For the first time in my life, I was able to pay cash for a vehicle. Now I realize that it wasn’t an expensive car, so don’t get the impression that all of a sudden I am flush. But when Rick and I went to Chatham today to check out a car we had seen on-line and we were pulling out 20’s to settle the deal, I felt like I was loaded.
After renting a car a few times since arriving, and realizing that it enabled us to really get into the heart of England, we tossed the idea of owing a car around for a few weeks. However, I was concerned that owning a car here wouldn’t fit into our budget, so I quickly dismissed the idea. Still Rick spent time calling and visiting local dealerships, checked out ads on car sales websites, and on Saturday’s would pick up a copy of the Auto Trader newspaper. We were amazed at how inexpensive second-hand cars were, not to mention very plentiful. We also discovered that certain makes and models were in demand and as quickly as they were posted on the web, they would be scooped up. So we had to act fast, if something was of interest to us. Obviously, the vehicles that were hot here are those that are cheap to run and cheap to insure. And it was not unusual to find hundreds of cars under the 1,000 pounds , so once we officially decided to get serious about snagging ourselves a bargain, I felt optimistic we could pull it off.
The chap in Chatham sounded pretty normal when Rick called him in the morning to ask about the 1996 Vauxhall Astra he had listed on Gumtree. Turns out it was his mother-in-law’s car and he was helping her sell it. After they chatted for a bit, they arranged for a time to meet; he even offered to pick us up at the train station and take us to his place.
Now you have to understand that my paranoid OMG I hope he isn’t a psycho instinct kicked in at this point. What if he really doesn’t have a car for sale? What if he robs us and dumps us on some remote country lane? Where would Chan go? How would he know how to reach our landlord if we suddenly perished? Of course, I didn’t vocalize this to Rick, but he probably already gathered that I had all of those crazy things rolling through my mind. Just ask him about the “Condo/Vacation Villa” tour in the streets of Dominican Republic during our honeymoon. See Bev bolt and run.
Anyhow, I managed to keep my feelings of uncertainty to myself until we were waiting for John to pick us up at the train station. I told Rick I was feeling nervous, and he reminded me that not everyone in the world is a mass murderer, which actually pissed me off because I wished he hadn’t guessed right away what was really on my mind. Maybe I was just excited about buying a car? Did he ever think of that? Huh, did you, Rick? Okay, who am I kidding?
Turns out that John was only 23 years old and had three kids and I knew the moment we greeted that he was a kind fella. There was a softness to his eyes as he chatted about being a dad for the first time when he was 16 and how he was still with the same girl. I reminded myself, that the fact he had offered to fetch two complete strangers and allowed us into his vehicle also spoke to his trusting character.
Once at his place, we inspected the car which was parked on the street and then all three of us took it for a spin around the block. The engine sounded good, it had descent pick up going up the hill, and the brakes were fine, the wipers worked, she didn’t smoke in the car, she hadn’t been transporting a dog or a cat, the windows opened and closed, and the heaters were functioning. I don’t have all of the Top Gear terms to describe the car for you, but I can say that it felt solid, and it didn’t ride like a wheel barrow.
So as we were counting out 450 pounds on the iron board and finalizing the deal in their front room, the kids clambering in the kitchen, and John’s mother-in-law telling me to have a seat it looks worse than it is, I thought of how silly I could be. Not just some of the time, my friends, really most of the time. Why do I even entertain such outlandish ideas about strangers? And why did I think that buying a car would have cost us an arm and a leg? Where do these preconceived notions come from?
