ANDY FISH

ANDY FISH is a comic book artist

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Car Shopping! Who doesn't love this??


"Oh you're buying a new car?   That must be so exciting!"

Really?  Why?
The endless searching? The options?  The idea that this dealer offers that and this dealer offers that?

Oh yeah, and the car salesmen (and women).

It'll be no surprise that I do all my car shopping online.   I rent a lot of cars so I am pretty familiar with what I like and what I don't.

I currently have a Pontiac Grand Am-- I bought it one year old waaaaay back in 2004.  It's time for a new car.  This one has been great, it's been a faithful friend, it's gotten me through more adventures in 200,000 miles than I can even begin to describe, but it's time to move on.

The only American cars I've ever liked were Pontiacs.  Pontiac is gone.  No more American car for me.
I need something with a real warranty.  I rented a Kia Optima last summer and absolutely loved it.  It has a 10 year warranty.  So does Hyundai.  Both made in South Korea.

Honda is obviously a thought, but I gotta be honest when I look at their cars I picture them with big rims and hip hop blasting out the tinted windows.  Hard to get past that.

I had a Toyota years ago-- the transmission seized up causing the car to go from 60 to 0 just as I was about to get on the highway.  I'll pass on Toyota.

I had a Subaru years ago, I used to be a middle aged lesbian I guess.  One day I went out to the driveway and it wouldn't start.  Two years old and it wouldn't start.  No Subaru.

I love the Mini Coopers, my garage, GREASY'S on Hamilton Street which is one of those rare things, an HONEST mechanic is a Mini Cooper specialist.  Bringing my Pontiac there for the past eight years I've seen endless Mini Coopers with blown transmissions and engines and they are only a few years old, so no Mini Coop for me.

Back to the salesmen, I love how stupid they think we are.
Trying to shop online and get a price is like trying to crack the launch codes at NATO.

"When can you come in so we can talk price?  We'll beat ANY written quote."

Okay, I have two different dealers telling me that.  I guess that means if I keep going back and forth between the two I'll eventually get the car for $1-- or I can keep on pushing and walk away with a new car and a few thousand dollars they pay me to take it away.   Seem's logical to me.

I'll report here, and to my 20,000 twitter followers who I buy from, what I buy and how it works out.