First Car

AFTER many nights and weekends of searching for the best, most fuel efficient, most roomy, most inexpensive used AWD vehicle not any older than 8 years old, I have realized there is no such thing. I decided to up my budget and go for a 5-year old used vehicle with a decent mileage, excellent safety ratings and over-all forever-car staying power. So, i am getting myself a Volvo.

All this time I was considering Subarus, Toyotas and Hondas. But I realized that Subarus are so in demand here that decent used ones cost more than a brand new Toyota Yaris. And Toyotas and Hondas were just hard to come by on Craigslist and even more expensive in dealerships. But then, Thursday last weekn, I went out for drinks with some officemates of mine. We went to the Purple Martini to just hang out with an off-site colleague who was in town for our monthly pubs meeting.

I had a Purple Martini and it was goooood! This is big coming from me because I am not a big drinker. I had one martini and that was enough to make me just a tad tipsy. I hitched a ride with my editor and I asked her about her car, which was an early 1990s Volvo station wagon. I just loved the leather seats. And I don't know if it was the alcohol, but I was so comfy sitting there. I glanced back and the storage area was roomy. I have always wanted a vehicle with a roomy storage area. Blame it on Kong Gerry and his monster tiger-striped jeep. That evening, in my very empty apartment, I looked for used Volvo station wagons and found that the credit union dealership I planned on visiting the next day had three Volvo Station wagons.

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"Howard" was the first and only car we took for a test drive that day. I was with my friends Aida and Jong both of whom have more driving and car-buying experience than I ever had. Aida and Jong have had the habit of naming their cars after the dealer who sold it to them. I think it's kinda cute, so now I call my car Howard.

After driving it for a bit, I let Jong drive and watched his reactions. I figured, if he likes the way the car responds then that is a good enough gauge for me. Also, I wanted to fiddle with the many doohickies and doodads the car had, like separate temperature controls for the different seats, testing the CD player, and the dashboard cupholder that emerged at the push of a panel.

I let Aida test drive the car too. Aida and Jong both loved the car, maybe as much or even more than I did. So that settled it. I had seen many cars and I wanted this one. I began the paper work Friday and I finish it and pick up the car tomorrow.