Woo hoo, I bought a new car tonight!
Well, technically it’s used. A 2008 Civic EX-L coupe… the top of the Civic line. It’s got all of the options. And I mean all of them. I’d been checking Craigslist and found a few Civics here and there that were close to what I wanted, and there was one at a local dealership which didn’t have a lot of details in the ad but was at least the right model. So I dropped in after work, drove it a bit, and loved it. Not only did it have the leather seats (absolute requirement), sunroof (very important), and upgraded stereo (also vital) , it even had a manual transmission. And that’s actually really rare in Civics– in general manuals don’t sell well so they aren’t very popular. When I test-drove a 2010 model on Saturday, the guy at the (different) dealership said they have to special-order the manuals.
I figured it was a sign.
I took it home so Laralee could drive around the block a few times, and the kids all hopped in back to join the fun. She liked it, but in the end said it was really up to me. I really hadn’t planned on buying anything– I was just window-shopping– and we’re leaving for spring break tomorrow so there really wasn’t time to work out a deal. Still, a sign’s a sign so I went back to the dealership and played The Game with them, insisting on a price that was enormously lowballed. After a bit of haggling they said they really couldn’t meet my offer, and I thanked them for their time and was ready to walk out. The manager asked me to wait a moment while he made a call. The way he acted, he might have been calling Soichiro Honda himself and getting him out of bed at 3am Japanese time or something.
After a quiet conversation the mysterious guy on the other end agreed to the price, and it was a done deal. I filled out reams of paperwork, wrote the check, and drove away. The only bummer is we’re leaving for spring break so I won’t get to drive my new baby until next week.
It’s been thirteen years since I changed cars, so this is a big day. I plan to drive this puppy for another thirteen too. Luckily it’s a sweet, sweet ride.