Having Nightmares About Cars

I am having nightmares about cars at night.
This is getting ridiculous!  I have to get this over with.

Here are where we stand on the 3 cars in contention........
Keep in mind that the out the door price includes PA new tags($230)  and PA taxes (around $1100).

Car #1-in town
2014 Chevy Sonic Hatchback LT
Deep Magenta
11 miles
$19,824 out the door
$18,475 est. car cost before t&t

Car #2-30 mins. away
2014 Chevy Sonic Hatchback LT
Deep Magenta
6 miles
$19,230 out the door
$17,780 car cost before t&t

Car #3-45 mins. away
2013 Chevy Sonic Hatchback LT
Black
2,996 miles(trade-in at Hyundai dealer, 1 owner)
$14,650 out the door
$13,604 est. car cost before t&t


I am also considering a Toyota Corolla I found. It's not a hatchback and it's anything but stylish, but it's a "good car".  And these retain their value better....not that I'm going to trade it in or sell it but still.....

Car #4-45 mins. away
2014 Toyota Corolla LE Eco Sedan
White
1,768 miles(trade-in at Honda dealer, 1 owner)
$18,249 out the door
$16,999 car cost before t&t
(But I can probably get this down a bit more)


Now if I could just put the best price of $14,650 on a Magenta Hatchback Corolla, I'd be sold!
lolz


Frankly my head is about to explode.
I have refrained from spending large sums of money so long I am having an extremely hard time just pulling the trigger on this purchase.

It's not that we don't have the money, we do.  Hubs got a bonus this year and we only spent part of it to finish off #2 Son's college fund so I have unaccounted for $ sitting here.  Don't hate me. 8-)
And we need to replace the clunker van.

So my friends, if you were me(and thank goodness for you that you are NOT me!)which car would you buy?

Sluggy

 

April Louisiana Road Trip....Day One

We left on our Road Trip to Louisiana on Sunday, April 13th.

Not much to see along the way that was new, as we've driven this stretch of I-81 through VA about 4 times since last year.

There was a big 18 wheeler truck sales yard.....

And of course where you find commercial truck sales yards and truck stops you find this......

Let's look at that sign a little closer, shall we?

Hey!
I'm just sayin.....

Other sights we passed along the way......

Dang!  I didn't think we were outside of PA yet......How far did we go?!?!

Now why didn't I stop last month and buy a car on the PA/MD line?

Wild and wonderful my ass......more like crowded highways and potholes!

Oh goody, the first of many giant crosses.
I spared y'all the rest of 'em.....

I saw a really big Cardinal!

Now THAT'S a B&B I'd be proud to stay at!
As long as the innkeepers don't shoot you by mistake......

Stopped for lunch at a local ptomaine poisoning palace in Harrisonburg Virginia.
I wonder if those firemen have paramedic training in case we need it.

We lived through lunch though everything was a bit greasy.
Hey!  I was packing Rolaids so we were aok.

 Our lunch fortunes....portents for the rest of the trip?

Uh oh......a fortune referencing "difficult problems" at the beginning of a 3 thousand mile trip is NEVER a good thing, is it?!

After what seemed like DAYS....ok it was only 8 hours......we hit Tennessee.

And we got off the highway to pee and get coffee at Mickey's house.
We saw a bazillion political signs there......including this one which is probably for someone related to Ron from Retired in Delaware since this is Eastern TN......

Soon it was time to start looking for a bed for the night.
Found a place right off the highway for $72.
Real nice.
Breakfast the next morning was ok.

We hit a local Mexican place-the only place unless you wanted to drive 20 miles into town.



Frugal, good and filling.
Nothing special but that's ok.

My Enchilada and Chile Relleno plate.
The refrieds were killer.
I passed on the rice.

On the way back to the motel we stopped in here for a snort.....

Free Pool?
Hell Ya....or rather, Hey'l Yeah!!!

I got a little parched.....

And I got a shot of Sonya Ann's boyfriend.......

Back at the motel-perusing the touristy pamphlet rack.....

What's this?

Too bad  Travel Penguin wasn't here!
A Penguin Interactive Habitat is right down the road in Gatlinburg.....

So ended Day One of this road trip.
5 States in 1 day.
Glad THAT'S out of the way.....lolz


Sluggy

New Car Wrinkle

So I have an offer from Dealer #2 now on the Purple buggy.
Dealer #1 has thrown a monkey wrench into my negotiating plan as that salesman is off on Tuesday.
I can't wait around until Wednesday to respond to Dealer #2 car guy so I'll be bearding the den of liars and thieves at Dealer #1 by calling and speaking with a different salesman later today.

With all this pondering of spending WADS of CASH(makes me queasy just typing that!)I am feeling like I REALLY don't have to have a purple car.

Yes, it would be nice for once to get exactly what I want but if I can get a comparable deal and spend a little less, I could live with "not purple".

So I found another car at yet another dealer to consider.

