This post is quite late, but I’m busy with school, so deal with it! School will over very soon. This will also be old news to those that read my wife’s blog.

Last Thursday morning I was supposed to be at work, but our car had died the night before. I spent the first half of the morning confirming with my mechanic that it was not worth putting more money into this car, and arranging to be off of work for the rest of the week. Not having any form of transportation, we also spent this time quickly scanning a number of car sites, though there was limited information as you need to actually go to the lots to see their used cars. I was not looking forward to this at all, in part due to the unexpected expenses I was now facing, but also due to the limited time period I had to purchase a replacement vehicle. My successful hunts for good used cars in the past have always taken about 4 months, in which case I’ve then been able to find a very good used car for a very good price that then lasted me for 7 or 8 years. The two cars that Karin brought into our relationship, in contrast, were found after short searches and wore out a lot quicker.

I briefly flirted with the idea of getting a brand new car; having helped my mother-in-law search recently had let me know that Hyundai now is one of the top manufacturers but the prices are still lower than their equivalents. We also knew from her search that they had 0% financing over 5 years on certain models, but figuring out what a car with the options I wanted would cost still put it outside our range. I was therefore resigned to the fact that with the limited time I had to search, I was going to be purchasing another used car that likely would be completely worn out and worth nothing in 4-5 years.

Even if we were looking for a used car, the short time frame meant that we would have to choose from those available from dealers. This immediately meant we were looking at $10,000 to $12,000 as our cheapest option, as dealers ship any trade in worth less than that off to the auto auctions. Knowing our car would not last much longer, Karin and I had already previously had multiple discussions about what we wanted in our next car. We both wanted air conditioning, cruise control, intermittent wipers (a must in BC!), room to haul two adult children, and a color that wasn’t blah. This was going to be a lot to ask from a used car with our time limit.

Our Search Begins

After an appointment she had to keep, Karin’s mother came to pick us up just before noon. On our way to the Abbotsford AutoMall, we stopped at one of the only two remaining new car dealer in downtown Abbotsford; Mitsubishi. A quick check around the lot showed nothing we wanted, and so we were off to the AutoMall. The first non-American dealer in the counter-clockwise circle road happened to be Don Quast Hyundai, and so we started checking their offerings. We were soon joined by the assistant sales manager, Jamie Braun, whom we asked to show us some used cars that might be affordable.

The cheapest one he had was $11,000; exactly what I had expected the low end to be. Asked about financing, he said that they could do 5 year financing at 8.6% interest. Karin reacted in surprise, after seeing all the 0% and 1.9% offers on new cars, I don’t think she realized how much the manufacturers were subsidizing those loans. When asked about the size of the payments, Jamie said he’d need to use the an online calculator in his office to figure it out, and turned to go back to the building. I think he was a bit surprised when I pulled my financial calculator out of my pocket and quickly figured out the result. After taxes, the payment was over $255 dollars. Any other used car they had would be more. Karin’s surprise deepened.

A side note: how can the federal and provincial governments collect sales tax on a used car? The original owner already paid GST and PST on the full purchase price. That’s double collecting, unless they allow the original owner to collect a rebate when he sells it.

Now knowing what the lowest price would we would be facing, I asked if we could see something new. It was more just a passing fantasy; I know in my heart we could not pull off a payment for a new car unless it turned out that their most basic model was better than the tin can experience you get from most bottom end cars. So since it was a fantasy where we would pretend we could afford a new car and then get to drive a few between the dozens of used ones we would be testing over the next few days, I asked about the Tuscon. I should explain that in addition to motivation provided by my stepson Colby complain about the size of our back seat for years; we have wanted to get a smaller SUV for some time now due to Karin’s vestibulopathy. Driving down the road with in the passenger seat, Karin cannot judge where cars are coming from and constantly thinks we are heading right at each other. It is fine when she is driving and therefore is aware of all the vehicles and knows what she is going to do in response to them, and is also better when she is a passenger in a vehicle where she is sitting higher off the road. So bigger would be good, but on the other hand, we are not a fan of huge gas bills or people that drive large gas guzzlers just for the “look what I can afford” status. For all these reasons, a crossover SUV would be the perfect vehicle for us; and among the crossover SUVs, the Tuscon had also caught our eye because it was one of the top rated vehicles in it’s class. However, now that I knew the interest rates, I also knew that even a used one would be a minimum of $300 a month

For our fantasy test drive, Jamie took us over to a metallic blue 4 cylinder Tuscon with automatic transmission and the A/C package. He immediately offered to let us take it out for a drive. Karin’s mother was quite amazed that he wasn’t coming along, even in her long search she had not been trusted alone in a demo vehicle. He also then revealed to us that on their new vehicles they had 60/84 financing available, which meant that while it would be a 5 year loan, it could be amortized out over 7 years, and the interest rate would be the same as the 5 year loan. For the Tuscon and and one other vehicle, the current 5 year rate is 0%. This basically meant that whatever the final price turned out to be, the payments would be that price divided by 84, with a balloon payment of 24 times the price due at the end of the loan, which could always be refinanced. We took the Tuscon out with Jamie saying to take our time, and he’d “run the numbers” on it while we were gone. This 7 year loan was not something mentioned on their website, and made me wonder about the possibilities. I should be making more money in the not too distant future, and so delaying payment till later with zero penalty had possibilities.

