Well, it finally happened: I missed the last bus.
This is greatly irritating. The last bus out of campus for the remote park-n-ride lot is 5:30 and the busses don’t run quite on time. They come a little early, they come a little late, yada yada yada, I missed the last bus even though I was at the stop at 5:32 according to my watch, which is four minutes fast. To get out to the park-n-ride now would take five or six transfers and would take hours upon hours. Not a good system considering some classes go until 7:30.
My inlaws are graciously coming to pick me up. 
And I’m already irritated because of the circumstance which led to me using the remote lot in the first place. The Geo Tracker hand-me-down from Amy’s brother is in a near-undriveable state as the driver’s side door is sagging due to internal rusting and doesn’t shut properly. The door visibly jiggles on the highway and you can see the sky between the door frame and the car even when the door is “snugly” closed. This means we’ve been car shopping, and car shopping irritates me.
I hate how much cars cost, I hate used car dealers, and I hate used cars for all the terminal illnesses that potentially lurk under the hood. I hate haggling. I hate all of it. And we’ve been doing it for weeks trying to find the right balance.
We’ve found a Pontiac Vibe that’s a strong contender. It gets good gas mileage and is very roomy inside. We go into to potentially settle the deal tomorrow. I am extremely sick of car salesmen and hopefully this works to our advantage. The other good thing is that if it falls through (because they’re not willing to come down to what they claim is “in the ballpark”) we’ve got a good line on some others, all around the same price and mileage. I’m tired of looking all over creation and I’m doubly tired of being shown a bunch of models that don’t interest me. Ugh.
Current Mood: Arg! |
2 Comments
Brother, I know what you mean. Cindy and I looked hard at the Vibe, but ended up buying a Toyota Matrix. (Actually we ordered it — won’t be in for another week or so.) The Consumer Reports ratings on it were good and I gave it a test-drive twice. Consider also the Honda Fit — if you can FIND one to test-drive.
If you’re not a member of Costco or BJs or any of those other places, I’d strongly consider it for the purchase of your car. We went through Costco and saved well over $1,000. AND with no-haggling. Good luck with your search. (See you in a couple of weeks.)
There are so many similar cars out there. The Vibe, the Matrix, the Scion. Madison is a pretty small market so we’ve had a hard time even trying to find a Nissan Versa or Honda Fit to even test drive. This Vibe is the right mileage at (hopefully!) the right price. We’ve been shopping the Milwaukee market for more selection but that’s a pain in the ass, too.
I bought my Jeep in 1999 from a place called Car Max that was a no-haggling deal. I loved it. The sticker price was low and non-negotiable. Unfortunately, they’ve downsized and only do used cars now and their selection wasn’t great. Otherwise I would have gone back there in a minute. Interesting about the CostCo thing but there isn’t one around here, I haven’t heard of BJs, and I’d rather give my left nut than give a dime to the Sam Walton family…