This is a used 2013 Sonic.
Everything else the same, hatchback, automatic tranny, all that kind of stuff.
But it's black....not a fan.
And it's "used" but barely with under 3 thousand miles on it.
So practically new.

I am waiting to hear back on the carfax and what they'll charge me to take it off their hands.
Car Gurus says $15,109 is fair market price but I think I can get it for a bit less.
If I can save $3K buying this one vs. the best price on the purple 2014 one I am negotiating for I think I can get over it being "not purple".

It would be sweet not to take that thousands of $s new car hit on the 2014 model and still get an essentially new car.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The  "Cook Once, Eat Three Times" Edition.......

 

A photo from something bizarre I saw this past weekend.
At first they had their backs to us waiting at the traffic light and then he turned around.
Hubs thought they were aliens.
I had to inform him that they were "Sweet Frog" mascots.
I love the look on the face of that guy in the black car as he was making the turn.....lolz


Here is what was planned last week--

Sunday--Leftovers
Monday--Bratwursts on rolls, baked beans, leftover potato salad
Tuesday--leftover Fajitas
Wednesday--Pork Chop(freezer), Sautee Cabbage, fried apples
Thursday--Leftover Lasagna, Green Beans
Friday--Tacos
Saturday--Leftovers or Fish

And here is what got cooked last week---

Sunday--Leftovers
Monday--Bratwursts on rolls, baked beans, leftover potato salad
Tuesday--leftover Fajitas
Wednesday--Pork Chop(freezer), Sautee Cabbage, fried apples
Thursday--Leftover Lasagna, Green Beans
Friday--Tacos
Saturday--Leftovers or FFY(Fend For Yourself)

Finally got to the Pork Chops and we finished up most of the leftover.
I only cooked the Brats(if you can call brats cooking!lol)and the pork chop meal last week.
The taco beef was already browned and onion-ed, and Hubs added the seasonings and threw together that meal so I can't even claim that as a meal I cooked.

Ya know, I could get use to not cooking so much!

 

As for the food spending update.....I spent a total of $19.84 on $34.83 reg. retail on groceries last week at the local independent grocer. 
 

 

Going into the new week, here are the leftovers we have.....some taco filling and some fajita fixings.

 

Here is this week's meal plan----

Sunday--Take-out
Monday--leftover Taco(salad) and Fajitas
Tuesday--Chicken Fried Steak, Veggie, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy(I'll have leftover Pork Chop and Cabbage.)
Wednesday--Burgers on Pretzel Rolls(freezer-Hubs not home for dinner)
Thursday--Duck Breast(freezer), Risotto, Veggie(from freezer)
Friday--Sausage Sandwiches, Veggie(from freezer)
Saturday--Pasta w/Meatballs, Salad

Most everything I am pulling out of the freezer this week....duck breast, cubed steak, burgers, sausage, meatballs plus all the veggies.  I'm defrosting a roaster chicken now too in the fridge so it should be ready to cook on Sunday.

Time to clean the freezer out.
 

 

For snacks I'm buying 2 watermelons and there are Baked Lay's Chips here.

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......basically just salad greens and a few staples and fruit.
It's a skimpy food shopping week for me.  When I run out of lunchmeat for myself I'll make due with tuna fish, BLTs or a big salad for lunches this week.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

 

Sluggy

This is Getting Fun!

You may have read about my car shopping adventure on Saturday HERE.

And the salesman gave us the hard pressure sell on Sonic the Hedgehog here.....

 I spent the rest of the weekend doing some research and reading reviews of the car I wanted to buy, the Chevy Spark.

And while it is a good car it turns out it isn't the car I should buy.
I want to take a lot of long distance trips in this and it's just not cut out for long haul high speed interstate jaunts about the country.....unless I want to invest in a race car drivers kidney belt and really good earplugs. lolz

So goodbye to this Grape Ice little beauty......

Which means I am now focusing on buying a Sonic, the next size Chevy car up.

And if I get one, of course, I'd prefer it be Deep Magenta, the Limited Edition color for Spring 2014.

Like Sonic the Hedgehog pictured above.

I had put feelers out with Chevy dealers within a 75 mile radius last Thursday.
So one particular dealer has been leaving me emails and phone messages since then.
They seem hot to make some money.

So I went to their website and lo and behold they have the exact same Sonic in the exact same color and option package as the one the guy in Wilkes-Barre wants to sell me.

So now I am going to play ball with these two dealers.
A little game of "I have a price of $X from the other guy, so can you beat him out for my business?"

I wasn't totally happy with the price the WB dealer gave me for a bottom line so let's see if I can get this price down by buying the car from the other dealer OR if WB dealer will match or beat the other dealer's price.

I see on CarGurus that this car has been sitting for almost a year on their lot so that gives me some edge.

Let's see how far under $18K I can get them.
I've got some leverage since I am NOT emotionally invested in throwing this kind of money on a car and I can totally just walk away.
And I will.

This gal can play with the big boys....
I may not have a penis but boy, do I have balls!

Sluggy