Das Auto

Let’s get back to NOT buying a condo, shall we? With Christmas out of the way and home ownership off the table for the moment, our lives began to resume their normalcy. Bus-work-bus-dinner. Bus-work-bus-dinner.

It’s not that bad, really. The bus is relatively quick and reliable (providing a single snowflake doesn’t fall), work is… well I’m doing as well as one can there and I’m just lucky to have another contract right now. Then, after the bus gets us back home again, dinner a la Jen is usually not too shabby!

For some reason, though, our little Vancouver rhythm just wasn’t doing it for us anymore. Perhaps it was the newfound freedom we felt when we escaped from our real-estate bubble, or the restlessness built up after two weeks of suburban holidays, or perhaps we decided it was time to keep up with the Janzes. Whatever it was, we decided to buy a car!

I guess I should say we decided to shop for a car.

What’s that hissing sound I hear? It’s like it’s all around me…. could it be? A car bubble??

Oh yes.

Conversation after conversation, discussion after discussion, advertisement after advertisement, website after website, car, car, car, CAR, CAR!!

I do suppose spending a lot of time talking about big decisions is good and everything, and it mostly helps us really weigh the pros and cons. The thing is, I like to make decisions quickly. I have the discussions, weigh those pros and cons, stroke a bunch of things off the list and narrow it right down in short order. My esteemed partner does not operate this way, however. Nothing ever gets stroked off his list until the very end. He likes to keep all the options there in his mind and let them stew about for an indefinite amount of time while discussing this and discussing that and discussing this and discussing me right up the wall.

J: “What do you think, new or used?”
C: “Well, we can’t afford a new _______ which is our top choice, but we could definitely afford a new _______.”
J: “I don’t think we need a brand new car just for fun on weekends.”
C: “That’s true.”
J: “So I guess we should focus on used cars then?”
C: “Hmmm, used cars are cheaper but new cars are shiny and they come with a warranty.”
J: “So I guess we should focus on used cars, then?”
C: “You know, we could get a new _________ for about the same prices as a used _________. But it wouldn’t come with __________....”
J: (goes and gets the Advil)

As if it could be any other way, this kind of conversation played over and over again as we trapped ourselves in another big-purchase bubble. Welcome to Communication 101 in Relationship Land! I’m really not trying to infer that one person is right and the other is wrong. We are just two people with really different ways of making decisions. In the grand scheme of things, I think Chris really makes me more thorough and less impulsive, and at the same time think I help him avoid getting distracted by tiny details and going on tangents (more or less). Provided there is enough Advil around, we make a pretty good team!

In the end, this wunder team took approximately 6 weeks to choose – and find – a completely awesome car! Was this a long time? Was this a short time? Who’s to say? We didn’t “need” a car. Bus-work-bus-dinner was working just fine. We just “wanted” a car (as terribly consumptive as that sounds) and that meant we weren’t pressed for time.

Now, I know you are itching to know how, exactly, we came to find our new wheels! (If you’re not, well you know where to find the pictures).

Eventually, after all our hours of talking and researching, we narrowed the search down to a VW Golf/Jetta/Passat from 2004-2009 with a TDI Diesel engine. After about a week of monitoring Auto Trader and Craigslist and who knows what other websites Chris pored over after I went to bed each night, we came across a 2006 silver VW Golf at the Honda dealership down the street (of all places). Chris made an appointment to see it a couple days later and we went down there. Arriving at the dealership, we scanned the lot for the Golf, didn’t find it, went in and met with the salesman only to be informed that it was sold yesterday to someone else! “I try to call you Chris,” says the small, round eastern European-ish salesman, “you not come to appointment yesterday, someone else buy Volkswagen.” Chris says he was pretty sure he made the appointment for today. The salesman points to Chris’ name on a random paper chart that was apparently from yesterday. "No, was yesterday". Chris gives up.

The Honda salesman obviously then tried to sell us a Civic but didn’t get very far. Out in the lot, though, we ended up admiring a Volvo station wagon and even took it out for a test drive just for fun. Hah. It was nice to drive, actually, it was a good deal and it would have been a super useful car. But a station wagon? We’re either too cool or just not cool enough. Hard to say.

Now, despite our laborious Volkswagen decision, that afternoon we went on a bit of a Volvo tangent. The Civic-peddlers behind us, we took a stroll up the street to the Volvo dealership. There, we ended up sitting down and talking to a fantastic, tiny old Chinese salesman in a three-piece suit. He answered all of Chris’ manly car questions with happy, wrinkly eyes and the occasional outburst of hoarse belly laughter. After assessing what we were looking for, he told us about a compact sedan that he had for sale, a fully loaded 2005 model with something ridiculous like only 20,000 kms on it. This practically brand new Volvo that sells new for $35k+ could be ours for only $16k!

“The only reason… I have not sold it yet… is that it is FIRE ENGINE RED! HHHA HHHA HA HA HA HA!”

I suppose we seemed interested enough, so he tossed us the keys and Chris and I took it out for a spin. Boy, was it ever red. Not that we cared so much about the color. Red is still better than white, we both agreed. Oh, and it had leather interior, sunroof, digital radio and all the bells and whistles you could ask for. It was pretty fun to drive, too. Some daddy from Hong Kong had apparently bought it for his daughter while she was studying in Canada. It had its share of bumps and scratches (go figure) but nothing major. What a deal, too! It had barely been driven and literally the only reason it was so cheap was because it was such a painful color! We had so much fun driving it out by the airport that we almost put a deposit down. In the end, though, we played it cool and went home. We decided we’d never be able to re-sell a lipstick-colored car and besides it was gas, not diesel, and not a Volkswagen. We were happy that German heads prevailed.

