Buying A New Car At Today's Record Gas Prices

UPDATE


PLAIN AND FRISKY

Taaa Daaaaahhhhh! Introducing my brand new conservative woman car. It's a little 2008 Ford Escape (non hybrid) with four cylinders, standard transmission, and is supposed to get about 28 mpg on the highway. After rebates and haggling, I got the sticker price down the $17,600. So with taxes, my out-the-door payment was $19,600. Not bad in my estimation.

Because I drive cross country, I didn't want a teeny tiny car and I certainly didn't want a major gas guzzler, so I landed somewhere in between. Because I drive over 10,000' mountain passes, I agonized over the four cylinder decision. But not for long.

After looking at all the Toyotas. (I'm over them--except for the Lexus which I admit I'm attracted to and briefly considered) Toyota has the audacity of not putting a standard option now on the Rav4 (don't like the spare tire on the back door), the Highlander (too weird looking) and the 4Runner (too big, heavy and gas guzzling). Shame on them.

I liked all the Hondas I drove and came very close to buying one. I loved the Pilot, especially the way the driver's seat sits high, but the Pilot doesn't get any better gas mileage than my Explorer. I was also crazy about the CR-V which in the end was just too small for my needs, and once again hasn't the standard option. The Element is just not my style at all. The Honda dealership here couldn't have been nicer and was willing to haggle a bit. I wished I could have given them my business.

But in the end, I stayed with unglamorous, uncomplicated Ford. Because I could break down driving in Kansas, or Timbuktu and need a basic part. Ford will be there. With a striped down, no frills model I got everything a woman needs---tires, an engine, windows, four or five doors, CD player, automatic windows and locks, and a lighter to rev up my cell phone.

What I didn't get, I added. That would be a key less entry, which I had Ford install on the back hatch.

I also didn't get an option to raise the seat up higher, like they offer in the more expensive versions. So today, my new car is over at Cannonball's getting the seat raised and fitted to my small frame. That will add several hundred dollars to the cost, but well worth the expense.

I have no interest in making a statement in buying a car. Don't have anything to prove. I like what I like: safety first, reliability and decent gas mileage. I like to see out all the windows and don't like complicated equipment. The best new feature I now have is the key less entry if I lock my keys in the car, and I've done it in every state in the Union.

And today, when Cannonball gets through retrofitting my new Escape, I take my dear 1998 Ford Explorer in for a tiny bit of cosmetic surgery, to make it look and feel like new. She will stay in my 'fleet.'

Two more points in closing:

First, my son in New York tells me that all the NYC cab drivers are now going with the Ford Escape hybrid to save gas for in town driving. I say, if the Escape is good enough for them, it's good enough for me! Incidentally, I took a little of the money I saved, and just bought some Ford Motor Company stock (F). Think it's ripe for a turnaround. We'll see.

And second, my erstwhile, super-liberal husband just called me, and in the course of our conversation I told him about my new Escape. Not to be outdone, he said he has just this week traded his Saab for a __________ (what?). Now what would a man of the world who will be voting for Obama who believes we're in a climate change planetary emergency be buying? No surprises there.