Sold my Dodge yesterday. I have received many phone calls from supposedly interested parties over the past few weeks, but most of them made insultingly low offers. They either wanted something for nothing, which is pretty common around here, or perhaps they didn’t know what the car was worth. So I held out for someone willing to make a serious offer.

There was one guy that seemed really interested, and I was going to take it in on Monday to get a mechanical inspection where I work, so I could determine a fair price, or get everything fixed before he bought it. However, that proved to be not necessary. He called me up on Saturday morning with a decent offer, and agreed to take the car “as is” (or uncertified, which means it was sold without a mechanical safety inspection). The offer was still above average market value, so I was more than happy to accept.

The transaction went smoothly, and I now have one less thing to worry about. Amusingly, the proceeds of the sale will probably be funnelled directly into my SVX before too long, as the old girl needs new brakes, springs, and struts.

I’d still like to replace the other SVX one of these days too, but Meghan and I haven’t decided what to replace it with. There are plenty of appealing vehicles to choose from out there, but one of my reasons for wanting to replace it is reliablility, so something newer would be nice, but I am also unsure if I want to spend that kind of money on it at this point.

So far, we’ve been looking at 2003-2005 PT Cruisers, 2005-2006 Jeep Wranglers, early 1990s Nissan 240SX, 2004+ Subaru WRX wagons, and Mazda Protege5 or the newer 3s, specifically the Mazdaspeed version. Each has various advantages and disadvantages, so we will have to weigh all carefully before deciding.

PTs are really either love-or-hate, and I count myself in the ‘love’ category, as they are a practical, attractively styled vehicle, but I’m really only interested in the top-range model with the turbocharged engine mated to a manual transmission, and that makes finding one difficult at best. They are relatively cheap, however, so that’s a plus.

The Jeeps are a lot of fun, but I’m not convinced I would make adequate use of it off road, and I frequently rail against people who buy SUVs and never take them off the paved highways and streets. The last thing I want to be is a hypocrite.

The Nissan is an old model, and buying one doesn’t really address the reliability problem I mentioned. Most of them are getting rusty, which is a major issue for me. I refuse to drive a rusty car. It’s also difficult to find one that hasn’t been abused, as they have a rather sporty character and are good for drift style racing, but are relatively cheap and common, and thus often bought by young “tuner kids” who ruin the car with silly modifications and drive the piss out of them.

A Subaru WRX wagon would be really cool to be sure, but they don’t represent a lot of value for the money. They’re nice, but relatively low on non-drivetrain features compared to the competition, and they continue to sell at those prices, so finding a bargain is unlikely. I’m sure they’re worth it, but value is still important to me this time. Also, they too suffer from similar problems to the Nissan 240 with respect to boy-racers and silly modifications.

I’ve been considering several Mazda models, as I like their design philosophy, but the Protege5 holds its value well enough that I might as well buy a new Mazda3, and if I’m buying new I have my sights firmly set on the Mazdaspeed version, which also happen to represent awesome value for the money. I’ve also found some low-km Mazdaspeed 6es for around the same money, and they’re both a little larger and boast all-wheel drive.

There are many more on my shortlist (early 90s Toyota MR2, late model Nissan 300ZX or Mazda RX-7, Mazda MX-5 Miata, for example), but they end up being impractical, summer-only, or both, and therefore are not being considered at this time.

We’re not in any hurry, so we’ll take our time and decide when the time is right.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can at 10:14 AM UTC

1 Comment »

On my car, I have clear plastic covers over both my license plates, mostly to keep them looking shiny and new. Sometime last week, call it Thursday, when I was leaving work, I noticed the front one had fallen to the ground in the parking lot. I didn’t really think anything of it, since it had been badly cracked (by a cyclist who was riding on the sidewalk!) during the time I spent in London. I figured it finally let go and fell off.

The next day, I took my Dodge to work so that a prospective buyer could pick it up and take it to his mechanic, again I noticed my plate cover, and remembered that I’d meant to check if it fell off my car or if someone backed into me or somesuch.

Monday rolls around, and I thought nothing of it in the morning. I put my lunch things back into my car after lunch, and remembered to check it out. My front plate was missing! I immediately assumed it just fell off after the cover let go, so I began to search the parking lot for it. Instead, I found another license plate cover, this one shiny and new-looking, except that it appeared to have been forcibly removed. Odd, I thought. Maybe I should check my rear plate, just to be sure.

It was gone. I don’t know exactly how long I’d been driving the car with no plates on it, but I finally put two and two together; they had been stolen, deliberately, and during broad daylight.

The boss and I checked the security cameras, but it was too late, the hard drive space had already been recycled. More pieces of the story began to come together, like how the delinquents in the building across the road had been in late last week, mentioning something about getting one of their direlect beaters running again. Sure enough, the car in question was now gone. This building has a parking lot full of junk, smashed cars, and when I went to check, all of the cars had no plates. It’s a bit of a slum; property values are depressed because the steel plant is directly across the road.

Anyway, to make this long story somewhat less long, I will be brief. I got Meghan to drop off my old spare plates at my work so I could drive the car with a minimum of suspicion. I reported my plates stolen that evening after work, and filled out the requisite paperwork. About an hour later, someone from near the scene of the crime was nabbed driving with stolen plates. I don’t know if they were mine, but it is at least possible. The next day, there were two cruisers parked at the slum apartments for a good long while, I wonder if it was related?

Anyway, all is well now. I’ve reregistered my old plates to my car, and it only cost 10$. Annoying, but it could have been much worse.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can, Work at 9:10 AM UTC

No Comments »

Saturday, the fifth of May today, and I’ve been at my new job for almost 3 weeks now, and I don’t feel like my doom is impending yet, so that has to be a good sign.

Also, I can’t feel my hands half the time, which is not a good sign. I think it may be the early stages of carpal tunnel syndrome. Strangely in years of working on computers and playing guitar, I never got it this bad, but a couple weeks of this and my hands are toast. I will have to make a decicive, conscious effort to limber up and stretch more often.

We played D&D last night. It was a fantastic session, and unlike last week, I was awake, alert and actively participating. Last week I was so tired, I barely said anything and was only half paying attention. I was going to make a move to reschedule games for Saturdays so that I could actually be awake and functional, but apparently that isn’t necessary.

Now, for some well-earned slacking off…

Posted by Ron as Games, Home Sweet Home, Work at 9:58 AM UTC

No Comments »