I still hate thinking of titles.

May 26, 2004

My car scouting trip went very well.

Car shopping is more of a game than anything else, with pressure from the salesman to buy something right then, and of course, they want to sell you what would give them the highest profit margin for the dealer. I don’t know if car salesmen are still on commission, but that definitely makes a difference, too. Any Ford dealership is going to prefer that you drive out of there in the $60,000 new Saleen Mustang over the $5,000 used Escort any day, but they also know when to offer the $60,000 car and when not to. For instance, they didn’t offer it to me. I walked in and said I was looking for a used car, automatic transmission, passenger body style, and I wanted to spend no more than about $8,000, though I was willing to go a little higher if I found something special.

As I mentioned yesterday, I had four models in mind at that particular dealer that I wanted to take a look at, because really, you can look and read online all you want, but until you’re standing there with your hand on the outside of the car or sitting behind the wheel, you really don’t know what you like and don’t like. The four cars I outlined yesterday were ones I thought would be good for me, and I drove three of the four. The first one I found was the red 2002 Escort SE. It handled well, it was a nice car, but it was a little bland. It was just like any other compact economy car, and I could see myself driving it, but I wouldn’t have been happy with it. I also drove the Chevy Cavalier, and while it was the same deal with the Escort, I could see myself driving it and it had been marked down almost $2000, but I didn’t enjoy the ride and I knew it wouldn’t have made me happy.

I didn’t even test drive the Jetta. I didn’t like the looks in person.

Lastly was the 2001 Escort ZX2. While the Escort is Ford’s economy car (being replced by the Focus more and more as the years go on), the ZX2 is Ford’s sports coupe. I wasn’t really interested in a two-door coupe since I’ve been driving one for the last seven years, and believe me, two door cars have their share of problems, but I was willing to give it a chance. The ZX2 was actually the second car I drove, and so after driving the 2002 Escort around the block, I sat down in the driver’s seat and pressed on the accelerator (half at the level where I’m used to the Mustang being and half at the level where the Escort had been), and ZOOM. That’s one touchy car, and it had a lot more pickup than the regular Escort. I think that was when I realized that I had a serious contender for the car that I wanted to own. The salesman who was helping me was going on at the various features that were in the ZX2, but I was only half listening to him and focusing more on how fast I could go and how quickly, and how responsive the pedals were, and how well it handled on the road I was on. Handling and speed isn’t everything, certainly, but this car was something special.

And so I bought it.

Now, I’ve told you about how much I like the acceleration and handling, but those are no reasons to buy a car on their own. Well, not unless you’re buying it to race other people and not as your full-time car for the next four years, minimum. Yes, it has a lot of pickup. Yes, it handles well. Yes, it has a more powerful engine than a standard compact car (even other Escorts). Technically, as I mentioned, it’s a sports coupe. But because it’s still only a V4, it gets great gas mileage (25/30, from reviewers’ findings), and the Escort is a solid car in terms of reliability. What makes this one special is that it’s factory certified, meaning they tacked an extra 6 years onto the original warranty, and so I have a powertrain warranty good until 2007, as well as other stuff like roadside assistance, etc. Because I purchased a Ford, I qualify for a program that the dealer is running where if I get my servicing done there (and my Dad says it’s not expensive), I get free tires for the life of the car. That saves me $200-300 every few years right there. The car also has under 28,000 miles on it compared to the 46,000 on the 2002 Escort SE, so it still has a lot of life left in it. It came with keyless entry, too, but the transmitters weren’t programmed so I’m going to do that msyelf today, or that failing, I’ll go back to the dealer and have them do it. From what I read online, it’s not hard to do. It has the premium audio system, too, which means it came with a six-disc CD changer in the trunk. And best of all, I’m under my price cap. They knocked the price down $600 from the sticker price (which I’m sure they would have anyway), and my Dad was more than generous in both co-signing the loan agreement and offering up the down payment, and with his down payment I was under my price ceiling.

So not only did I get a car I like to drive, but I got a car that fit every requirement I wanted: small, automatic transmission, passenger car, air conditioning, good gas mileage. It’s white (Oxford White is the exact color, but it’s not off-white or cream, thank goodness), and while having a red car again would have been nice, but as I told the guy who helped me out and wrote in my blog, it wasn’t a dealbreaker. Color is important, but not THAT important. Would I have bought it if it were purple or champagne? I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. It would have been a much tougher decision, that’s for certain. I think my Dad was somewhat surprised to hear from me yesterday afternoon when I called him, and I suspect that he may have thought something like that would happen, but really, I think I did the right thing. I could have gone to a dozen or so other dealers and then gone right back to Landmark for that car, or I may have found another one that picqued my interest, but really, this was a great deal.

So thanks again, Dad. He drove before I was able to give him a hug yesterday, but I’ll see him later this week and make sure he gets it.

Today, however, my lunch break was mostly spent up at Car Toys figuring out why I couldn’t program my keyless entry system to open my car doors. As it turns out, I don’t even HAVE keyless entry, but my keyless entry transmitter is configured to enable to built-in car alarm. Yeah, I don’t know what that means, either. In any case, at some point in the future I’m going to get a better stereo and speakers for my car, so when I go into Car Toys I may see about them setting up an ACTUAL keyless entry system since the guy said all the wiring goes into the doors, but there’s just nothing hooked up. As it stands, there’s no way to unlock the passenger (or driver’s) doors without actually physically opening the door itself. Not a big deal at the moment, but somewhat annoying.

So I lost my lunch break today doing that, and had to stuff my face with a bowl of cereal once I got back 10 minutes late. Oh well. Everything else is working fine, though. A bit of vibration when the car is stopped, but it’s nothing big. Catch you all later.

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