A New Car

 Four years ago, we did the very same thing.  We went into Gateway Kia for information about the end of our lease for our 2022 Seltos which wasn’t due until March.  And instead of just information, we left with another car.  This time it is not orange, but bright blue—at least not boring white or black.

Marco greeted us and had us try out a K-4and a Seltos.  I liked the K-4 which was smaller and easier to get into with a bad hip.  Jim liked the Seltos we had for the last four years.  The price was comparable with the Seltos a bit more.  Investigating the Seltos meant a ride about ten minutes away from the main lot where there was a field of inventory.   Marco hit the alarm on the key fob so he could find the Seltos in the array of cars.  Jim drove both cars around the mostly empty parking lot of the Lucky Strike bowling alley next to Gateway Kia.  

I was happy enough to bow to Jim’s choice in this matter as he is the primary driver by far.  So then we began the paper work which was endless.  First it was at Marco’s desk and then later for the financial papers at Kevin’s desk.  We signed our names dozens of times on paper and on a screen.  We did not read every word.  

By this time, I was wishing I had eaten a lunch so Jim got me a bag of potato chips from a vending machine.  I used the Kia women’s bathroom with some fear as I saw how low the toilet was and hoped with my bad hip I could get up from it.  But I made it—another problem with my handicapping condition these days.  Plus reaching my purse and cane which I had hung on a hook.

Marco made a call to State Farm and got our insurance updated. Then there was the transfer of stuff from one car to the other—the garage door opener and the Easy Pass transponder.  Marco managed to get a new piece of Velcro to attach the transponder on the new car.  We remembered the flashlight and phone cord in the compartment between the seats and the umbrellas in the back.  

And then there was some miserable password that had expired from hours before on Jim’s phone and Marco couldn’t get our Kia apps to connect.  It was all frustrating and by this time it was dark and five hours had gone by.  At last, we were in the new car and on our way home on congested Route One.  I had suggested a McDonald’s supper but by that time, just wanted to be home with a glass of wine and whatever we could find in the refrigerator.

We watched some NFL instead of the World Series game although we did watch the last few regulation innings between the Dodgers and the Blue Jays.  We went to bed at our usual 11:30 when the game was going into extra innings at a 5-5 score.  At some point I checked my phone during the wee hours and saw that it was still tied at the 12th inning.  It went to 18 innings with a Dodger win and a Freddy Freeman walk-off home run.  That will be one for the record books! Apparently Ohtani was on base a record nine times with four hits and five walks.  The final score was 6-5.  No more runs until the last one! 

We will miss that orange car that we could always find in parking lots.  The bright blue Seltos will stand out too.  Jim contacted PNC today to get the automatic withdrawal set up but that will have to wait until after our first regular payment in a month on November 27.  

So we are all set we hope for another 48 months.  It is sobering to think ahead that far.  Will we still be driving?  (There’s that ominous word “still” again!) Will we want another car at that point?  Maybe we’ll be at Stonebridge and taking advantage of their transportation services.  We don’t know.  No one seemed to question the wisdom of granting two 79 year olds a 48 month lease.

It was an exhausting afternoon but I am thankful that we were able to do it together and that we have the financial resources to pay for a new car again.