I’m having trouble finding another car
- Thread starter Gemmy
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I bought a "new" used car a year ago in August. The car I had been driving for a number of years before that had been written off by my insurance provider, but was still quite functional, even though there was no hood seal, and people would sometimes gesticulate wildly at me thinking my hood was open when it was not, and it was also securely closed so no worries there about it suddenly or unexpectedly flying open while I am driving around. Any ways.
I know what a hassle looking for a car can be, because the good ones get snapped up so fast it makes your head spin. One time when I was looking for a new car, I enlisted the aid of someone who seemed willing to help, but all he did was steal from me. So the next time I bought a car, I just went for it, and bought the first one I went to look at. That was the one I just got rid of last year. I did the same for this car I have now, and it was my first ever dealership experience, which was great. They really looked after me, took me to the bank so they could take all the money I was willing to give them (LOL it was certainly considerably more than what cars were worth pre-COVID, but then so is everything else!!!), bought me breakfast while I was waiting for some appointment to deal with paperwork etc and then the nice young man who sold me the car came out to the house later in the afternoon, switched out my plates for me, and drove the old car away. They even paid my taxi fare to get there in the first place to look at the car.
When I phoned the dealership before our first snowfall here late last year to see if there was anti-freeze in the car, he remembered who I was. I asked him what they did with the old car (partly because I could have gotten $$ for it if I'd turned it over to our insurance guys [the government]) but I felt better about not doing that when he told me it had been donated to the kidney foundation.
My now new car had just over 106,000 kms on it when I bought it and now has just over 109,000 because I don't drive as much as I did before. That's under 70,000 miles. The dealership guy was getting calls all day about it but it was mine all mine LOL. From before he even got to work that day! Keep checking the online ads and find a car make model and year you want and just go for it. That one car I bought and got rid of last year had 173,000 kms on it when I bought it, but Toyotas are a great brand and their engines last a long time. Get something you can trust.
I know what a hassle looking for a car can be, because the good ones get snapped up so fast it makes your head spin. One time when I was looking for a new car, I enlisted the aid of someone who seemed willing to help, but all he did was steal from me. So the next time I bought a car, I just went for it, and bought the first one I went to look at. That was the one I just got rid of last year. I did the same for this car I have now, and it was my first ever dealership experience, which was great. They really looked after me, took me to the bank so they could take all the money I was willing to give them (LOL it was certainly considerably more than what cars were worth pre-COVID, but then so is everything else!!!), bought me breakfast while I was waiting for some appointment to deal with paperwork etc and then the nice young man who sold me the car came out to the house later in the afternoon, switched out my plates for me, and drove the old car away. They even paid my taxi fare to get there in the first place to look at the car.
When I phoned the dealership before our first snowfall here late last year to see if there was anti-freeze in the car, he remembered who I was. I asked him what they did with the old car (partly because I could have gotten $$ for it if I'd turned it over to our insurance guys [the government]) but I felt better about not doing that when he told me it had been donated to the kidney foundation.
My now new car had just over 106,000 kms on it when I bought it and now has just over 109,000 because I don't drive as much as I did before. That's under 70,000 miles. The dealership guy was getting calls all day about it but it was mine all mine LOL. From before he even got to work that day! Keep checking the online ads and find a car make model and year you want and just go for it. That one car I bought and got rid of last year had 173,000 kms on it when I bought it, but Toyotas are a great brand and their engines last a long time. Get something you can trust.
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1. Download all the known apps for car sales. I downloaded like 7 of them on my phone.
2. Create a particular search that you want with the car model.
3. Expand the radius up to 100 miles. Yes, i was willing to drive 100 miles away from my house for a good deal.
4. Wait and pray that the best car will come to you.
Based on this, i found a 2008 Honda Accord with 15,000 miles for $10,000! $10,000!!! It was like hitting the lottery because the car was in mint condition and was garaged the whole time.
2. Create a particular search that you want with the car model.
3. Expand the radius up to 100 miles. Yes, i was willing to drive 100 miles away from my house for a good deal.
4. Wait and pray that the best car will come to you.
Based on this, i found a 2008 Honda Accord with 15,000 miles for $10,000! $10,000!!! It was like hitting the lottery because the car was in mint condition and was garaged the whole time.
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You did get a very good deal! How long ago was that?
I was mainly only looking at Toyota vehicles, but Honda would have been a good second choice.
I was mainly only looking at Toyota vehicles, but Honda would have been a good second choice.
I prayed to God to give me the best choice, and to give me a sign.
