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Although I could have sworn that
I've mentioned Beth's car before, I couldn't find it anywhere in the
archives. Huh. It's kinda odd that I've never brought up the Jolly
Jalopy before, seeing how both of us made fun of it on a regular basis
(okay, I was the main make-funner, but she took her fair share of pot
shots at the thing too).
Well, for those of you who never had
the chance to experience the joy of Beth's 1994 sea-foam green Nissan
Altima, you really missed out. That thing was 133,000 miles of
alphabetical breakdowns: Alternator, Belts, Carburetor, Disc Brakes,
Engine Block, Front-End Alignment, Gaskets, Headlights, Ignition (maybe
I'd better stop before I get to "K"--or "Q"). If I had to guess, I'd say
that we've put at least $10,000 into that car in the last 5 years just
to keep it running (my favorite breakdown is when the Jolly Jalopy's
radiator went kaput and smoke from the overheated engine billowed out
from under the hood and in through the a/c vents into the inside of the
car--I bailed the hell out in the middle of the street). Cosmetically
speaking, the JJ wasn't too awful looking--if you're looking at it from
three blocks away. The windows had tree sap on the outside and dog snot
on the inside. And when you opened the passenger door (which was the
only door that the key worked on), you’d wonder what that
bacon-and-bathroom smell was.
Anyway, we finally broke down (get
it? sorry) and gave in to the idea that Beth needed a new car. We spent
a couple of weekends doing research, crunching numbers, and setting up
cost spreadsheets and figured out that we could afford to buy a 2007
RAV4 if the dealer would accept our offer of a couple hundred bucks over
invoice (and we could get a decent interest rate). The wild card in the
whole financial scenario was--you guessed it--the trade in value on the
Jolly Jalopy.
So I did another round of research
on the Kelley Blue Book website to see how much we could get for the
Jolly Jalopy. If you’ve ever priced a used car on the Kelley Blue Book
site, it’s quite a thorough process. The website asks you the condition
of every part (moving or otherwise), whether the car has been in an
accident (major or minor), if the service record is complete, etc.
(although it didn’t ask if the interior smelled like gas fumes after you
turned on the ignition). Finally, after going through all of the
questions, the website spit out a dollar amount and a rating: $600, Fair
Condition. I laughed and told Beth that if the dealer offers $500, we
should take it. Hell, I would be happy with $250.
On to the Toyota dealership! We test
drove the RAV4 and then made an offer. The saleswoman conferred with the
general manager--and they accepted. Done deal. And then came the million
dollar question (or rather, the $250 question): “Do you have a trade
in?” Heh. Do we ever. The saleswoman and dealer’s mechanic went out to
take a look at the Jolly Jalopy while Beth and I giggled and whispered
to each other (“Think it’ll start?” “I dunno, do you think they’ll be
able to get the hood open?” “Well, we should get something for it
because all four tires are pretty new.” “Yeah, but it’s missing three
hubcaps.”).
After about 15 minutes, the
saleswoman came back with an official-looking piece of paper and a sour
look on her face. Uh-oh.
“Well,” she said, putting the
trade-in agreement in front of me, “I hate to say this, but I can’t give
you full value on your car. Our mechanic looked at it and said it's
rated as being only in “Good Condition” according to the Kelley Blue
Book. Unfortunately, we can only give you $750 for it.”
I don’t think I’ve ever signed
anything so fast in my life. |
2000-2006