No. 179 – Dead Man Walking (A Dream Like This)

Performer: Mary Chapin Carpenter

Songwriter: Mary Chapin Carpenter

Original Release: Music From and Inspired By the Motion Picture Dead Man Walking

Year: 1996

Definitive Version: None.

Speaking of buying a new car …

When I bought the Happy Honda in 1991 (SPOILER ALERT), I had no idea at the time that I still would have it 16 years later. It had been a great car; I never had a problem with it, but, like everything else, all things come to an end.

And so it was with my Honda in July 2007 at a time when I introduced this song to Laurie. The clutch—the original clutch—was shot, and the car needed new tires and timing belts. All were replaceable, but it would cost me $1,300 to replace everything. The money wasn’t the issue, but my car wasn’t worth much. I decided that the $1,300 would be better spent on a new car.

Although I had had a good experience buying the Honda (SPOILER ALERT), I really didn’t want to have to go through the whole rigmarole of buying a new car. Fortunately, in the 16 years since I last was in the market, the Internet came along, so I didn’t have to.

I knew I wanted another Honda Civic—how could I not after my experience? I had my financing through Bank of Dad in order. (I’d be able to repay my loan in only a matter of months rather than a year due to a substantial raise I’d received at work—story to come.) The only decision was from which dealer I’d buy it.

This is where the Internet came in. I picked out three dealers close by in the Chicago area and sent an email telling them I was in the market for a car that had a stick, AC and a stereo. That’s what I had before, and that’s all I wanted again.

Then I told them I didn’t want to waste a lot of time haggling, so they should cut to the chase: Give me your best offer on the car I want, and I’ll come in and buy the car that day. The winner was O’Hare Honda in Des Plaines.

What happened next is a matter of record that I can document through email just in case anyone gets his nose out of joint. The names definitely haven’t been changed, because I want to make sure you can identify the guilty parties.

It’s a bit of a long story, so I’ll break it up into two parts. But let me just say at the outset: Don’t ever, ever, EVER waste your time dealing with O’Hare Honda in Des Plaines. Maybe it’s different now—it’s been more than six years—but back in July 2007, they were nothing but a bunch of liars, shysters and (poor) con artists. In short, it was everything that my previous new-car negotiation was not.

The person who responded to my initial request was a guy by the name of Michael. He gave me a quote just north of $13,700 on a DX that had AC and a radio. That’s a fair deal. OK, I’m ready to buy a new car. I told Michael I’d be out that day for a test drive.

When I arrived after work, I was greeted warmly at the door by Luis. I asked for Michael, but I was told he was busy. Fine. I told Luis of my offer and that I was ready to buy the car mentioned for the price offered. He thought that was great. There was only one problem: He wasn’t sure they had the car in question.

We hiked around the lot for a while, allegedly in search of a car that suited my desires. Luis explained that a bare-bones Civic doesn’t come with a stereo, and it’s not something the dealers just can pop into the vehicle after the fact like they used to. But he would be happy to show me a more fully loaded model, which they just conveniently happened to have available.

I was somewhat put off by this and the thought that I had been given a bit of a bait-and-switch by Michael. Although I knew more about cars than I had before because of work, I had to concede that perhaps I was naïve about what Honda did and didn’t do with its cars. The fact is cars weren’t as customizable as they used to be.

All right, fine. Show me the upgrade. We took a test drive in a fully loaded Civic, and I had to admit I liked having the extra amenities, like power this, that and the other thing and cruise control. I was in my 40s; maybe it was time to improve my ride.

Luis was ready to sell me that car, but I wasn’t ready to buy, because I needed more money from Bank of Dad than I was expecting to borrow. Besides, I had to do a little more research on the price to make sure I wasn’t getting the shaft.

I got back in touch with Michael online, and he confirmed that radio wasn’t part of a bare-bones DX. (I wonder why he neglected to mention that before I went out?) But he had a manual LX model that had AC and a stereo for $15,422. I did more checking, and about a week later I reached my conclusion. OK, it’s a bit more than I wanted to pay for a car, but that’s still a good deal for what should be a good car.

I told Michael I was coming back out that night, with my checkbook in hand, this time for the LX.

(To be continued … again)