Testing the Options

The 4 cylinder Tucson was nice, and Karin did not feel the slightest bit sick; but it just didn’t have that “oomff” when you laid down the accelerator like you may need to do to avoid a dangerous situation. In fact, when accelerating quickly, the engine howled in protest. Otherwise it handled nicely, road very well over bumps and holes, and was comfortable inside. We returned it and told Jaime our opinion, and he immediately gave us a red 6 cylinder to try. This test drive was quicker; the vehicle was the same inside and handled just like the 4 cylinder, but the engine was a lot quieter and accelerated quickly without any audible protest.

To trim what has become much too long a story, we loved it. When we got back, thanks to the zero financing, Jamie quoted us a monthly payment that was so close to what a used car would cost that we knew then we would be stupid to not buy new. We did spend some time feigning uncertainty, and after a while the original statement that the zero financing left no room for price negotiation changed to a drop of $750. When we said we would want specifically want an automatic V6 with A/C in metallic blue, we almost had him stumped as the closest one appeared to be in Kelowna with no more coming since the 2008 models were due soon; but then his boss pointed out that they were unloading the last one in the Lower Mainland off a truck out front as we spoke. We told him we would have to sleep on it, and so he gave us the keys to the red one and told us to take it home for the night, apologizing that it couldn’t be the blue V6 as it still needed to be prepped and detailed. That certainly surprised us all, this had to be the lowest pressure car sales I had ever seen. Here it was still in the mid-afternoon, and he had just provided us transportation to go check out all the competition.

Contemplation

Jamie knew what he was doing, though, as we could not even consider competing vehicles; anything of similar quality was both higher in pricing and financing. Combine that with a maximum 60 month loan everywhere else, and lesser vehicles were going to have much higher payments. Even Kia, Hyundai’s parent company, was selling their Sportage for several thousand more, even though it is the built on the same platform with the same power plant. Warranty was the final item that ruled out the competitors; Hyundai has a 5 year bumper-to-bumper warranty as opposed to 3 year everywhere else.

I did spend the evening assuring myself that a good used car might not be a better alternative. We would be able to save a few dollars a month, but then we were without a warranty and would have to compromise on options and colour. The low financing of new cars made a used one a poor option. After using our extended test drive the next morning to rescue our belongings from the old beast and to help Karin’s brother Rudy load it on a tailer, we returned to Don Quast Hyundai. A sleep had left us feeling guilty about the amount of money we were considering spending, we did ask to look at some lower priced cars first. The basic Accent gave us the tin can experience, with my holding my arms to my side when Karin drove so as to not interfere in the driver’s space. Making matters worse, Karin felt sick and dizzy after driving the Accent, something she’s only experienced as a passenger. The car was definitely too close to the ground.

The Elentra was a lot nicer; it’s frame is what the Tucson and Sportage are built upon, and we almost went for it instead as we could have saved a few dollars a month, though not as much as the price difference would seem to indicate as the Elentra had 1.9% financing. Karin insisted that the Elentra would do, and said she would feel too much guilt if we got the Tucson. The final decision was made by me asking her if she would jump into the Elentra the next morning so that we could drive to Calgary and see my grandmother. She paused and then said yes; a hesitation that was wasn’t there when asked the same question about the Tucson. I knew then that she was still feeling somewhat disorientated in the lower seats and more enclosed space of the Elentra, and I figured the extra money each month was worth my wife’s health.

Even if it means not dining out for a long time.

In fact, no frivolous spending of any sort, even though that is already rare.

The Decision

So yes, we are now the proud owners of a new blue 2007 Hyundai Tucson!

This is a first for both of us, neither of us have ever had a brand new car; and two days before we certainly had thought that point was years away. Given the options, though, it just did not make sense to purchase used.

We did feign some more uncertainty in order to get a further $750 off. I know we would have come to the same conclusion even if the dealer had been pushy and pressuring, but Jamie and the rest of Don Quast’s staff have ensured we will recommend them any time. My weekend I was suddenly dreading turned into a pleasant experience with one of the major headaches in my life now replaced.

You may on the above picture to go to an entire set in Flickr

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My most hated store probably just became my favorite.

Ever since WalMart built a modern store here in Abbotsford and closed the old, converted Woolco; I have dreaded having to go near the store.  I go because I must, it would be unreasonable of me to spend more elsewhere for the same item I can get for a great price at Sam’s little store; but the Abbotsford store is the worst I have seen for line ups at the registers.  The number of registers open will vary, but it is always kept at the not-quite-enough level.  We tend to either do our shopping on Mondays or I will stop on the way home from work, just to avoid the crowds; but this did not make a difference at WalMart, you were guaranteed to spend at least 10 minutes in a queue.  I’ve been to old stores and modern ones, and stores in Canada, the US and Mexico; and none were as bad as our Abbotsford location.

