I've Got the Perfect Car for You

 



I've Got the Perfect Car for You

The old wagon served the family well. It carried babies home from the hospital and toddlers to their first days of preschool. It made many trips to the grocery store, to piano lessons, to ball games, to the swimming pool, to birthday parties and to Grandma's. But, we simply could not continue to keep our mechanic in such luxury and still purchase the quantities of gasoline the old car required. It was time to trade.

Clearly, we knew what we wanted.  We wanted power steering and brakes, electronic climate control, electric windows and door locks, computer diagnostics, AM-FM stereo cassette player, dual rear speakers, automatic antenna, digital clock, digital fuel gauge, clear coat paint, soft-ray glass, remote control mirrors, rear and side window defoggers, plush carpet with floor mats, accent striping, leather trimmed steering wheel, trumpet horn, cruise control, and dome and dual lens reading lamps.

My husband and I planned a Saturday morning shopping trip for just the two of us. We didn't want the younger children to miss their cartoons nor the older children bored while we drove from car lot to car lot.

"Bye, folks. Where are you going anyway?" our older daughter asked.

"Oh, just...uh...nowhere, really...uh...see...uh...cars."
 

"A new car!  I want to go!" our older daughter grabbed her coat and ran toward the door.

"Me too."

"Don't go without me!"

"Well, if everyone else is going, I want to go too."

Luckily, we quickly agreed on the van we wanted.  My husband was moving the screwdrivers, vise grips, pliers, road maps, straws, plastic spoons, nuts and bolts, broken pencils, old combs, rusted flashlight batteries, training pants, mashed tissue boxes and miscellaneous lint and string from the old glove box to the new glove box when our friendly salesman got to the part about money. My husband wasn't sure he could get the house sold in time to make the first payment, and I wasn't sure the washer and dryer would fit between the seats. We decided to keep the house and look for a more economical car.

"Ok, folks. How about this little baby?  Only driven on Friday nights by a little ol' Tupperware dealer in Dallas...."

My husband and I discovered a family of six cannot shop together for a new car indefinitely.  We hurriedly decided on a year-old compact wagon with a "new" 42-month battery and a "soon-to-get-old" 48-month loan.

I’m not sure my husband and I would have kicked the tires so carefully, bounced on the seats so high, opened and slammed each door, checked each ashtray so thoroughly nor tested so loudly each radio station as the children did. It worked, though; we purchased a new to us, used station wagon in only two hours!  And, the boys were home in time to watch the last of the Saturday morning cartoons.