Have you tried buying a new car recently? And by recently, I could be referring to anytime during the last twenty years. Maybe longer. I just came back from looking at some new vehicles, not so much because I necessarily need something new, but rather, because I could use a vehicle that gets better gas mileage. There’s almost nothing out there that fits my needs that can also get the 125 miles per gallon I’m looking for. That kind of gas mileage also fits my needs. Yours too, I allow.
We all threaten to walk or get a horse if the gas goes any higher. Both options are out for me, seeing as I don’t walk anywhere and there is no place on a horse my wife can easily load my scooter. Westport to Baie Verte would take a hard day’s ride one way, and riding a horse that far during moose season could be downright dangerous. I don’t even want to bring up saddle sores, which I have anyway without a saddle from 17 years of sitting around. There’s no getting around the fact that a car ceased being a luxury about the same time walking became one.
New cars are overpriced, and in a world that has become a buffet when it comes to choices, the options available on cars is an all or nothing affair. On top of that, have you noticed that some things that didn’t need to be options became extras that the dealerships get to pile on the base price? Who the heck cares if the wheels are alloy? And how are alloy wheels different than the wheels that were on my first car, a 1960 Chevrolet convertible? Roof racks became an option somewhere along the line, but they didn’t stop there. Now, side rails are separate from the cross rails, such that something that used to be a single option has been divided into two options, both of which carry their own make-you-choke-on-your-own-spit price. My 60 Chevy got a lot of positive comments, and no one ever noticed it didn’t have alloy wheels, whatever those are. Roof racks on convertibles on the other hand, never really caught on.
I started trying to shop a little smarter by looking at brand new, last year’s models they’re wanting to shed to make room for the new ones. The latest one I priced has a $7840.00 ‘courtesy discount.’ Cool. The dealer also offers a $1500 cash down incentive, meaning they’ll knock that off the price too, but you gotta read the fine print. Before that amount is deducted, taxes are calculated on the price inclusive of the cash down, resulting in you paying taxes on an amount not a part of the actual cost of the car. Can you even think of another commodity that a seller can do that to?
The fine print also included a $399 charge for a tire warranty I didn’t ask for that’s added on before taxes as well. All of that becomes a cost you’ll end up financing for 4 or 5 years, which means the cost of a warranty nearly equal in value to the cost of the tires will accrue interest costs over the life of the loan. I may not be the brightest turnip on the truck, but I didn’t just fall off of it either, probably because the truck I’m on has a turnip loss limiting device option someone paid a lot of extra money for.
I need a car that can accommodate my scooter, has a few power options, and doesn’t require me to have my pension cheque set up as a direct deposit to an oil company. I like GPS, but I can also still read a map. I don’t need an information centre that tells me my left front tire is 3 lbs. light, or that I’m currently using 11.1 litres/100km.-wait-9.7 litres/100 km.-wait-22.2 litres/100km.-wait....... I also don’t need a sunroof, a moon roof, a Venus roof, a DVD player, 2 DVD players, dual climate control, an easy-bake oven, Sirius radio, foolish radio, an Ipod docking station, satellite TV., voice-activated shock absorbers, remote controlled sun visors, ONSTAR, BLUE TOOTH or a really long extension cord. I for sure don’t need alloy wheels, and I have to be able to pay it off before my 6-year old granddaughter gets her dual Ph. D. in Quantum Physics and Gymnastics.
Can someone tell me where to go? And the last dealer I talked to already suggested the obvious.
aharrold@eastlink.ca
