Ramblings by Chase

Well, it finally happened, my car arrived. It actually showed up on Tuesday, but I’ve been having too much fun with it to actually write anything about it. I keep getting email from my parents asking for photos since they haven’t seen it either. So, before I get started talking too much about it, go take a look at the photos I’ve posted (if you want, that is) that I took this afternoon (the timestamps on the camera should be correct).

For those of you new to the discussion, I’ve been ‘looking’ for a new car for over a year, but only got serious about it (finding the money, etc) about Thanksgiving 2005. I settled on a 2006 Ford Fusion fairly early in the process. It’s a nice looking car and the price was really reasonable for the size of the car. After looking at the available options and upgrades I decided the basic package that I would like. I described those choices in some detail in a previous blog entry, but the basics are as follows: Blue exterior, Black interior (charcoal black), and ABS.

Little did I know that it was going to be such a pain to find a car that matched those specs. I’ve written in the past about the difficulties that I had early in the process finding a match, but the short of it is that ABS is a very rare option on the Fusions. So, I dropped ABS as a requirement and several Fusions showed up in the ‘area’ (where area is defined as about a 300 mile radius). There was one that was in Houston (or would be shortly at that point) that matched very well. It is the vehicle that at the time I last wrote I thought I would be buying. The car was due to hit Houston sometime during the week after Christmas, at which time it would be sent to Longview where I could pick it up.

I was a bit disappointed that I would be unable to drive myself to Houston, but if it only meant a few days delay in getting the car I could deal with it. Since I was in the Houston area (La Porte in actuality) during that time, I wanted to know the moment it got to Houston, so I could head back to Longview and be ready to take delivery of the car. This translated into me calling the dealer in Longview every day starting Monday the 26th. I kept telling him to keep me updated, but I was always the one that ended up doing the calling.

By Wednesday we were still being told that the car had not arrived in Houston. Dad had some work scheduled near Longview on Thursday, so we decided that would be a good time for someone to take me home. The work he had scheduled ended up being canceled, but we decided to continue with our plans so that I could be in the Longview area. When we got to Longview on Thursday I called in to see what the status was at that point (we had anticipated Thursday or Friday as the absolute latest the car would appear). The dealer here (in Longview) still had not been notified that the car was in Houston, but he had several calls in to the dealer in Houston to check on the status that he had not heard back on yet.

Friday, the 30th, I got a call from the dealer … and it was not a happy call. Apparently the Houston dealership sold the car to someone else before it even hit their lot. This was after they had been notified that the dealership here in Longview had a buyer (me!). Let’s just say that I wasn’t happy. So the dealer and I spoke for a few minutes about different options that were available and where I might compromise. He called me back a few minutes later and told me that there was a car in Louisiana somewhere that was black ext, black int, and NO options at all (We hadn’t seen a Fusion without the Sport Package yet). I agreed that it would work if he could get it, so he hung up and pursued that car with the hope that he could get back to me before the end of the day.

I didn’t hear back on Friday, which honestly didn’t surprise me too much. Nothing on Saturday or Sunday either. Come Monday I decided to check in again. This is a perfect example of what frustrated me the most during the whole process: when I called, I was told that he had been unable to secure the LA car, and had tried two others since … all without letting me know anything. Just tell me what is going on, please! He was still waiting on a call back from the last place he had tried (some dealer in Tulsa, OK) and promised that he would call as soon as he knew what was going to happen.

At about 4:30 PM Monday I called him back because I hadn’t heard from him yet and wanted to make sure I knew something before the end of the day. My typical opening statement of “It’s Chase. Talk to me.” generated a quick response. He told me that he had just finished working out a trade with them and that the car would be heading down first thing the next day (Tuesday). That made me smile. I told him to let me know as soon as he knew what time I could pick it up and sign all the paperwork.

I decided to take Tuesday (our first day back to work) off so that I could get Flo (my old van) ready for a trade-in and run a few other errands. I got a call Tuesday morning from Mike (the guy at the dealership) letting me know that it would be ready for me at 5:00 - 5:30. Oh ya! I knew at that point that the car was actually en route! I took care of my errands and took Flo down the the car wash place to vacuum out the carpet, etc. Unfortunately I ended up unable to completely avoid work for the day. I needed to stop by the office to pick up a few things, but before I could even get there I got a call from one of the other programmers. Cindy called to let me know about some email that had been flying back and forth that day (most of which I’d already seen) that probably needed my attention.

I got into the office, gathered up what I needed, then handled the email stuff … which turned out to be fairly important stuff related to web registration that was ongoing and my responsibility. While in the office I made use of the fact that I can call the Houston area for free from my desk because we have a campus in Houston that the calls can be routed through without paying long distance charges. I called dad to verify that the insurance company was aware of what was happening. That triggered another long process since apparently the way our car insurance had been set up for a number of years (but only a month ir so at this new company) was illegal. Apparently my van was never supposed to be on the family policy because the title was in my name. Similarly, the new car could not be on that policy for the same reasons, so we began getting a new policy set up.

When I was finally able to leave the office, I headed back to my apartment to gather up a couple of things, and to meet Jimbo who decided to tag along with me to the dealership. I called Mike at about 4:30 PM to verify that everything was still on schedule. He told me the car was indeed there and being cleaned up right then, so yes, things were still on time. So, as soon as Jimbo showed up we headed that direction.

The rest was fairly painless. I thought that they would take a look at Flo and then give me a trade-in value, but it turns out that he gave me the $500 that we discussed sight-unseen. However, when he did see Flo for the first time, that was classic … just ask Jimbo. I will not repeat verbatim what Mike said when he came back into the office, but it was really funny and boiled down to something like it only being worth $0.30 a pound (scrap prices). Signing the financing paperwork was less fun, but a neccesary step. I was mistaken in the methods available to make the down payment, so I had to get a cashiers check the following day (and that’s a whole different story), but they still let me drive off Tuesday night with the car.

Jimbo was kind of funny when we walked out to the car the first time. I unlocked the doors and then proceeded to put some stuff in the back seat, all the while Jimbo stood outside his door. I told him it was unlocked and that he could get in, but he responded by saying that he wanted me to be the first person to sit in it. :)

Let’s just say that I’ve put about 50 miles on it in the last 2 or 3 days. No more for now, I’m tired of typing.