My New WorldPart of the challenge, as it was explained to me, is that Mazda has decreased the dealers' allocations of 5-doors (or compact wagon, as I've also seen it) for the 2007 model year. There I was, standing in the showroom with my checkbook in tow (I even brought my own pen!), and the sales staff were having trouble coming up with more than one to show me.
"Well, we have this black one," The New Guy told me. "It's pretty sharp, huh?"
"It's good enough for a test drive, and it does look sharp," I agreed. "But the only black car I've ever owned as a Texas resident is the one I owned when I moved here from out of state. Never again."
The New Guy gave me a look utterly devoid of comprehension.
"You know, because black is so hot," I said, attempting to bring him along.
"Definitely," he said, nodding and flashing a grin that went just beyond conspiratorial but didn't quite reach lascivious. "Black is very hot."
I suspected we weren't on the same wavelength, so I cut to the chase.
"I will not be buying a black car."
With that settled, we set about checking inventory to see what was available, only to discover that all the other Mazda 3 hatchbacks had manual transmissions. After 10 years of daily commutes in the beep-and-creepy Dallas traffic, one of my primary reasons for buying a new car was to get my left foot off the clutch. Those lovely creatures with their 5-speed manual transmissions and sporting a variety of lovely paint schemes were dead to me.
To shorten the story a bit, I ended up working with Bruce and Eric The Acquirer to find me a car. They were expecting delivery of a gray one (along with Phantom Blue and Aurora Blue, one of my three preferred colors) in a couple weeks but would also do a search to see if they could get one sooner from another dealer. The next day, I got a phone call from Turtle saying that The New Guy had called to say that they'd found one, that it would be driven in the next day, and what time would I like to come in to take delivery. I called back and asked if 10am would be good, and he said it would be just great.
At 10am yesterday, I showed up at the dealership to find that not only would the car not arrive for another three hours, but it was The New Guy's day off. Bruce and Eric were as mystified as they were apologetic. Since I was already there, I sat down with Bruce and worked out a few details regarding my trade in before heading home to wait and fall asleep in front of some really lame horror movie starring the post-car accident Mark Hamill.
Cutting further to the chase, at 6pm I drove off the lot. Still fumbling to figure out where all the light switches were and how to work them, I pulled on to the highway and immediately found myself in the midst of a traffic jam.
Ahhh, I thought. The blessed relief of an automatic transmission.
It figures that the day after I buy a new car, Texas can't spare me a little sunshine for pictures. But it's gray, after all, so call it a theme.
14 comments:
Love the car, my friend. There's always an adjustment to find where all the little buttons and gizmos are. I'm sure you will make the adjustment very fast.
See - when dealership know you want something, they will move heaven and earth (especially in this day and age) to finish the deal.
Good luck and many happy driving years!
Meep Meep!! Nice ride Foo!
I'm most interested in its name. Gray doesn't bring to mind the frivolity of "Gilbert The Grape," but I'm sure you'll work something out. ;-)
Thanks for the good vibrations, everyone. I'm still lightheaded from the heady aroma of New Car.
Susie: So you have a silver one, then? And coming from a car with a horn that really did sound like "meep meep", this one's not so bad.
Eric: Yeah... hidey holes galore. Two-level console, thoughtfully designed to accomodate that iPod I don't have. A glove box large enough to hold a whole box of gloves (and a couple homeless people). And the "trunk" is kind of cool, with carpeted trays that fit over a molded tray that in turn fit over the spare tire. What's neat is that you can fit the carpeted sections together to subdivide the trunk into a "mud room" for carrying stuff you don't want messing up the carpeting. Also for when you want to carry less than a trunkload without it sliding all over the place. Kind of a nice touch.
Gwynne: I've been trying to give some thought to a name. Up 'til now, only my first car, a '74 Duster, ever had a name—The Black Rag. I thought of calling my Mazda "Graycie", and although not very colorful, it does have some personal meaning and may stick just because it's the first thing I thought of. I was also considering obvious ones like "The Gray Ghost" or "Thunderhead", but this morning I noticed that under the fluorescent lights of our parking garage it has a slight lavender cast. So maybe I'll call it "Bruce".
Looks like a nice vehicle there Foo. Indeed very similar to Hivemind's new one, which I got a chance to ride in while we were in Toronto.
Fantastic! Enjoy your new ride!
Mike M.
Remind me not to go car shopping with you! Good grief. But I guess if you know exactly what you want when you show up on the lot then you're not going to settle for less so maybe car shopping with you wouldn't be so bad. Congrats on the new car. Enjoy the automatic tranny!
Mike: Thanks! This has been a long time coming, and auto tech has come so far in the past 10 years that I kind of feel like Buck Rogers. Eh... without the costume.
Leslee: I'm not quite sure how to take that. Are you dissing my mad car shopping skilz? Seriously, the whole thing went pretty smoothly, putting aside The New Guy's inexperience. I had a lot of laughs working with Bruce, and I give Eric high marks for hunting down just the car I wanted and having it driven down from Tulsa.
Yes, that's right, UT fans: the car is gray on the outside, but its heart is red. Not that I care. I root for the WKU Hilltoppers, when I root at all.
Ah yes, I can see the lavender cast from here. Better go with a macho name. Or just go with it, maybe something like Divine (after the drag queen) Graycie. ;-)
Gwynne: It has only within the last 15 seconds occurred to me that the car's name must be Dorian.
Foo, I would never dis you in my first comment. The second one... maybe. No, really I think it's good that you got just the right car and of course it was in Tulsa. All the cool cars are in Oklahoma. Didn't you know that?!?!
Dorian! Of course. Why didn't I think of that? I once had a gray cat named Dorian. Good thinking! ;-)
I am positively GREEN Foo! That is exactly the car I've had my eye on. Although by the time I get it, it will probably be an antique hehe. You need to have Turtle take some pictures of you pretending to cruise. :)
WV: Jazgrl. I am not that talented my friends.
Very nice wheels, Foo!! And you survived. :o)
Tink: It seems to be a favorite among bloggers. Susie's got one, and so has the shy and retiring Leadfoot. I don't know about having Turtle take pics, but if I don't adjust to this filly's spirit, I may be getting pictures from a traffic cam.
Jazgrl, eh? I like it. Meanwhile, I got "xsxxsc". You've got to be kidding me...
Emma: Thanks. It's so nice having a bit of extra zip when it comes time to make those commando merges and lane changes.
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