So after a month of planning, plotting and strategizing, we bit the bullet this weekend and bought a car.
Marking yet another important step into becoming real live grownups. It's probably high time we also got our own car insurance instead of just mooching off our respective parents.
We'd been eyeing the Mazda CX-5 for a while but this weekend all the stars were aligned. We were at the dealership for over 5 hours, partially because they had to drive it down from Fort Collins. Des is really good at bargaining and getting deals (one of his many attractive qualities) and he was in top form talking to our dealer, Andrew. We finally got the price and details worked out but then a problem came up. There were no black ones in the model we were looking for. We flip flopped on color for while and then finally decided that since blue is the one from the commercial and we're suckers for marketing, and since it's also a really cool color, that we'd go with blue. I'm actually a glad we were pressed to pick that crazy color. Black is a good, safe color, but this blue really stands out. Which I like.
The toughest part about the transaction was not the waiting, or haggling or talking to the finance guy named Viktor (huge scar by his eye and a thick Russian accent) but was rather saying goodbye to Hendrick. Hendrick, so named by my dad beause we got it at Hendrick auto dealers, was my 2000 Saturn that I'd had for the past 10 years.
He's been the only car I've ever owned, after helping my dad pay it off. He's been from Fredericksburg to Centreville and back so many times he could probably make the trip without me steering. He's been in multiple fender benders and never had any real body damage. He's gotten me everywhere I needed to go for a decade without complaining. He didn't even get mad when I left him for almost 2 years to live in Scotland. He was there waiting for me when I got back and we picked right up where we left off. In the past year or so, he's been getting a little bit more rattly and tired. He still drove great but I could tell he was looking forward to retirement. When I went to clean out the glove compartment and trunk to trade him in, I discovered an actual time capsule. Posters from college friends, notes written by ex-boyfriends, old Irn Bru bottles, CD books, ceramic skulls, Scotland flag stickers, an Independance Air bumper sticker, tiny dinosaur figurines, a kite, a camping chair, handwritten directions to places before Google maps or printers were invented, drawings from friends, various ipod/radio transmitters and about 7 headlight screwdrivers. I was super excited about the new car, but as we were driving away, I gave one last glance to Hendrick and got a little bit choked up. There he sat, stripped of his plates and bumper stickers, alone in the spotlights of the car lot. "Goodbye old friend," I whispered like a crazy person. "Thank you for everything."
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