Thoughts About Vehicles

Hubby and I drive older vehicles. We bought a brand new Honda Accord in 2002 and we still drive it. Our Toyota pickup is a couple of years older and looks pristine. We take good care of our vehicles so we can drive them for a long time.
We are an enigma to most car salesmen. When we go look at new or used cars, we’ve done our homework and know what we want and how much we are willing to pay for it. We don’t play the haggle game. Here’s what we want, now give us your best price. Most give us a price and when we say too much and start to leave, they do their usual dance of “let me see if I can get the manager to knock more off.” We don’t need the car all that badly so we usually walk. We usually have to work with a salesman for a while before he understands our methods.
In the past week, we have been thinking about getting a Honda Element. This would be a vehicle light enough to pull behind the motorhome and have enough room for Hubby’s bicycles. Sounds like a perfect fit! Except Honda doesn’t make Elements anymore and the people who have them want to hang on to them. That leaves us in an awkward position.
We looked at a couple of used Elements and this seedy-looking car lot. One looked like it had lived a very rough life. It was dirty, faded, and the interior was grease-stained and torn. I felt sorry for it. Our cars have such a nice life and this poor vehicle was sad to see. The other Element was nicer, but was being held hostage by the used car salesman. We had to walk away. Besides, it was black and we don’t like black vehicles.
We see Elements everywhere. It’s funny how often we see them around when we are looking for one. Surely there’s a nicely cared for Element somewhere. So we are keeping our eyes open and hoping one a good one will come soon. And we hope we can afford it. That’s the next big hurtle. Those vehicles really keep their value!
Our second choice is a Jeep Renegade. That choice scares me because I remember our FJ-50 that Hubby some years ago. It was nothing but a money pit and I really don’t want to go down that road again. And I’m not sure how well the bikes will fit in it.
So we’ll keep looking around and someday we’ll stumble upon the perfect vehicle that needs a good home. One that will follow us around behind the motorhome and shelter Hubby’s bikes from the road debris and weather. We’ll find it out there somewhere.