New Car

[livingdeb]

I bought a car today.

I went a new direction this time. In the past I have had much better luck buying ten-year-old reliable models than a two-year-old average model and they cost so much less both to buy and to insure. This time, instead of getting a car with 100,000 miles on it or more, I got one with only 68,000 miles. Even better, it's a 2008 car, a mere 3.25 years old.

Let's see how I did based on what I wrote I was looking for when I first started the search.

To summarize:
* dependable, reliable make and model - check - Toyota Corolla LE
* $5000 or less - I achieved this one twice - $10,000.
* private seller - Nope - CarMax. But I'm satisfied with the price; we'll have to see about the quality.
* great mileage (thus probably a small stick-shift) - check - 28 mpg city, 37 mpg highway. It's a smallish stick-shift.
* modern, cold AC - check.
* sedan - check.

Also nice:
* kind warning buzzers - check - not as good as my old Nissan, but not obnoxious.
* same key for doors and ignition - check. I even have remote unlocking now.
* gas tank on passenger side - nope.
* pretty color (jewel tones, or any non-puke green or blue) - check - a nice dark blue
* shiny, dent free, clean inside - check.
* antilock brakes - nope.
* airbags - front air bags for driver and passenger, no side air bags.
* other stuff I'm forgetting - check. This car has four doors, cloth seats, a night-adjustable rearview mirror, multi-speed windshield wipers, cupholders, and no rust. Extra bonuses: giant trunk, cruise control.

Comments

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Sounds great! I am a convert to the "gently used" school of nicer cars since I bought one. I love mine to death. I've even been figuring out ways to keep the gas mileage good -- keep it in the topmost gear you can get it in and keep the tach low. Much better mileage that way (less pickup, but hey).

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Cool. Sometimes you need pickup (merging), but usually you may as well go with better gas mileage.

I'm having to relearn how to drive a manual, not only because I haven't driven one in about a decade and because every car is different, but also because I've been doing it wrong. At a stoplight you're supposed to put the car in neutral and take your foot off the clutch instead of leaving your feet on the clutch and brake and having the gear already in first. The clutch will last longer that way. I'm also not that great at down shifting. My habit is to push in the clutch all the way whenever I'm slowing down (even if I don't ultimately change gears).

[indigo-rose99.livejournal.com]

And of zero importance, it is a pretty color.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Yep. (That's actually the fourth bullet under "Also nice.")

It's actually a little important. I didn't want to eliminate cars because of boring colors, but I did sort of want to. And I really didn't want to buy a bad car because of a good color (I'm pretty sure I wasn't enticed in this way). I do prefer having a pretty car, though it feels oddly like a target to me. Robin assures me it's basically invisible, though, so I have nothing to worry about.