As usual, we avoided going today; but when Karin could not find any suitable hair conditioner at Costco, she declared we would have to stop at WalMart.  Since were already doomed to the long line ups, we did grab some other items that we had been delaying until a WalMart run was forced on us, and then headed to the checkout lines at the front.  As we settled into the first line, I scanned to see what other lanes had the light on to see if even a quarter of them were open.  That’s when I spotted something new at the far end, and headed off with Karin in tow.  She protested as we went, figuring I was going to make this even longer than it needed to be.

Her mood suddenly changed when we arrived at what I had spotted; several rows of check out lanes had been removed and had been replaced with self-serve checkouts.  Now I realize that to an American reader, this might not be anything special; but I have not seen self-serve checkouts in Canada before (though Matthew tells me that they now have them at the Home Depot he works at, right next door to WalMart).

In just a couple of minutes I had scanned all of our items, dropped them into a bag, swiped my credit card, scrawled my name on the electronic signature pad, and we were out the door.  My source of hatred for this retail outlet has been relegated to the past.  Combining the lowest prices with the quickest exit possible will mean that I will now stop at WalMart before anywhere else.  I’ll also be looking forward to being able to make a quick stop on the way home from work, so that my weekends can be better spent.

I try not to write about negative things, this isn’t that sort of a blog. But on the way to work today, I was caught behind an accident that is the top story in the news and is being quoted by many who report on or attend to such scenes as the most horrific they have ever seen.

I enter the freeway at McCallum Road every morning on my commute to Chilliwack. Within a minute I am passing the next exit, Sumas Road/Hwy 11.

However, today as I entered we immediately ground to a halt, as the horrific accident had just occurred at the Sumas exit. A van carrying seventeen farm workers lost control and flipped, anding upside down on top of the concrete divider. Three people died instantly. Two air ambulances landed on the freeway in front of our shut down line of traffic, and the traffic helicopter overhead reported that there was eight ground ambulance. After that, we had to split our cars apart for another ambulance to come down the center of the freeway, and two more simply went the wrong way down the other side since there was no traffic, though I think they were ones that had already made a run to the hospital and were returning for a second load. I’m sure there were probably more that entered at Sumas or further east.

While most of us waited patiently, glad it was not us; some people acted as if this was done to inconvenience them. Traffic was shut down in both directions , and would remain so for six hours; and vehicles were being directed off at the exits. However, since we were past the McCallum exit, we were trapped. The impatient pulled their vehicles onto the freeway shoulder and drove backwards to escape, same at surprising speeds. I must imagine that when they arrived at McCallum, the police there that were diverting traffic were probably not too pleased with the route they took to get there.

I guess my point to those impatient people in particular is that we all do live hectic lives now, and it seems like there is less and less hours in the day; but when the unexpected happens, sometimes you must accept it. This was a horrible tragedy, but at least it did not happen to you or your loved ones, not to belittle that they were someone’s loved ones. If you lose an hour or two from one day because you needed to let emergency crews help those that needed it, so be it. While the freeway remained closed for hours, they did let those of us trapped through after an hour and a half; slowly driving by the crushed, inverted van and the tarp with six pairs of boots sticking out one end. From what I understand from others that took the now packed side roads, those of us that were patient probably got there before you did.

But you probably only thought about how we were making you late for your latte.

On Saturday, Karin and I attended our niece’s anniversary party. Angela is the daughter of Karin’s brother Rudy and his wife Gisela (Gizzy), and she has accepted the proposal of her beau, Chris Fielding. Rudy and Gizzy held a gathering for family and friends at their Abbotsford house. Lucky for us, it is just down some side streets from us, and so I was able to work on my taxes right until we left.

Wait… I’m not so sure that is lucky after all…

We were actually a bit late as Karin was not feeling well at all, but we had not disturbed the schedule as dinner was a buffet of barbecued meats, hot appetizers from the kitchen, sandwiches, and other treats. Of course, Rudy had his fridge well stocked with U-Brew as usual. Both sides of the family were able to meet each other, as well as Chris and Angela’s friends.

After a while, gifts were opened. Gifts had not been requested, and no one really knew what they needed; so many opted to wait for the wedding to give gifts, where we should have a better idea of what they need/want. So the unwrapping was not a long session, but everyone gathered to watch.

Next was dessert, consisting of cake, cookies, creme puffs, squares and more. Karin and I knew that we’d better stay away from this portion; we’ve been doing pretty good watching our food intake as of late.

After dessert, the younger crowd pulled out vodka and whiskey for shots. I tried one shot of vodka, and it left quite the taste in my mouth. Now I’m no expert on vodka, but I do know that the amount you can taste it is inversely proportional to it’s quality; that is the good stuff has not taste, so I decided one was enough. Besides, I had almost a 3 block drive down back roads that I was going to have to do later.

This certainly didn’t stop our bride-to-be, but then it was her party.

You can view all of our pictures of the evening in their own Flickr set. You can also save copies while there in any size you want. If you visit them and happen to know the names of anyone we did not know, please leave a comment on that photo identifying them.

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