C-C-C-Combo Breaker!!!

- OR -

The time has come again, to shop for and replace a car. Jade has been super reliable and runs great, but, like many a Saturn, goes through the oil. More than any of the others we've had. When starting, it's a big puff of oily smoke, and then again anytime you take off from a stop. I was thinking it was last year my wife had taken her and got a smog check, so we'd have until next year, but apparently I was off. Another thing, my wife does have mobility issues, and getting in and out of Jade had become more difficult, especally when she'd be on the passenger side, and the curb would encroach on the door. I had been thinking about a Toyota or Honda mini van, so I could have the option of hauling 4' x 8' sheets of plywood if I wanted. She wasn't crazy about that idea, a good deal of the objection being getting worse mileage. I've driven Mazda 5 mini vans, which are quite mini, and thought that might be a good option, but there aren't many out there, and they don't get great mileage, either. It's getting increasingly difficult to find S-series Saturns with low miles. Honda Fits get pretty good mileage, but it seems like many of them have a lot of miles on them. Civic hybrids seem to be one of the few hybrids that the price is low enough to consider. I was also still thinking about possibly stepping up to a Fiat electric, until I took a look at the back seats on one, and realized they are mostly for appearance only. Chevy Sparks, they had a few with electric powertrain, too, but the price wasn't much better, and damn they are kinda ugly! Various conventional Civics and Corollas are also on my list.

I've been trying to get in touch with people advertising what appeared to be good options, but as usual there are many flakes out there. One of the first guys I was able to actually start a dialouge with had a Saturn Astra 5-door, red with a sunroof under 100k miles, with the price reduced about $400 from a previous ad. The Astra is a rebadged Opel, and I'd always liked the look of them. It was located what would have been an hour to hour and a half north of us, so I did a good amount of research first, even running a Car Fax on it, since it has a salvage certificate. The price was low enough that I was ready to buy it sight unseen (in the flesh, at least), provided it didn't crab-walk when I test drove it. Since it was such a drive, I asked the guy if he could get a smog before I came out. He said he would, then later messaged me saying he wanted me to test drive it first, then he'd get it smogged right then. WELL, after I get off work, and make it out there and tested it even 15 minutes, it would be getting close to 5, right around when smog places are shutting down. You know what, I don't have time for your games, get bent. The search continues...

Now these, the Toyota Matrix-Pontiac Vibe twins, they're kinda nice!!! High sitting, with a roomy hatch area and what turns out to be a very upright seating position, all built on the Corolla engine and suspension!!! They are another one where a lot of them have a lot of miles already, but we found this one with only 125k miles, just getting started for a Toyota, if you are to beleive the hype!!!

The asking price was $3,900, way above where I would have liked it to be, but for the lower miles it has, I'd take a look and see if I could get him to move. In person, it appeared a little more rough, with a fist-sized dent in the hood and a scrape on the passenger side rear door and quarter panel, and faded bumper paint and the front of the roof, but still fairly decent. Inside looked pretty nice.

I'd been getting cash together to get something for a while, and had $3,200 in cash. Told the guy the asking price is a little rich. I'd really like to get it under $3,000, which is the most I'd ever spent on a car, but I understood that was quite a move. He countered with $3,500. I considered, then told him I have $3,200 in cash, and he agreed!!!

So, there it is, the combo breaker, the first car in the last five that hasn't been a Saturn, my first return to Toyota since the 90's (also our first Toyota that hasn't been a Celica), and the first ever car I've spent more than $3,000 on. I'm not sure about the "newest" car I've had, it's 2006, so 15 years old, I'm pretty sure when I bought my dad's Camaro off him, it was newer.

As we were out driving the other day, the discussion of naming it came up. I felt like it was too early, you kinda got to get to know a car before a name comes to fit. However, I did start the red pill dialouge, you know, since it is a Matrix. My wife says it could be named Neo, or be named after the guy who played Neo... you know... Ashton Kucher!!! I was losing it laughing, and she was all but convinced that was who had played him!!! So, I kinda like Keanu Kucher for her!!!

Oh, and the front liscense plate frame, it has an inset on the top that has gone missing, but that's the lower half, "Reload"

Seems appropriate, and familiar...