Well true believers, the day has finally come - I have finally gotten rid of my Dodge Neon. For some inexplicable reason, the folks at Brookdale Honda thought it was worth $400 - to which I said "sold!" My new vehicle is a shiny new silver Honda Civic LX automatic sedan with all-weather floor mats, splash guards, and this thing that tells time.
It will take some time to get used to my new car. The Civic drives so much smoother than the Neon I have to be careful with the speed. Not that the Neon was actually that rocky of a ride, but let's say that when you were driving 65 you knew you were driving 65. Also there is a lot of paranoia when it comes to driving or parking in tight spaces, particularly my parking ramp. The Civic isn't really that big but after the Neon it feels like driving a boat, although it largely makes up for it with a superior turning radius. However, the fear of blemishing my shiny new car and a quirk of perception that leads me to believe that the front of my car ends at a point which in reality would be about fifteen feet in front of my dash has given me a paralyzing fear of parallel parking.
The trip to the dealership went quite well, I was in and out within two hours. I worked with a guy name John whom at least at the moment I would recommend if anyone is in the market for a Honda. Of course, when I walked in I basically knew what I was going to get and how much I was going to pay so there wasn't much room for error. If you are buying a new car I would absolutely recommend starting by getting quotes on the Internet. If a dealer knows you are an "Internet customer" you are going to get reasonable quotes on most things right off the bat. If you pay MSRP you are a chump. Of course, most sales people will still try to get you with overpriced options, extended warranties, and financing, the latter two being things you should almost never get from a dealer.
Speaking of which, where do car dealers dredge up these finance guys? Clearly they did not attend any business school that I went to, since they either don't understand basic financial concepts or pretend not to. I knew going in that I was not going to get either a warranty or financing from Honda, but that didn't stop finance guy from trying. First he tries to convince me that buying an extended warranty makes sense. No, it doesn't. Like any insurance, extended warranties are a losing bet you don't take unless you can't afford to lose. One of his lines was that it doesn't take too many repairs for the warranty to pay for itself. Well, that's true, but obviously Honda knows that is not likely otherwise they clearly would not be selling the warranty in the first place. Am I supposed to believe that all the actuaries that work for Honda are a bunch of morons? Listen mister, I go to a well-respected business school and my apartment smells of rich mahogany. And don't get me started on the time value of money issue. Anyway after it was clear to him that his flim-flam wasn't going to get me to buy some ridiculous extended warranty. Then he wanted to talk about why I wasn't financing the vehicle, "out of curiosity" of course. I told him I was paying with cash because I have enough cash. Then he threw out a line about how a car is a depreciating asset, which I can only guess he meant was an obvious reason to finance the purchase? Earth to douche, anyone with elementary knowledge of personal finance knows that you DON'T borrow money to buy a depreciation asset. Seriously, I have many leather-bound books. I am kind of an big deal.
Oh well, finance dude didn't last long and soon retired to have a smoke outside and share a bitter word with another finance dude. While he is off evaluating his poor life choices, I on the other hand will be enjoying my new whip. It's going to take a while to get used to - things like remembering to put my windows up before I turn the car off and actually caring whether I side swipe the wall of my parking garage - but I think I'm going to like my smooth new ride.
