for sale, but she didn’t know when she could show it. She was busy with a garage sale and her girlfriend’s wedding. She wasn’t sure why they were selling it. I had to wait to talk to her husband.

I called back and they agreed to meet us in Daytona. Awesome! But they never called to set a time and place. I called back the next day and we set a time and place. Tim and I waited. They never showed up. I imagined the car was full of spilt milkshakes and French fries anyway. I was furious and embarrassed for dragging Tim all around. I was also desperate, I really needed a car. As I stood there fuming in the parking lot of the restaurant, Tim was quietly doing a search on Craig’s List on his smart phone, only this time he did not filter out dealers.

“Look, Amy, here is one, not too far away.” I reluctantly agreed to go. Parked on the lawn in front of the building was a shiny, silver, 2003, CRV, with a sun roof. I was in smitten. The dealer was a smooth talking good ol’ boy who really turned on the charm. Of course, I had to reciprocate. The car was clean and purred softly as I drove it around the block. Then it was time to dicker. The sticker price was alright but when I found out about all the other incidentals, I was shocked. $400 for a Florida license plate, taxes, dealer fees, etc, etc!

Eventually, Casey and I came to an agreement and I was no longer without wheels! I had my car and I loved it!