It was Black Friday morning when the flier from Lapointe’s almost snuck past my eyes. As occasionally happened in the past, the urge to purchase a big-ticket item took over control of logic. I wanted a new car right away and within two hours we were in Lapointe’s negotiating for a new 2016 Chrysler 200 LX.
As always, when I decide on a major purchase for a new home or a new vehicle for instance, I don’t take time to devise research on the builder’s strengths and weaknesses or study vehicle ratings or trends or especially bother getting opinions from others. On that Black Friday, I had a compulsion for a new car and I went for it.
There had been thoughts of trading our 2006 Impala for a used car a couple of years old, but we kept procrastinating. The timing never seemed quite right. My fantasy had been to own a Chrysler 300 for a few years because of its square-like contour and bullish appearance. It even got me a little flushed every time I saw one up close. If it was parked along the street I would walk around its perimeter taking in its features, sometimes peeking inside. However, the price was out of reach. But, when its junior brother caught my attention, I desired one.
For the heck of it I will eventually compare the 200 to other mid-size cars, accepting that whatever the sentiments, it was behind me. I have friends though who could never buy a vehicle unless they had checked every discounted price on every model, car reviews and ratings, investigated various car lots and sometimes lurking around it after dark. They sort of knew their preference but no stone or dealer shadiness was ever left unturned. Even when a decision was near there was that inkling about which sales rep to choose. This over-planning and self-analyzing could go on for weeks or even months. Friends got tired of hearing about all this indecisiveness and gradually avoided conversations with the hesitant buyer. Once the car was bought though, this hard-looker came back into the fold. Then it was someone else to go through the motions all over again. I don’t like operating in such an redundant and sluggish manner, it spoils the excitement of the quest.
After the long hours of negotiations at the dealership, the deal was inked and would be prepared for our picking it up in five days. Somehow almost as predictable, the next day I was alerted by so-called friends that the Chrysler 200 was far from a highly-rated or a popular car. Another said I was crazy to buy it and to cancel the order before it was too late. They were all envious, I’m sure. I said to them and will say to anyone else who are so in love with Toyotas and Hondas etc., “I will drive this car to the ground, despite its anonymity, with pride and will start a unique trend to having this model the most popular around.”
To be truthful, I had never seen a Chrysler 200, not even a photograph of one until it was rolled out before my eyes at Lapointe’s. It was a beauty, black all over with black interior and a contour that made me palpitate like I did as a teenager over other contours that were more interesting back in the day. I was curious why I hadn’t noticed any of these cars before, so I scoured parking lots around Pembroke but none were to be found. I was in luck as an older model was parked near the township hall for the Santa Claus parade in Cobden. I asked a large number of people if they owned it but no one copped to it. Probably didn’t want all the attention!
In Ottawa during the last trip with the Impala, we were at a number of plazas doing shopping and in each one I hunted for my car. The last one at Bell’s Corners had my model parked directly in front of ‘The Outskirts Distinctive Women’s Fashion’. I kept my eye on it while my partner did a bit more shopping. We were about to leave when in desperation I went inside the store looking for the owner. Two fashionable sales women were on me in seconds, almost selling me a skirt before I could blurt out that I wasn’t there to buy. They were disappointed and one said, “We have no control who parks in front of our store and we don’t care.”
It was the day after we took possession of the 200 when we were parked near Basics, unbelievably alongside another 200. I just knew then, there would be plenty of them around. It happened that when the owner returned to the car I was nearing mine. She was a looker, dressed immodestly with a shade too much makeup. I asked, “How long have you had your car?” She said, “Too long. My boyfriend unloaded it on me before he left for out West.” I didn’t ask her anything else.
The last time a quick decision was involved in the purchase of a new car, the current one had given up the ghost. I decided on a Pontiac 600 (I like numbers better than letters), phoned the dealer, nailed down a price and arranged financing in three days. It was a great car, reliable and a nice colour – aqua (the colour of the ocean and the only one that colour I ever saw). It sometimes reminded me of the time when I dropped in to see a friend who had a mechanic’s garage business. A new Canadian also arrived to report a problem with his ‘Goolie’. My friend said he had never heard of a ‘Goolie! The other guy said, “Yes, it is. Come and see.” It was a Pontiac 600 LE.
Many philosophical types will say, “Don’t sweat the small things ….” I answer with, “I never sweat the big things but the small things cause me great stress!”
