WE’RE BUYING A CAR

If you’re wondering how much longer we will be in the U.S., let me put it this way: we’re buying a car. When I arrived a month ago, my mom had just undergone neck surgery, which restricted her driving privileges. She was unable to drive for six weeks because her neck was to be supported in a brace that she called the torture chamber.

In the beginning she was required to wear the torture chamber all hours of the day and night, which meant she wasn’t sleeping very well. After two weeks, the doctor advised that she could try to sleep without the brace but she had to keep it on any time she needed to move while she was awake, including any time she was walking, riding in a car or working at her computer.

Yesterday she was officially freed from the torture chamber and was once again granted driving rights. While this was great news for her, this meant that the car I had been driving was immediately back in her custody, rendering me carless.

With no other plausible borrowing options, Paul and I looked into renting a car long term but the rates for a three-month rental added up to a minimum of $2,500. If we are going to spend that much, we may as well spend a bit more and buy a car that we could resell at a later date.

When Paul said the words, “buy a car,” on the phone yesterday, I was so surprised that my eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped a bit. I almost asked for clarification but I knew I had heard him correctly the first time. I went on to tell Paul that I would be fine purchasing the new Jeep Cherokee but he immediately rained on that parade and advised that I would never be allowed to buy a Jeep, though he never explained why.

I find this revelation interesting since I specifically remember a wasted date night about eight years ago when Paul was convinced that he wanted to trade in his ’99 Cavalier and purchase a new Jeep Wrangler. Instead of a dinner date and whatever else we had planned, we spent the entire evening stopping at every dealership between Salem and Boardman. Any time Paul spotted a Wrangler, even if it was in a vacant lot for sale by owner, we had to stop so that Paul could take a look at the car. We stopped at least eight times.

I was so tired of looking at Jeeps. He drove me insane. Every time I thought we were at the last dealership for the evening, Paul would pull out, drive down the road and then pull into yet another dealership to peruse the Jeep aisle. I was super annoyed and not in a good mood. Grumpy Rachael ended the evening.

The next morning I inquired about Paul’s Jeep search and he informed me that he suddenly decided he didn’t want a Wrangler anymore; he was considering a Liberty. I might have hung up on him at that point.

With Paul away at training, the first round of car shopping was up to me. I have to say, I am surprised at the lack of pre-owned vehicles in good shape in our area. I thought there would be many more from which to choose.

We have arranged for a weekend rental and will have a chance to view our area options once Paul is in town for the weekend. If this search resembles anything related to the Wrangler search, I am in for a long weekend.