My new car

(No, this is not an actual picture of my car, but it's pretty darn close. Isn't he cute?)

I know it's been awhile, but I'm finally posting something! :) It's been crazy at work and I work on a computer all day, so when I get home I don't feel like blogging. Or getting on Facebook. Or my email. Or pretty much just getting on a computer period.

Anyway, Brandon suggested I blog about the process of getting my new car, and that's what I've finally decided what to do. It was an interesting process - kind of my first step into the wide world of adulthood. It started with my dad getting tired of me driving his car up Parley's Canyon to work every day. What good car story doesn't start like that?

I mean, it was understandable - what with the wear and tear of Parley's every day slowly ripping away at his nice car. That was probably something my future car needed to take. :)

So I started looking at ksl.com for Corollas and Civics, just to see what kind of pool I had to work with and the price range of the cars. It was looking like $4-5,000ish for a decent-looking Honda or Toyota wasn't too bad. So I made up a list of those in my area and started calling. Quite a few of them told me they'd sold their cars already - a tragedy.

Then, my dad asked me to write up a list of those that were left and call them to see if I could test drive any that night. The only one who picked up was the owner of a blue 1997 Honda Civic who lived, surprise surprise, just across the city of West Jordan. We went there and mostly liked what we saw. "Don't give that fact away, though," my dad told me. The engine ran quietly, the body didn't look too bad, it was only at 101,000 miles and it was a bargain at the $3,000 asking price.

However, my dad said, "Don't put your eggs all in one basket. Let's test drive a few more cars."

So, I made a new list of the ones that had been added after a few days, and the only one that caught my eye was a silver 2001 Honda Civic for $4,600 - a pretty good deal, if it worked well enough. So, I worked out a test drive and a check-up by my grandpa in Provo, and headed down. We had to wait like half an hour for the girl who was selling it to get there and give us the keys and then we set out for my grandpa's house. He gave it a clean bill of health, but it felt like a rough ride to me, and not just because it was a stick and I was out of practice. Instead of buying it on the spot, we told her we'd think about it and went home.

On the way back, he asked me if I still had my heart set on the other Civic we'd driven- I told him yes, and he said we should get it checked it out by a mechanic and if all was good, to buy it if I wanted to. So that's what I did - I got it checked out by a mechanic, it looked good, I made a deal with the seller for $2,600 and was on my way. He's a beut - Becca bequeathed the name of Phil on him, and it's been a marvelous relationship ever since. Except when I had to pay sales tax at the DMV. Oh - and the fact that his stereo was stolen when the previous owner had it and I can't just replace it with another stereo - I have to get the plastic strip that was around it. :P