My "New" Luxury Car
Any blogs I'd have written lately would have looked pretty grim, or at least plaintive. I've been taking care of all kinds of details for my mother (she's been referred to USC Norris Cancer Center, and it's a pain to even get an appointment) and my kids (college and auto insurance).
We've largely got the college straightened out. Glen intends to finish the couple of classes he needs at Pierce College this fall to complete his AA in History, transferable to any Cal State University, and at the same time start attending classes at College of the Canyons in Valencia. They offer an associate degree program in Computer Animation, and now that he's got his driver's license, he can commute a couple of days each week and get started on it. Where he'll go after that is anybody's guess; presumably he will find out what universities offer bachelor's degrees in animation when he's in the program at CoC.
Evan lacks a single one-unit health class of completing his AA in liberal arts at Pierce, so he's planning to pick that up but at the same time start attending LA Valley College in Van Nuys. They offer both Cinema and Respiratory Therapist degrees, so he could take classes in both. In this way, he could prepare for work in what interests him - movies and TV (below the line, that is, in production rather than acting) - but also have a fallback option when that kind of work isn't available. At any rate, we can see how the dual major works out. If it takes him until he's 30, so be it.
Adding two kids with brand new licenses to auto insurance is expensive. Ironically, though, adding a third car, if it is an older one not requiring collision and comprehensive, can save money. Originally, I looked at Corollas, and then I realized that the older Corollas would probably be too short for Glen (Toyota added a couple of much-needed inches of headroom in 2004, the year I bought mine) and started looking at Camrys. I signed up for CarFax, checked VINs and asked my Toyota mechanic of many years' standing how much he'd charge to check a 1997 Corolla with 115,000 miles I was thinking of buying for $4000. I also asked if he happened to know of anybody who was interested in selling.
Well, Jerry had a 1992 Corolla with 155,000 miles on it that he was asking $2500 for, but he also had his daughter's 1993 Lexus ES300 with brand new shocks and tires and only 85,000 miles that he'd sell for $6000. Oooooh, a Lexus. The more we thought about it, the more we liked the idea and arranged for a test drive.
Glen, Evan and I all drove it, and I really put it through its paces, taking it on the freeway out toward Simi Valley and then coming back via Box Canyon Road, a twisty mountain lane. The Lexus rides smooth and drives like a dream, even at 13 years old. The extensible aerial rattles and clunks a bit when it goes up or down, but except for that, the car is very quiet. When I got back to Jerry's, I was ready to get my checkbook out. I figured I'd drive the Lexus, and the kids could use my 2004 Corolla, even if we'll insure them on the older car.
Jerry gave the car full service and even took it to one of his neighbors for a smog test before letting us have it, but we drove it home last night. The car cover Lee got for his Camry when he had to park it outside for a few months fits the Lexus beautifully, which is a good thing, since the only parking space we have left is under a tree.
So I finally have my luxury car, and though it may be a clunker by age and price, it is still a very nice set of wheels.
We've largely got the college straightened out. Glen intends to finish the couple of classes he needs at Pierce College this fall to complete his AA in History, transferable to any Cal State University, and at the same time start attending classes at College of the Canyons in Valencia. They offer an associate degree program in Computer Animation, and now that he's got his driver's license, he can commute a couple of days each week and get started on it. Where he'll go after that is anybody's guess; presumably he will find out what universities offer bachelor's degrees in animation when he's in the program at CoC.
Evan lacks a single one-unit health class of completing his AA in liberal arts at Pierce, so he's planning to pick that up but at the same time start attending LA Valley College in Van Nuys. They offer both Cinema and Respiratory Therapist degrees, so he could take classes in both. In this way, he could prepare for work in what interests him - movies and TV (below the line, that is, in production rather than acting) - but also have a fallback option when that kind of work isn't available. At any rate, we can see how the dual major works out. If it takes him until he's 30, so be it.
Adding two kids with brand new licenses to auto insurance is expensive. Ironically, though, adding a third car, if it is an older one not requiring collision and comprehensive, can save money. Originally, I looked at Corollas, and then I realized that the older Corollas would probably be too short for Glen (Toyota added a couple of much-needed inches of headroom in 2004, the year I bought mine) and started looking at Camrys. I signed up for CarFax, checked VINs and asked my Toyota mechanic of many years' standing how much he'd charge to check a 1997 Corolla with 115,000 miles I was thinking of buying for $4000. I also asked if he happened to know of anybody who was interested in selling.
Well, Jerry had a 1992 Corolla with 155,000 miles on it that he was asking $2500 for, but he also had his daughter's 1993 Lexus ES300 with brand new shocks and tires and only 85,000 miles that he'd sell for $6000. Oooooh, a Lexus. The more we thought about it, the more we liked the idea and arranged for a test drive.
Glen, Evan and I all drove it, and I really put it through its paces, taking it on the freeway out toward Simi Valley and then coming back via Box Canyon Road, a twisty mountain lane. The Lexus rides smooth and drives like a dream, even at 13 years old. The extensible aerial rattles and clunks a bit when it goes up or down, but except for that, the car is very quiet. When I got back to Jerry's, I was ready to get my checkbook out. I figured I'd drive the Lexus, and the kids could use my 2004 Corolla, even if we'll insure them on the older car.
Jerry gave the car full service and even took it to one of his neighbors for a smog test before letting us have it, but we drove it home last night. The car cover Lee got for his Camry when he had to park it outside for a few months fits the Lexus beautifully, which is a good thing, since the only parking space we have left is under a tree.
So I finally have my luxury car, and though it may be a clunker by age and price, it is still a very nice set of wheels.
posted by Jeannette | 12:05 PM
2 Comments:
Hi, I was reading your blog and I read that you just did a car check. I was wodering that maybe if you paid for the unlimited checks for 30 days you could do me a favor a save me few bucks and do a check for me. Thanks. The VIN number I need checked is: 1HGEM22994L045316
Sorry, my 30 days has lapsed.
Post a Comment
<< Home