Category: Joy Notes

Thanksgiving for my Buick

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, today I am thankful first for the 7 years of good service that I have had from my 2005 Buick LeSabre.   If memory serves, I purchased it late in the year in 2006 when it was a year old and had thirty-some thousand miles on it.   Now it has 146,000 on it. I am thankful too for the safety we have enjoyed over all those miles.   I have put very little money in it either beyond routine maintenance.  It still purrs and eats up road well.  It had been a rental car.  But now it needs some work and its value has fallen far below the value of the work that needs to be done.  

Late twentieth century car shopping

So, I have been car shopping.  What a difference between car shopping today and car shopping even just fifteen years ago.    Before, I would have first checked newspaper ads, especially those big auto sections in the weekly Sunday papers.  Then I would have driven through the lots of dealers that I knew to see what I could find that I liked.   Third, I would have called a couple trusted dealers I knew to see what they had and suggest models I had been thinking about.   To check on values, I would have visited the bank and asked at the counter to see a copy of their little Kelley Blue book so I could look up the value of my trade-in and of the car I was considering.   Interest rates might have been six or seven percent.  

Internet car shopping is so different

But this time around, having recently moved, I did not even know where the dealers were.  I just started searching on the internet.  I just picked a price range and set a couple search engines going.   Soon I was looking at details on cars and trucks for sale in that price range within 75 miles of my house.  In the process, I learned where some of the major car and truck dealers are too.   I emailed for more info right from my chair or desk.  Once, I was called back within minutes.   Other times I was contacted by email.  I could then schedule a time to test drive the vehicle if I wanted to.    What a difference over how I would have done it just a decade ago.   And what is more, I’m so used to the new ways already that it just seemed like the intuitive way to do it.  That’s the really scary part.  Back in May when I found a new car for my wife, I had found the car on the internet also.  I reflected that my feeling of naturalness about this new internet way of car shopping was an even greater measure of how truly our culture has thoroughly changed in how it does business.

I’m thankful to be getting an Equinox very soon

Now on to the news.  I am also thankful to have found a car that I believe will serve us well in the future.  We have chosen a 2012 Equinox LTZ AWD which I found on the internet. It is also a vehicle coming out of the rental fleets with thirty-some thousand miles.  The LTZ trim will be especially helpful to me as it supplies a higher grade front seat that is six-way adjustable, a helpful feature for my chronic lower back issues.   The crossover style, with its fold down rear seats will also give me room to put stuff into the car that I need to carry for projects.   (I told the salesman that I can’t remember all  the times I’ve had eight foot lumber inside my Buick.)   I test drove the Equinox twice, once by myself and once with JoAnne along.  It impressed.  It is white, one of my favorite car colors.  I hope to pick it up next week.