Mission status report

Operation One Car: Phase One - Scooter procurement

It took the police less then 24 hours to find our adorable stolen scooter.  And then it took us a week, three trips to the city impound lot and $300 in fees to get the city to relinquish custody.   The repair shop a took another week and an additional $79 to assess the damage and report that it would cost a minimum of $1600 to get our poor scooter running again.  Since that's more than we paid, that's  not going to happen.  So... the poor scooter is sitting forlornly in the rain, guarding our rear deck. 

The question is, do we get a new scooter?  A dude who lives down the block came over to talk to us when we were unloading the sad, broken scooter from the back of Joel's truck and turns out he's had his scooter stolen too.  His was locked up better than ours was, so that's discouraging.  He said some other people a block over also got their scooter stolen.  It looks like locking it up on the sidewalk is out of the question.  The other option is to keep it in the backyard and wheel it through the house when we need to use it (NOT IDEAL), or to move some of the junk in our alley around and see if we could possibly squeeze it through there.  We did try that at first and it just seemed too difficult... but now that we basically know that anything left on the sidewalk is going to disappear, locks or no locks, I guess we can try it again.  There's a suitable replacement scooter in Virginia.  I just don't know.  I am not sure I can stand having my heart broken and my faith in humanity shaken again.  Or to have my bank account depleted any further.  Maybe I'll just get a bike instead.  Sigh.  Mission: on hold.

Operation One Car: Phase Two - New Car selection and purchase

In happier news, internet, say hello to our new family member:

She's a 2008 Mazda 3 hatchback, which makes her by far the newest car either of us has ever owned.  You guys, get this: THE AIR CONDITIONING WORKS!  We no longer need to keep a sweat towel in the car.  Basically, I am in love.  I feel like it took us FOREVER to make a decision (we also considered and/or test drove aNissan Sentra SER, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Honda Civic SI, Honda Civic Hybrid, Honda Fit and a Toyota Camry Hybrid), but I am really, really happy with this car.  It is the perfect car for us.  And have I mentioned that the air conditioning works?  

So, let's review: in our quest to be a one car/one scooter household, we now have... three cars and one broken scooter.   Right.

The next order of business is to sell my Jetta as soon as humanly possible.  The plan was to trade it in and avoid the hassle of dealing with the kooks and loons and possible murderers on Craigslist, and that would have been all fine and good if the Mazda dealership had offered me more than three hundred dollars for my trusty VW.   I mean, yes.  It has its problems.  But THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS?  No.  Especially when the very day before, Honda had offered me $1,000.   And to add literal insult to injury, the Mazda salesguy had the nerve to call my car a "beater".   And then I walked outside, started up my beater Jetta and ran him over.  The end.  No one talks to my car like that. 

Dealing with Craigslist so far has been predictably ridiculous.  One dude offered me half of my asking price to pick it up "2day in person".  Two others send identical two-word emails with no punctuation.  Another guy said he'd come and look at it immediately and then never showed up.  All in all, completely unsurprising.  There seem to be a few viable buyers mixed in with the kooks, so keep your fingers crossed.  And if you're interested in a 1998 Jetta, come on over.  She's a good car, and I want her to go to a good home.  I don't want to take her to Carmax.  That just feels like the equivalent of dropping her off at the pound and hoping she gets adopted. [UPDATE 6PM: And my Jetta just sold for the full asking price of $1,000.  I got over 20 inquiries in the 24 hours it was up on Craigslist.  SUCK ON THAT, ASSFACE SALESGUY. WHO'S A BEATER NOW?]

After the Jetta gets sold and we decide if we're getting a new scooter or not, Joel's truck will be next up on the chopping block.  As much as I've complained about that truck (it's too tall, it's hard for me to get into, the seatbelt cuts into my neck, there are no cupholders, ET CETERA), I'm feeling ridiculously nostalgic at the thought of selling it.  I told Joel this weekend that we could keep it if he really wanted to, and he pointed out that that would completely defeat the purpose of this whole mission, and I know that.  But still!  Sob.  I'm sorry for all the mean things I said, old truck.  Remember when you moved all our furniture to our new house, one truckload after another? Man, those were the days.  And how will I know when Joel is coming home from work without the distinctive sound of the 14-year-old truck engine cruising past the house in search of truck-sized parking space?   Jesus, I am going to cry.

Comments

[heidikins]

Selling your Jetta for $300 is like calling her a cheap prostitute...hold out for a serious buyer!!!

xox

[RA]

I love the Mazda! I wanted this car very much when we were looking because I love the scale of station-wagon-y cars, but the gas milage wasn't ideal, and it really isn't the best car for us. Ah, well.

I am so sad about your stationary scoot. She needs to roam free! Sigh.

[Angela Noelle]

Poor scooter :*( That's such a tragic story... What a world!

But yay for selling your car! And for your awesome NEW car!