He did give me a sign when i almost bought a Civic at another dealership where the salesguy was not only incompetent at his job but he seemed careless.
But i felt bad for him and i wanted to give him a sale for the day. The deal was okay but not the best.
75,000 miles for $15,000.
So when i called the insurance company their phone lines went down. I mean, in 30 years that i have been dealing with car insurance companies, their phone lines did not go down but that was the sign.
Then he also said something else which basically made me realize that this was the sign i was looking for to NOT buy the car from that particular dealership.
So i waited more (about 3 months) and i found this other gem, which i consider a Gift from God by an elderly man who had it garaged, barely driven, with original tires from the factory and i paid this small dealership in cash and he also gave me $500 off.
I mean, it's a Gift from God. I won't find another deal like that.
I always bless every purchase and pray to be guided by God in every purchase.
I also bless my house once a year. Sometimes the priest from the church comes over to bless it and sometimes i do it myself.
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Three months was too long for me to wait when I bought my car just over a year ago. I had been looking at cars off and on over the preceding months because I was going to buy one eventually (the hood issue, and the mileage was creeping up there being I think about 50k more than when I had bought it, gosh, maybe almost ten years prior). So I knew the cost had really crept up over the preceding years, and I was prepared to pay 10K if need be for a not-too-old-car with low mileage.
I was staying at my daughter's at the time, doing my yearly cat-sitting stint while they were off holidaying (gallivanting around the province with their two dogs LOL), so my drive to work was maybe almost quadrupled in length and doubled in time. My car did sound a bit "funny" the last day I drove it to work, and driving home? My goodness. The noise it made, plus it did not respond properly when accelerating. It could just have been that my transmission fluid was low, but whatever the issue, the time was suddenly upon me and I needed a new car NOW. I called my boss about it that night, and then by the time the next morning came around there was no way I was going to drive that car anywhere, so I took the day (a Friday) off work, phoned the guy at the dealership (he was not even at work yet but he answered the call) and we made arrangements to meet at his place of work.
I had to do a little wrangling on the phone with my financial institution to get money out of a short term investment (they didn't want me to lose the interest, but it had already been in there much longer than required), but once that was done, all was clear, and as I said, the car dealership paid my taxi fare there, took great care of me while I was there, handled all the paperwork on the spot (I did of course have to go and do the final swapping over of my insurance da-da-da, which I had actually just renewed a couple of weeks before), and then he later came out to the house and changed my plates for me and drove the old car away. That's when he told me he had been getting calls all day about the car I'd just bought. It was going for $10,995 but then add on all the taxes and what not? I paid almost a grand more. It was the first time in my life I could afford to do such a thing and I could afford to do such a thing because I had gotten an insurance payout through work due to my cancer! Which is all gone now, thank you God. I had never bought through a dealership before, and it was a wonderful experience I would highly recommend to anyone. It was a Honda dealership...
Ha ha my daughter and her aunt returned home the very day of my new car purchase. So when they pulled into the driveway, both my cars were there, and she messaged me to ask me if I'd bought a new car already. The car dealership guy moonlights as a real estate agent and offered to take on their house haha when he came out. Yeah. They now have until the end of next month to be out and have anew house to move into, finally. That took years and is a completely 'nother story!
So yeah, three months was a no-go for me. I did it in a day, not counting all the looking at ads leading up to that day.
I was staying at my daughter's at the time, doing my yearly cat-sitting stint while they were off holidaying (gallivanting around the province with their two dogs LOL), so my drive to work was maybe almost quadrupled in length and doubled in time. My car did sound a bit "funny" the last day I drove it to work, and driving home? My goodness. The noise it made, plus it did not respond properly when accelerating. It could just have been that my transmission fluid was low, but whatever the issue, the time was suddenly upon me and I needed a new car NOW. I called my boss about it that night, and then by the time the next morning came around there was no way I was going to drive that car anywhere, so I took the day (a Friday) off work, phoned the guy at the dealership (he was not even at work yet but he answered the call) and we made arrangements to meet at his place of work.
I had to do a little wrangling on the phone with my financial institution to get money out of a short term investment (they didn't want me to lose the interest, but it had already been in there much longer than required), but once that was done, all was clear, and as I said, the car dealership paid my taxi fare there, took great care of me while I was there, handled all the paperwork on the spot (I did of course have to go and do the final swapping over of my insurance da-da-da, which I had actually just renewed a couple of weeks before), and then he later came out to the house and changed my plates for me and drove the old car away. That's when he told me he had been getting calls all day about the car I'd just bought. It was going for $10,995 but then add on all the taxes and what not? I paid almost a grand more. It was the first time in my life I could afford to do such a thing and I could afford to do such a thing because I had gotten an insurance payout through work due to my cancer! Which is all gone now, thank you God. I had never bought through a dealership before, and it was a wonderful experience I would highly recommend to anyone. It was a Honda dealership...
