I did finally buy a car. I bought a Honda CRZ which is sort of practical in that it’s a hybrid and not so practical in that it only has two seats. Nick fits in it but Nunu does not.
Trying to figure out what to buy was excrutiating and the cars I was interested in were all popular and nobody had cars for me to see! Very frustrating.
This car is fun to drive, not horribly expensive, and gets good gas mileage.
Honda CRZ
OK, this is a sign of something but I’m not sure what.
Right around the time that Dave died, I received a letter from PNC where I do my banking saying that because Dave and I were such good customers, they were assigning us a personal banking assistant.
This guy has been so helpful to me. My banking needs now go something like this. I call or email the assistant and he takes care of it for me. I worked with him on changing the mortgage on my house. He arranged for a safe deposit box for me. He opened a savings account for me.
Most recently I called him and told him I want to buy a car. He had a loan and check to me in 2 days that I can use if I need it. One phone call and that was it.
I guess it makes sense for PNC because it’s a lot easier to give them my business because I just call this guy.
So, is this a sign that I’m lazy? Or relying on convenience? I think it’s just convenience because I still am checking out auto loan rates.
Hmm, now that I think about this, I’m not sure if I ever removed Dave’s name from my checking account. I better call him.
I’m still hunting for a car. I’ve looked at both the Prius and the new Prius C. I really liked the Prius but it costs more than any other car I’ve considered. I just can’t quite bring myself to spend the extra money. The Prius C is a great deal but it’s really small. Plus, it’s very much in demand right now so nobody has one for very long and there’s not much choice in what you get. If you find one, apparently you buy that one.
Nick says the biggest problem with buying a Prius is that then I’d be a Prius owner.
I checked out Hondas. I drove the Honda Civic, the Civic Hybrid, the Insight, and the CRZ. Both Nick and I liked the CRZ but I’m not sure that a two-seater car is the way to go.
We stopped in at a Subaru dealer to look at the Impreza. Apparently, it, like the Prius C, is popular right now and is hard to find. I don’t want to buy a car that I’ve not seen and have not test driven.
Nick wanted to look at Mazdas so we went and test drove a Mazda 3. It was nice but I think I preferred the Civic. Now I’m dealing with a Mazda salesperson who wants to make a sale. He told me 3 times that he’s new to the car business so I know he’s anxious to sell something. I’m a bit put off by him because he called to tell me that the Subarus that were on order are all already sold so wouldn’t I like a Mazda? I think I’d prefer to hear that from the Subarus sales guy. (The same dealer sells both the Subarus and the Mazdas.)
There are lots of weird emotional issues about buying an American made car so I’m sticking with Japanese cars. My Kia Sedona did not hold up well so I’m not buying another Kia. I guess I could look at a Hyundai but I’m just tired of looking at cars and dealing with car dealers.
What an ordeal. I really want to get finish this!
Back in March I posted that I finally had received the information from the bank to allow me to transfer the car into my name. Wrong!!! The revised title came this week with a letter that says I have 30 days to get this transferred.
http://www.widowwalking.com/2012/03/12/car-title-finally/
They took 8 months and I get 30 days.
The estate lawyer told me that the car loan would be the hardest one to handle. Boy was she right.
Thanks to The Toad at Flickr
I finally got notice that the car loan on Dave’s car has transferred into my name. Actually, Dave’s estate has been notified that the loan has been transferred to somebody else. I haven’t actually received notice in my name!
It’s taken seven months for the paperwork to be handled and transferred. I’m really sorry that I didn’t just pay off the loan, get the title, and get the car transferred to my name.
Now I get to deal with the DMV on changing the car into my name. I’m hoping that will take less than 7 months.