Car Woes

So, for the last 3 years, our generous mother-in-law has allowed us to drive her old Lexus. I think it's at least 15 years old and it has served us well. We got some bad news 2 weeks ago. Hubby and I knew that things with the car were not quite right...it was super hard to steer on the highway and it always said I was going 5 mph even when I was on the highway. I may drive slow, but not that slow. So, we took it the shop and the work was going to cost about the same as the blue book value of the car, so we didn't get it fixed.

So, now we're car hunting. We had been hoping to hold off to get the Nissan Leaf. But those Nissan people are tough. It's like Bungalow 8 was back in NYC when I lived there. You can't even get on the wait list. You've got to know someone. And when you call Nissan, they give you no information, it's all about "Well, not sure when the Leaf is coming in, check the website." It really is like an uber-exclusive club. But, I used to be able to get into those clubs back in the day (pre-hubby, pre-babies) and now I'm shut out!

Today, we're off to test drive the Toyota Prius. We'll have to settle for a hybrid for now because the mechanic said the car "wasn't safe" to drive. But, of course we've been driving it. Of course, we never put our son in there, we just endanger our own lives, b/c somehow that seems better.

Our son, N. is happy to be at the Servco Toyota. He said we should buy a "blue car, like Thomas".



I wish hubby had enjoyed test driving the car as much as N. did. He (hubby, not N!) said it felt "funny". I guess you have to get used to eco-friendly steering, braking and acceleration. So, all in all, not sold on the Prius.

And, the worst part - no negotiation! I consider myself a master negotiator (skills I learned from my dad). He always says "the worst thing people can say is "no". I got great deals for our double wedding 3 years ago - free rooms, cake, etc. But, for the Prius they said the price is set?? Seriously?


I tend to pull the "Bill Cosby" when negotiating. Remember the episode when he went to buy a car and he wore some ratty sweater and wouldn't tell anyone he was a doctor? I'm kind of like that...because if you know anyone who went through med school and residency, then you know we're not exactly flush with cash the minute we graduate. Though I think others might not consider it so. When negotiating for our patio set, I was very vague about what I do and tell them I live in "Kaimuki", which is really one neighborhood over from where we live. We have the most humble house on our block, but the neighborhood is nice. My mother-in-law laughed when she heard about my "lower Kaimuki" address, though that backfired when I got the owner to throw in free delivery with the patio set and then the jig was up when I gave him our address.

So, the car hunt continues. We're thinking about the Chevy Volt or maybe we'll just drive the Lexus until the Leaf comes out? Hope it lasts that long!