Indecision

[davidn]

It's strange that the first question that dealers seem to ask us when we come in for our appointment is always "Did you find parking okay?". I don't have a car - that's why I'm here.

The choice between Honda Fit and Ford Fiesta rages on - but really only in my head, at this point. The Honda has some extra safety features we want, as well a significant amount more space (it appears to be slightly bigger on the inside) and an onboard navigation system. I've been told by many people that the Honda is the one to choose for reliability, and that it'll last forever, and when driving it it's just felt... better. It is also about $3000 more expensive than the Fiesta, which also has slightly better mileage - so the Honda is definitely the larger investment overall. But it's one that's probably worth it.

Mathematically, I believe that we can afford it - but that doesn't stop me setting up simulation after scenario in Excel, and on various car loan calculator sites, and going through them with slightly changing figures. At the same time, I can't help noticing that this is still an inexpensive car, that the average first-time car-buying age in this country seems to be about 16, and that everybody else seems to manage. In addition to the cost, there is also the issue that I would be buying a car which unavoidably comes with a spoiler and paddle gears, therefore making me a colossal wanker and unable to show my face in Scotland ever again.

After a huge palaver setting up an Internet fax-by-email account and getting up to contact the DVLA at six in the morning because they're only open until noon, I finally received a copy of my driving record for the insurance people.



Yes, it's a set of screen prints from a green-screen terminal put together in about 1976. It's as if a portal to the past has opened and this message has just tumbled out... the last page classifies the document as a "microfilm retrieval request"! I think that the reason for them not being able to send details via email is now clear - in their reality, they've still got twenty years to go until it's invented.

Comments

[tamakun.livejournal.com]

There is a chance that you can buy the car without a spoiler and such fancy things, as they are likely to cost extra - it may take the dealer a day or two to have that specific car sans spoiler delivered to their dealership (since they only deal with the cars on their lot rather than giving you options), but hey, it may knock a few hundred dollars off the price if you don't want them.

No comments on your nick there being "Newto". And that you were "Cleansed".

Also, I have now made the startling discovery that I think I'm the oldest person in my LJ circle of friends. Pardon my preconceived notions, I figured you were older. You sound older when you post.

[davidn]

This is part of my indecision - they have three distinct layouts, the basic one (which I would certainly go for), the Sport, which is the added twattery along with fog lights (which seem like rather a good idea to me) and various other things that are actually desirable, and the Sport+Nav, which has the navigation on top of that. I hadn't really considered anything above the basic model at first, but my wife thinks the navigation would be a good idea, and it really would - it doesn't even put the monthly payment up by much more in any payment model I've looked at, but it... feels like a lot. At the same time, I sort of like the idea of investing in a 'young'-looking car instead of the battered, fluid-leaking Fiesta from about 1995 that I used to drive in Britain.

The really odd thing about my (uncensored) driver number is that after the first five characters of my name, and the figures of my date of birth in a different order (which are the intentional ones), it contains the email identifier of the other David in my year that I was confused with in university and my wife's initials. "Cleansed" is as much of a mystery to me, as well - I don't remember anything significant happening then.

I've pretty much always been the youngest in my group of friends, whether in university or online - though people tended to forget the gap even in real life. The immigration process may have prematurely aged me a bit.

[tamakun.livejournal.com]

Ahh, I hadn't even realized that you had edited the graphic a bit until you mentioned it - of course, at that point, I immediately saw the pattern across the section.

And yes, those "spoilers" seem more like actual framework than something non-essential. Still, I'll look forward to seeing what car you choose. (And what colour?)

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

Is the built-in navcomp worth upgrading by two models, versus just buying your own separately?

(Also, what TV show put the word 'navcomp' in my head. Do people actually say that?)

[davidn]

Well, the Sport has other appealing features on it (fog lights, a couple of other safety bits and pieces and so on), so it's really just one upgrade over what I would normally have got. I've considered just getting a separate navigation thing as well, but I'm told it's much better - in terms of keeping its value in the future - to have one that's preinstalled. I was wrong about the price differences, though - the slight upgrade to Navi puts it up by $2,500, and the Sport is a more reasonable upgrade. Aaargh.

I've heard the abbreviation "satnav" - I'm not sure where "navcomp" comes from. Possibly Star Trek.

[ravenworks.livejournal.com]

Wait, how is your car better future-proofed with a fixed satnav built into it than it would be if you could just get a new external one were your old one to ever become obsolete?

[davidn]

I... can't answer this.

[davidn]

It's worth mentioning, as well, that the Ford Fiesta has a spoiler that cannot possibly do anything physically, and that the Fit Sport's one really isn't that much more obnoxious than that.