Now it can be told.

Rich didn't catch the "ZZ" hint, because he didn't know that "zoom zoom" is a Mazda commercial. This is a Protege5, and it sure feels good to have a little red car in the driveway again. I need to write Makoto about it, because Mazdas (Matsudas) are made in Hiroshima (a reason it was a target. In WWII they were building ships, not little red cars.)

The first problem was our totally divergent ideas as to what we wanted. (Everything. A transformer car that would change from a hauler to a family car with a push of a couple of buttons. The safety of a tank and the gas mileage of a bicycle. Why can't they make a vehicle like that?) I wanted a 4-door car like my sister drives. Rich wanted something that would haul. We have been discussing this for awhile. Niki thought maybe we should get a Honda CRV like Monica and Mark have. I kind of didn't want a mini-SUV, particularly if the state gets so aggressive about them. Back and forth. A truck? Nick was driving a really neat rental truck. It would have room for the dog. However, we also want to be able to take grandchildren and Casey places.

When the back doors on the van broke, yet again (almost $200 to fix it last year), I started to really agitate for a new vehicle. The thing was turning into a money pit. So, the day we went to the Roseville Auction, we also went to the auto mall out there. We did know that we wanted three things: air conditioning, cruise control, and a CD player.

We started out by looking at trucks. At the first dealership, Dodge, there were nice trucks, but no, not what I want, not for a price we can afford. The guy showed us a used 2002 Jeep Liberty, with 17,000 miles, no CD, $22K, 18-24 mpg. Onward.

The Toyota place has a barbeque on weekends, so we got lunch. We looked at the Rav4, which I've always thought was cute. However, it's an SUV. 24-29mpg, $22,300, CD! At the front, looking just like a big Colt, was a red Matrix $22,666 ($19, 925) 4 cylinder. I fell in love with it.

So, we were learning more clearly what we would want. We'd like a back seat that has a 60-40 split and which is easy to push down, so the dog wouldn't be on the seats but Casey would have room and we wouldn't have to reconfigure the car every day. We don't want the back door that opens to the side (like Mark and Monica's) because there could be times we'd like to haul something longer. We want the mirrors that can be adjusted from inside.

Off to the Ford place, where we looked at the Focus, 26-32, $22,083. Rich has heard bad things about the car (6 CD changer!) however. It's more of a station wagon, which they seem to be making again. The Escape, $27K, 23-27, was nice too. Rich looks at the engine, and I look at the little stuff.

We stopped at the places near here when we came home. There we looked at the Subaru Impresa, $18,600, 21-27mpg, and then we spotted the Outback. It's not an SUV, it's a station wagon! $24,000, 21-27, $5500 off but not the 0% financing. This is the car we liked the best, by the end of day one. We'd started out completely confused and I'm sure we left a wake of confusion behind. Now we had a better idea what we were looking for.

On the following day, once we found the furniture guy hadn't come, we stopped at Honda in Davis. Mostly I didn't like the salesman, and the Hondas take weeks. I was really tempted by the Toyota hybrids, but they're too expensive (and small) these days. Maybe next time.

The next big trip was to Folsom Auto Mall. We saw a 2001 Taurus with 17,900 miles, V6, rear seat, tire on side, roof rack. Interesting build. Then we looked at the Hyundai Santa Fe, 19-26, $24,143. We had a couple of questions, but the guy sat us down to write a contract. We shouldn't have sat still for the interview, and once we said no, we should have taken off with the paperwork. Oh, well, live and learn. They would only give us $100(!) for the van! Better we should donate it to Jesuit High School.

Then we went to Folsom Ford. We looked at a Taurus wagon there, 19-26, 26,430. Again we looked at the Escape 23-27, $22,230. I don't like how it has to be taken apart to get the seats configured, and no 60-40 split. However, the salesman thought my dislike was personal. I feel awful about that. Anyway, that was day 2, and we still favor the Outback.

After the estate sale, we made another trip out to Roseville. After all, there might be a car we hadn't actually seen yet. And, in fact, so there was, a Mazda Protege5. We thought that looked most like what we wanted. Mileage is 25-31, and the cost $19,970, or if you didn't want the 0% financing, $16,975. (Rich ran the numbers at home, and sure enough, the higher price without a down payment and 0% financing, not to mention the no payments for 6 months, is a better deal.) We still were working on the Davis house, and had some more "hauling" to do, but we were getting serious enough to find out when they closed, etc. I did some comparisons between the Protege5 and the Matrix, and the Mazda won out. And that was day 3.

We went out to try to get a DVD of Lord of the Rings by test-driving a Kia. The car itself was just a little too cardboardish, I thought. The mirror adjustments were inside, but not plush. And then, to top it off, they were out of DVDs. Oh, well.

Then, finally, August 18. We didn't get the same salesman though we did ask. Jason took us for a drive, but filling out the paperwork he seemed just a little slow. But nevermind. We got a sunroof, and it's red, and the steering wheel tilts, it has a back windshield washer (will we ever stop hitting the windshield wiper when we stop?) We had a great credit report: somebody came out to say it was the highest he'd ever seen. They accepted Rich's figures. We put $2000 down just for tax and license. They gave us $200 for the van, but told us to keep the van. This worked out well so Rich could make a last delivery to CSUS and recycle a massive amount of metal before we donated it to Jesuit.

I was going to take Casey out, in the new car, and Rich was taking things to CSUS, and the recycling guy called. "Sure!" I said. "Come now!" I can't imagine what I was thinking. Rich straightened it out and the van went the next day. Then last Sunday, Roni and R.J. got to see the Little Red Wagon (which doesn't have a real name yet.) Bernadette and Robert saw it yesterday, and Monica and Mark today. (Actually, I left a note on the door when we left the car in front to ask if she liked it. She thought it was a student's car instead.)

Gedankenpundit has been buying a car, too.