Saturday, June 09, 2007

An unexpected addition to the family!



No, I am not announcing that I will be a proud new papa. But, I am a new car owner.

As the decieving title splains, it was not planned.

The above vehicle is a 2007 Honda Fit. It is replacing my long loyal a very rarely problematic 1996 Honda Accord. We had planned on replacing it about a year from now when we paid off our other car. Well, plans dont always seem to go as planned.

In the last month, my flawless Accord was pelted by hail and yesterday blew a transmission. It had close to 200,000 miles on it, so it had a good life ( play taps here).

I began my car search about 2 months ago, I am one of those kind of people that like to REALLY know alot about what I am gonna buy. Yeah it seems kinda unlike me, but it is a little known fact ( see, isnt it worth it to come here and read this valuable kind of crap!). I bought my copy of consumer reports and studied all of the most reliable cars and of course in the time of $3.00 gas, what got the best gas mileage. The Honda Fit was exactly what I wanted!

So, I decided to get a test drive. I was told that there is a waiting list for this car and that there would be no chance for a test drive. I walked away a bit irked! I wasnt gonna ever buy a car without test driving it. So, what did I do? I happened to see one that day and went up to the lady that was driving it, and asked if I could see her car! Good thing she didnt have mace or a good knee to the groin because I know I must have freaked her out! :-) Not really, she was very nice and understanding. In fact she said that she had lucked out herself when finding her FIT. They just happened to find one the day they stopped at the dealer. So, she let me sit in the driver seat and get comfy. I knew I liked this car....but was concerned that I might not get a shot at one when the time came.

Well the time came alot sooner than I expected. After this mornings news that it would take about $2100 to fix my Accord. The time was now. I was a bit freaked out by the thought of having to find a car in such short notice. I really dont like to rush these things. So, I decided to call my local dealer that I have used since I was 18. ( no jokes about that being in the kennedy administration....make sure it was Reagan that you refer to!) and check if they had any Fits ( yeah....I am having a hard time with that name also...) thinking it was a total stab in the dark. Well, my stab came up with one. I was forced to take white ( I am a black car guy by nature) for a color but everything else on the car had what I wanted!

I got to take my test drive, and it confirmed that I loved it. 3 hours later, and cramped hands from signing so many documents....it was ours.

Now, I know that it looks like a glorified asprin and that I wont have many motorheads wanting me to pop the hood!!!! ( I included a pic for all of you Booogity Boogity types!) But its a cool little car!

Finally. We are heading off for our Summer Vacation in a few days. We are heading to Memphis Tennesee by way of St. Louis . I am excited to soak in all of the music culture ( Elvis, BB, Al Green, Stax Records, Sun Records etc) and Steven is excited to go to Six Flags in St Louis!

But what should be really exciting will be the looks I get from the southern folk with my lil rice burner! Yep....yeeeee haw! :-)

5 comments:

Bar L. said...

congrats on the new car, but I wa disappointed to hear it wasn't a surprise package on the way from the stork :)

Cool new look ya got going on here Mike!

Slone said...

Nice...but where do you wind it up at????
Just kidding, one of life's great treats is getting a brand new car! the new car smell, watching that odometer roll past that first one hundred miles, having the windows down feeling the wind in your hair as your favorite tunes play on the CD...then you make that first car payment!!
Congrats on your new toy!

Lori said...

awww...it's a cute little car, Mike! And I happen to like white cars. Ironically, I got your black vehicle when we purchased our gas-guzzling, "monsta" Expedition. But hey, when you're hauling around a 6'1" freshman who's still growing, his sister and their crew, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I digress. I like it! And I'm jealous that you're going on vacation! If you'd head a little more SW, you'd end up here instead of St. Louie..ah well. Enjoy!

Jacquie said...

They recently closed down the Ford plant here in Cleveland and thousands lost their job. I like foreign cars but hearing that makes me feel bad about buying foreign, although, when we finally do buy a car, that guilt nudge won't stop me ...

I love Hondas. They are great reliable cars. Congratulations! Have a safe trip to. I have to get back to chatting with you now.

Lori said...

Where are you these days? Must be too busy tootling around in your car to write, eh?! But then, I guess there's that trip to MO...

Hope all is well in your world. Drop me a line sometime and let me know how you are.

TT