Ha ha my daughter and her aunt returned home the very day of my new car purchase. So when they pulled into the driveway, both my cars were there, and she messaged me to ask me if I'd bought a new car already. The car dealership guy moonlights as a real estate agent and offered to take on their house haha when he came out. Yeah. They now have until the end of next month to be out and have anew house to move into, finally. That took years and is a completely 'nother story!
So yeah, three months was a no-go for me. I did it in a day, not counting all the looking at ads leading up to that day.
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And no major accidents...
My car was a bit of a back-step seeing as it did not come with certain things and is a hatchback with very little
hatch space. But all things considered, I cannot carry a lot any more all at once anyways, so... also, I had never
had a three door car before. My back seat is pretty much useless to me BUT if ever I need one it is there LOL.
And it is more compact and turns tighter than my previous car. Surely it gets better mileage. Having to manually
lock the hatch after closing does seem a bit odd in today's day and age of automatic everything but no big deal.
It was kind of funny when the young dealership guy went to open the hatch the first time and he could not
quite remember the trick there is to pulling it off successfully. I thought oh no! The hatch is botched. But no.
There is just a bit of a manoeuvre required to open it. Insert key. Turn, press mechanism in. No big deal.
And don't forget to lock after closing. LOL
My car was a bit of a back-step seeing as it did not come with certain things and is a hatchback with very little
hatch space. But all things considered, I cannot carry a lot any more all at once anyways, so... also, I had never
had a three door car before. My back seat is pretty much useless to me BUT if ever I need one it is there LOL.
And it is more compact and turns tighter than my previous car. Surely it gets better mileage. Having to manually
lock the hatch after closing does seem a bit odd in today's day and age of automatic everything but no big deal.
It was kind of funny when the young dealership guy went to open the hatch the first time and he could not
quite remember the trick there is to pulling it off successfully. I thought oh no! The hatch is botched. But no.
There is just a bit of a manoeuvre required to open it. Insert key. Turn, press mechanism in. No big deal.
And don't forget to lock after closing. LOL
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Here's some of the history and meaning behind this blessing here:
The Prayer for the Blessing of Homes at Theophany - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Blessing of homes - OrthodoxWiki
That's the official guide, but when i do it, i speak from the heart.
I get some water, i bless it but making the sign of the cross and thanking God for the water, i light some incense and then i walk around the house (inside and outside) thanking God for giving me a home, asking Him to keep it safe and ask Him to keep any evil spirits out of it and out of the neighbourhood.
The Prayer for the Blessing of Homes at Theophany - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Blessing of homes - OrthodoxWiki
That's the official guide, but when i do it, i speak from the heart.
I get some water, i bless it but making the sign of the cross and thanking God for the water, i light some incense and then i walk around the house (inside and outside) thanking God for giving me a home, asking Him to keep it safe and ask Him to keep any evil spirits out of it and out of the neighbourhood.
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He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.
—Deuteronomy 10:21
—Deuteronomy 10:21
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I hadn't had a car for about 12 years when a friend of mine gave me a 1983 Toyota Tercel that he was actually looking to give away for free. That was back in early 2000, and I drove that car for close to 3 years. It was great! It had been a little banged up when he gave it to me, and over the 3 years that I had it a few other things went wrong with it, like the driver window not closing properly, not being able to open one of the car doors properly, and the windshield defogger not working properly... so at that point I started looking for another car, which I had not been able to since the late 80s for financial reasons... even though I had been working full-time pretty much that whole time, I lived paycheck to paycheck and could not afford any large ticket item.
That was when I found out that any good car that was advertised was bought immediately, and it was incredibly frustrating as somebody who is working full time not be able to get to the good cars in a timely manner. That was when I enlisted the aid of a guy who was willing to help me but just ended up stealing from me. Never trust a crackhead LOL.
One day I saw a car in the paper (remember this was in the days before cell phones were so ubiquitous) that was advertised for $4000 ... it only had a 104,000 km on it, and being determined not to keep missing out on such good deals, I arranged to take half of the day off work, and drove out to see the car in the middle of the afternoon. In a torrential downpour.
