decidedlyodd

Today began somewhat frustrated. My dad and I called back a few people who were selling cars we were interested in, but who we couldn’t get ahold of before. Unfortunately, none of those really panned out. Some weren’t home, while others were just weirdos who happened to be located pretty far away. Yesterday we saw an ad on TV, advertising that the local Honda dealership in Irvine was having a big car sale, so we decided maybe we’d go check that out. However, there was still this one car I had found on the AutoTrader, which I for whatever reason hadn’t noticed before (maybe it was just listed?). Well, we called the guy up and he said to drive on down (to his house in Costa Mesa).

Well, we drive out there and realize that we’re just a block away from this other car we looked at the day before. Anyhow, the car turned out to be pretty nice both cosmetically and mechanically (well as much as a layman can determine). While test driving it, my dad and I agreed we should make an offer on it. The guy agreed to let us take it to a mechanic to check it out. We drove up to the Toyota dealer out there to look into getting the car checked over there, but they wanted $150 and we’d have to wait 3-4 hours. So instead, we took it to an independent mechanic who indicated that it was in pretty good shape and said that it sounded like a fair deal.

So, we went up to the credit union and took out a bunch of money (cash!) and went back to make an offer. They immediately agreed to our offer, which was below their asking price. Doh! We should have gone lower! Anyhow, within a matter of minutes I had a car. It’s still weird really. It all happened so fast!

I now have a 1994 Toyota Camry (white) with only about 75,000 miles on it. Yes, it’s like vanilla ice cream, but I don’t need fancy; I need reliable.

Later, my mom and I headed over to AAA to check out getting a membership and/or some insurance for me and to transfer the car title. The place was a total zoo, since it was around 4pm the day before Memorial Day weekend (they closed at 5pm). In the end, I did get insurance and got most of the title/registration transfer paperwork done. Basically, all I still need to do is get the car smogged and then hand the paperwork in.

Also, I met up with Beth’s parents, who offered to buy my old laptop for $250. I got everything setup there and it was nice talking to them. Whew though. What a day!

Now that most of the major tasks are done, I need to finish up the loose ends on Tuesday and then probably head up to Berkeley on Wed or Thurs.