It was a fun day shopping and cruising around but however enjoyable it was, we were still left without a car to call our own.

About a week or so later, thanks to Chris’ ever-vigilant monitoring of Craigslist, we found a very sweet looking grey 2005 Passat with everything we wanted at a really good price. The only problem was that it was in Portland, Oregon. Now, we don’t need a very big excuse to take the weekend off and cruise down to Portland (hello Powell’s Books!), and Chris had called and talked to the dealership and things looked promising. We were even prepared to deal with the vehicle-importing paperwork and everything!

It was Monday afternoon and I was at work, just about to ask my supervisor about taking a day off for the Portland adventure… when suddenly Chris starts emailing me from his office, rapid-fire:

He writes: “I just talked to the guy in Portland, he’s holding the Passat for us until Thursday.”

Then, within 30 seconds: “Check out this ad from North Vancouver” (another VW Golf)

30 more seconds later: “Can you call me ASAP?”

Of course, here I am knee deep in my own workday, but I take a few minutes to call him and we agree that the Golf ad looks really good. "Sure, give them a call."

5 minutes later another email comes in: “Yup, it’s for real, should we go see it?”

Before I can even respond with "sure", he writes: "Should I put a deposit down?"

30 seconds later he sends me the prize email of the day: “F*** it! I’m putting down a deposit on the Golf!”

What’s this? Has the ever-so-meticulous decision-maker finally cracked?

Who’s to say? In any case, the salesman wasn't there that night but the very next day after work, we met at my office and took the SeaBus across to the North Shore and found the VW dealership. We met the completely normal and very nice salesman, he showed us the sparkling clean and accident-free car, handed over the keys and we took it for a cruise. The radio and speakers sucked. Otherwise it was completely awesome! By the time I putt-putted the little diesel guy back into the lot, we knew he was going to be ours. Apparently there was someone else ready to snatch it up (not a sales-lie) but we most certainly had dibs because of Chris’ brilliantly hasty decision to put down a deposit over the phone!

In the next two hours, just insert a lot of sitting at desks, a lot of Chris talking, a lot of me smiling and nodding, a lot of numbers, calculators, printouts and “consulting with the manager”, and we walked out of there with a done deal! $17k (because we don’t like to talk about HST) for one fabulous German car, eight tires and two years of warranty. All that was left to do is run the credit checks, go over the car once more, and pick it up on Friday. Oh, and let that other interested party know, "You no put down deposit. Someone else buy Volkswagen" :)

Yup, we were two happy kids that night, even as we dragged our exhausted selves back on to the SeaBus, the SkyTrain, the regular bus and into McDonalds for a very late dinner. Indigestion aside, we were still on cloud 9 as we cruised home on one more bus and slipped into bed.

Then suddenly our happy, sleepy Chris got a phone call.
Your grandfather passed away today.

And just like that, it was like someone suddenly pulled a plug and all the car-joy just drained right out of us. So did the sleepiness, because after the extended phone call with Florida, a plane ticket to Germany had to be bought, work schedules figured out, lots tea prepared and plenty of hugs administered. I lasted as long as I could that night, helping with this and that, but eventually sleep took me over. I did manage to get the next day off of work so I could go and pick up a few things and get his suitcase in order while Chris went to work and re-assigned all his tasks. We also had to end up making made special arrangements to go pick up our new car one day early, so on Thursday morning we bussed back up to the dealership and all the VW people accommodated us beautifully. That same afternoon, Chris was on a plane to Germany. Poor Chris got to drive our new toy home from the dealership then couldn't touch it for two weeks!

I, on the other hand….

What did I do with two weeks to myself and a new car?

Bus, work, bus, dinner.

Seriously. I’m so used to picking whatever I need up on my way home from work so I never need to drive to the store or anything and besides, we need about 80% less groceries when Chris isn’t here ;) As for the evenings, I just enjoyed more of that alone time that I had a taste of just before Christmas. You know, lots of baths, jazz music, books, movies and take-out (yes, all my baby-mama friends, I know you hate me right now). I guess I just didn’t much have the desire to go out on cold, rainy Vancouver nights, car or no car! Also, I think I would have felt kinda bad cruising all around the city on my own while Chris was stuck in a tiny village overseas attending his Opa’s funeral.

Soon enough, though, Chris returned to our wet and chilly land and we’ve been zooming around in our new little guy ever since. Just last weekend it actually stopped raining long enough for us to take some real pictures!

May I introduce... Putt Putt!


C: “Oh my gosh do you have your shoes on the SEATS?”
J: “Oh my gosh relax I took them off!”


J: “Come on, give him a nice, big hug!”
C: “But my new sweater will get dirty… don’t worry Putt Putt I still love you”


Just chillin, looking sexy. No big deal.


Ooooh, check out that rear end!
Nice car too.


Ready to giver…


The faces of two happy car-owners (whose eyeballs had not been exposed to the sun in about three weeks)


From Vancouver - Auf Wiedersehen!