I will mention here that this was before I was believer in God but I did think about God a lot. I was a seeker. I was also in AA (that's where I met that man who was supposedly trying to help me)... and also NA... And one of the things they try to teach you there is to follow other people's directions instead of always doing things your own way all the time... so when the woman had given me instructions on how to get out to her place from where I was (she was in the city next to me), even though I thought I knew a better way to get there, I followed the instructions she gave me and I ended up in the wrong city in a torrential downpour laughing about God's plans, and His sense of humor. Turns out she wasn't very good at giving directions LOL.
By the time I got back to where I knew where I was, and called her from a gas station pay phone, she realized the error of the directions she had given me, and gave me proper ones, but I was still much later than I expected in arriving to take a look at the car, and somebody else had gotten there before me, and he was taking it out for a test drive. Well I thought that was the end of that because surely anybody who took that car for a test drive would want to buy it.
I sat talking with the woman while the other person was out driving the car around, and when he came back, they were at the front door talking and wonder of wonders I recognized his voice!!! He was somebody that I knew from AA and I was actually in a small group with him working through the steps. He had mentioned that he was looking for a car to drive his aging parents around in, and I heard him telling the woman, while they were still speaking at the front door, that the car was too small for what he needed, but he also felt it was overpriced (he knew the cost of these things).. so when I took the car for a drive and then told her I wanted it she was willing to knock $200 off price for me. To me, that was a God thing. He had told her that it was worth a little less than that but I was willing to pay it because I was right there and because it was still such a good deal being that it was a 1989 car with such low mileage.
I had been so impressed with the car that had been gifted to me that I was really wanting another Toyota Tercel and that's what that car was.
I drove that car for almost 10 years. Then it started leaking oil and the rad had a leak and I had to keep topping it up with water and I knew it was time to buy another car...
That was when I just went for the first car that I looked at. It was not a Tercel this time but it was a Toyota from 2006, the Tercel's follow-up, the Echo. It was selling for 5K and had 173,000 km on it.
That was when I found out that any good car that was advertised was bought immediately, and it was incredibly frustrating as somebody who is working full time not be able to get to the good cars in a timely manner. That was when I enlisted the aid of a guy who was willing to help me but just ended up stealing from me. Never trust a crackhead LOL.
One day I saw a car in the paper (remember this was in the days before cell phones were so ubiquitous) that was advertised for $4000 ... it only had a 104,000 km on it, and being determined not to keep missing out on such good deals, I arranged to take half of the day off work, and drove out to see the car in the middle of the afternoon. In a torrential downpour.
I will mention here that this was before I was believer in God but I did think about God a lot. I was a seeker. I was also in AA (that's where I met that man who was supposedly trying to help me)... and also NA... And one of the things they try to teach you there is to follow other people's directions instead of always doing things your own way all the time... so when the woman had given me instructions on how to get out to her place from where I was (she was in the city next to me), even though I thought I knew a better way to get there, I followed the instructions she gave me and I ended up in the wrong city in a torrential downpour laughing about God's plans, and His sense of humor. Turns out she wasn't very good at giving directions LOL.
By the time I got back to where I knew where I was, and called her from a gas station pay phone, she realized the error of the directions she had given me, and gave me proper ones, but I was still much later than I expected in arriving to take a look at the car, and somebody else had gotten there before me, and he was taking it out for a test drive. Well I thought that was the end of that because surely anybody who took that car for a test drive would want to buy it.
I sat talking with the woman while the other person was out driving the car around, and when he came back, they were at the front door talking and wonder of wonders I recognized his voice!!! He was somebody that I knew from AA and I was actually in a small group with him working through the steps. He had mentioned that he was looking for a car to drive his aging parents around in, and I heard him telling the woman, while they were still speaking at the front door, that the car was too small for what he needed, but he also felt it was overpriced (he knew the cost of these things).. so when I took the car for a drive and then told her I wanted it she was willing to knock $200 off price for me. To me, that was a God thing. He had told her that it was worth a little less than that but I was willing to pay it because I was right there and because it was still such a good deal being that it was a 1989 car with such low mileage.
I had been so impressed with the car that had been gifted to me that I was really wanting another Toyota Tercel and that's what that car was.
I drove that car for almost 10 years. Then it started leaking oil and the rad had a leak and I had to keep topping it up with water and I knew it was time to buy another car...
That was when I just went for the first car that I looked at. It was not a Tercel this time but it was a Toyota from 2006, the Tercel's follow-up, the Echo. It was selling for 5K and had 173,000 km on it.