Well shit, i just found out i do NOT get to pick my car up today.
Financing department isn't open today (i was told it would be).
Details, let's see.
Last thursday my 87 Ford Ranger's transmission developed the clap on the way to work. It slips in third and fourth gear. First and second are fine so i drive in second gear going 60kms/h and the shoulder of the highway with my four ways on all the way home.
It's a beater truck so it'd be cheaper to just get another vehicle then spend a thousand bucks on a new tranny.
So i have this "talk" with my mom. I asked if she'd co-sign for a loan for 2k. We sort of live out in the boonies. It's a half hour walk to a bus station and even then, a two and half hour bus ride to work. So I said to her that whether she liked it or not, she would have to co-sign for SOMETHING cuase i need to keep mobile. After retarded responses of "I can't afford to loan you the money (i was asking YOU for the loan for christ sake) blah blah blah." she finally says. "i'm not saying no, but i want to think about it."
Some days later, i have no idea how she thinks up the idea but she throws the idea of leasing at me. Something my mom has ALWAYS been against. Winter and christmas is always a great time to car shop. Dealers are trying to make end of the year goals and deals are good stuff like that.
So i head out and do some car shopping. I hit up this pontiac dealership to check out leasing a G5. Sales guy comes out and we chat and he shows me some stuff. I tell him straight up. I can't afford more then 300 a month payments, I SHOULD drive a truck, but i WANTa G5, but i'd settle for an SUV. My credit isn't perfect and my employment although, not completely stable, still pays for my needs.
So he says a truck, and SUV are completely out of the question. They're too expensive (even used) and after chatting for a bit, leasing doesn't meet my needs. He asked what i was currently driving and i told him about my ranger and what happened to it. He says that if i leased that he could only give me 1k tops for my truck and that i'd still have to come up with 2500 down (he showed me the fine print) adn that the yearly mileage would not meet my needs. If i bought he could give me 2k for my ranger and it could be the downpayment completely. So after figuring out that the most i could afford to buy was 16k we went to see what they had. (not alot) He had a civic but i hate them with a passion so they were out. They a 2005 Grand AM SE1 fully loaded with keyless entry for 15,900 with 35k kms. I drove one for a few days on a rental last year and thuroughly enjoyed so i thought i'd test drive it.
Well, i can definately say it was a drivers car. I'm 6'1" and and finding a comfortable position in cars is often hard. With the Grand AM it was not problem at all. As a matter fact you kind of felt like you were in the cockpit of a race car. The steering wheel and pedals were just about perfect position in relation to leg and arm length for me. I was in heaven. We leave the dealership lot to boot around the block. I floored it and holy shit does that 170hp v6 haul ass!
It actually pressed me into the seat. The sales guy didn't freak out or nothing. He knew what the car could do. The interior is fairly quiet, the controls easy to reach. The stock CD player isn't the best and isn't an mp3cd player either. But for what it's worth it doesn't sound like complete shit. Nothing an ipod and fm transmitter wouldn't fix. The cup holders are kind of in an awkward position behind the shifter so putting the shifter into park is going hit what ever drink you have in there. Alternatively though, there actually is another one in the map pocket of the doors. The trunk is quite spacious and the rear seat folds down to give further length access. The rear seats although comfortable will feel a bit crowded but only a little bit. Moveing the front seats for a few inches helps.
The GT model only has 5 more horsepower and includes sunroof, spoiler, leather interior, and power seats, (and optional ram air hood) so i'm not missing anything really.
So after everthing is said and done i settle on the Grand AM and fill out the financing paperwork. A credit check showed nothing on my credit report which was good but also meant that i'd still need a co-signer. So i head home, tell mom the whole story, she blows a spaz and says not fucking way. To which i ask "why would you not cosign for something i'd own but co-sign for something i wouldn't
) she says nothing and that was the end of the discussion.
So kind of bummed out i called m ex-wife (we're still very good friends) to catch up on things and i tell her the whole story. She ends up offering to co-sign. I asked why she'd do that and she said that when we lived together, no matter how shitty our financial situation would get, no matter how much alcohol i'd drink, not matter what, i loved our car enough that i always managed to make sure our car payment was made. (we bought a 99 sunfire GT together using her credit) and she'd trust me to do that again. Only this time, it's on my credit instead of hers. She can also take herself off the cosign after two years.
So today we were going to go to the dealership to seal the deal but i called today and learned the financing department won't be open today and will have to wait until the weekend.
oh well.
I still can't wait though.
edit: it's here on page two third one down, stock number U3503:
http://goldkey.ca/gm/inventory.asp
