Let me set the scene: Picture me, driving down a road that has 4-6% steep grade, exceeding 65 mph, and slowly pressing on my car brakes only to realize I DON'T HAVE BRAKES. This is what happened to me about two weeks ago. I had taken my kids up to the mountains for a day of paddle boating and nearly ate a semi truck on the way home. My car was brand-spankin' new when my ex-husband and I bought it years ago. The brakes have NEVER worked properly. It was super sucky to realize this when I was going like a bat-outta-hell down a steep, winding hill. A tad bit unfortunate to say the least. Luckily, I survived and was able to not have enough brakes to actually get off on my own exit, so I blazed right past it and was able to exit a few exits further down the highway--right where the car dealership happened to be. The car dealership that actually had the car I had been looking into purchasing for over 6 months. I'm all about realizing when divine signs smack you upside the head, so I was pretty convinced after scaring the holy living poo out of myself with my car that would forever now be deemed the "Brakeless Wonder", that God was trying to give me a hint to purchase a new car. So I took Him up on it...
I went to the dealership and test drove the car that I thought I was going to buy. I made arrangements to go back to the dealership the next day to talk turkey and crunch some numbers. I ended up going with a different car than I had originally thought. It was described to me as "fully loaded". Hmmm. Sounded interesting. However, all I cared about were two things--#1: Does it have brakes? and #2: Does it have heated seats? I'm freezing all the time--especially after working long hours at the hospital, so I want heated seats! The car I drove was amazing. Smooth, had the bigger engine so it had great pick-up, bigger tires so it looked sharper, leather interior (not super necessary, but I wasn't complaining), BRAKES, AND HEATED SEATS!!!!....SOLD!!!
I'm an easy sell. Mostly because I hate car salesmen. However, I did have a very nice guy who did not pressure me at all. I put on my big girl pants, and signed my name on the dotted line. This was the first car I have ever purchased by myself--and it felt overwhelming and great at the same time.
I posted some pictures of my car (a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV) on my Facebook page for my friends to see. It was funny to see people's responses. Although I am a super duper fashionista, I have a very unfortunate PRACTICAL side to me that creeps up at times--especially when making super gigantically huge purchases. I think people thought I would go for a BMW or and Audi. However, I like my current lifestyle, and plan on trips to Hawaii, Florida, and Alaska in the near future, not to mention I love my fashion splurges, mani/pedis, and Brazilian waxes. Oh...and did I mention I'm a SINGLE woman who is a nurse??? Don't expect super extravagant miracles vehicle-wise from me. All I need is BRAKES and HEATED SEATS, remember??? LOL!
My boyfriend recently came into town from Alaska. This was the first time he saw my new car. Not surprisingly, considering I've only had it for two weeks! Tristan (my boyfriend), is very technologically savvy. Me?...not so much. I will be honest with you--I never even looked under the hood before I bought my car. As far as I was concerned it had everything I needed. I think the car salesman had bantered about a few other features that it had, but most of them went right over my head. That is--except for the feature that was right over my head--because it came with a super sweet sunroof. KA-chow...
I picked Tristan up from the airport and immediately he started playing with the computer on my dashboard. I have GPS and XM radio. He was poking around at the buttons and all of the sudden the face of the computer lifted out and shifted down and he said, "And there's your DVD player and CD player." Really? My car has those? Hmmmm. Who would've thunk it? I had no idea--true story. Then he picked up my cell phone and synced it with my car which then offered me the "hands free" feature for my phone calls. Now every time my cell phone rings I hit a button in my car and talk and HOLY CRAP--I have phone service without holding a phone. Who knew? Certainly not this informed buyer (har har har).
I guess I'm super lucky Tristan came into town when he did. Pity to have a bunch of cool crap in a car and not know how to use it. I guess I wouldn't have missed it though--I had no idea most of it was there to begin with!
Any man would go car shopping and ask about all the features, fun gadgets, and to look under the hood--probably BEFORE they test drove it. Me?-- I got the two things I asked for, and I wouldn't have known what all that garbly guck under the hood was anyway, so all I did was test drive the car and confirm that it had brakes and heated seats before I made my purchase. This is certainly where the difference between men and women becomes abundantly clear.
Like I said--I went in and asked for a car with two things...BRAKES and HEATED SEATS. What I got was something even better. And I get to live another day to tell about it--which is a total bonus! :)
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