Scooter Chronicles

Yesterday was quite a day for us (meaning, Marcia, Nigel, and myself). Though the events actually started on Monday morning.

On my way to work, and not very far into that commute, the “check engine” light came on in the Jeep Cherokee. I had been dreading a day like this now for a while, but also was expecting it. Given that I was attending a doctor’s appointment with Marcia on Tuesday, I set up an appointment to take the car into a dealer and have it diagnosed. So then yesterday comes around.

After dropping off the car, we headed to Marcia’s appointment. This was very important, because over the course of the last six to eight months, Marcia has been dealing with doctors telling her that they know she needs pain medication to fight off the migraines so that she isn’t always going to the emergency room, however none of these doctors have prescribed them to her, or say they will once until she finds a doctor that will. Even pain management doctors have not taken her on. But yesterday’s appointment was with a neurologist that has helped Marcia in the past. They drew up a plan where she (the doctor) will in fact prescribe Marcia the meds, and will work with Marcia’s other two doctors in making sure things get taken care of, and meds aren’t mixed or overused. It was a big relief to Marcia. Her blood pressure has been elevated the last few weeks and came down after getting through yesterday’s appointment.

We then decided to head over to a gas station that Marcia used to frequent, since it was in the area, and she got to catch up with one of the employees that she had become friends with. Hopefully they will contact each other and go out to dinner or even set up a play date for the kids (this friend had a three year old son). The next stop was a kids shoe store. Marcia had fallen in love with a pair of shoes for Nigel, but I nixed the purchase as they were too expensive. While on the way to the store, the dealer called. He started reading a list of things that were wrong and needed attention with the Jeep, stating the cost of each item. Totally it up in my head, I stopped him when he was well over $1000 and said that we will be coming in to talk to a salesperson and to look at used cars. I wasn’t going to spend what could be part of a down payment on a newer car to fix the Jeep.

We were worried about what would happen next with the car, and arrived at the shoe store with that on our mind. But Marcia’s was quickly diverted. Those shoes she liked so much happened to be on clearance (60% off), and they had a size left that fit Nigel. (This is more a triumph for Marcia then me, but needed to be said as part of the story.) What made it more bearable was him needing a new pair of shoes anyway.

Next, we headed to the dealer and took a look at what they had in the used lot before heading into the building. They had four Chrysler-made mini-vans (three Caravans and one Town & Country), and two Pontiac Montana’s. The Town & Country was white, and Marcia mentioned that she didn’t like that as a color. I was thinking that color wouldn’t matter to me, as long as it was a good car, had what we needed, and was affordable. We then met up with a salesman who told me to wait paying the bill on the Jeep (I had asked for an oil change and still had to pay the diagnostic fee to tell me what was wrong). He said that if we traded it in on something there on their lot, then all costs for service and my final payments (since I have only one left) on the Jeep would be taken car of by the dealer.

We ended up walking out to the mini-vans that they had and got a closer look. I wasn’t interested in the Montana’s because they are a shorter wheel-base and have less room. Besides, it was quickly seen that they were about the same price, so why pay for less. But then we got up to the white Town & Country. It was more then all the others, but was loaded. It had a built in DVD player, as well as remote doors, heated seats (not that I really care), cruise control (something that I love!), and other extras that the other three didn’t have. And it also only had 31,000 miles compared to the others that were all in the 60’s. While walking back, Marcia mentioned that she now liked the white one. Obviously it was the better choice, if we could afford it. After taking it for a test spin and checking it out, we started talking about the price, our monthly payment, and trade-in value of the Jeep. I was very happy to see that not only did they give us twice as much for the Jeep then expected, but we also could get the white Town & Country for less a month then we were paying on the Jeep. Probably not the best idea in not looking any further, but we decided to take it. One of the biggest reasons was me being afraid now to drive the Jeep off the lot and it not make it home, or to another dealer. And what we were getting out of this mini-van was what I was hoping to target anyway, and more. It was also one of the limited list of models that I would be interested in. So only the future will tell.

I will be posting some pictures of it as some point, as we will be picking it up this afternoon.