Gracey Grey is my new car and we already had a long road to go...
It all started with several test-drives of 4-wheel drive vehicles. Hyundai Tucson could not convince me even though it apparently offered a nice value-for-money. It was accelerating only very reluctantly and even though I am a girl and I don't need a car to show off at a red light, I still want to have some power behind my gas pedal ;-). And just one Airbag in total was not talking safety either.
Kia Sportage was in my price-range, but I don't really trust the brand.
Mitsubishi Pajero and Honda CRV were way above my limits, and were therefore not my preferred option either.
Ford offered a good deal with Ford Escape, which was easy to drive, nice acceleration and all features that I required such as fold-flat back seats, AUX-plug and of course all wheel drive - all within my financial restraints. Unfortunately it looks a bit clumsy from the outside and the interior design was limited to the basics. Let's be honest! It looks like the cockpit of an airplane.
After all these cars I also looked into various used cars, but funny enough the big 4-wheel-drives often can not fold flat the back seats. Why is that important anyway? Well, I intend to explore the countryside and I thought it might be a good idea to simply sleep in my car, comfortably stretched out on a camping mattress in the trunk of my car, cuddled in my sleeping bag.
And then I test drove the Toyota RAV 4. A lovely car! The only downsides: no AUX-plug and unfortunately way above my budget! I was very upfront with the salesman, and told him my budget. He felt very sorry for me, but unfortunately there is only as much of a discount he could offer me. I even thought about buying one of the used cars with low mileage he offered me, but then I reconsidered and just thought: "the perfect car is yet to come!" And yes, a few days later the same Toyota salesman called me and told me they had got another shipment of the 2011-model, that they would sell off at a very discounted price: exactly the price of my budget - what a coincidence! It didn't come with cruise control at that price, but what the heck!
Since we had found a solution for the missing AUX-plug to hook up my phone to play my favourite music, the deal was closed! I made a down-payment and two days later (when the amount for salary, housing and car loan had finally arrived on my bank account) I paid the outstanding balance.
The salesman told me it would take about four days to get the car to the shop and to equip it with tinted windows and the rust-protection that I had ordered. After a week I still hadn't received a call to pick up my car. Wondering what was wrong, I called Emad, the salesman and inquired about the delivery of my car. "Uh, we have some problem with the stock because the stock that was visible on the system was marked as old stock, but in fact it is the new model, and we can't give it at such a low price! We need special approval for that... or maybe there is another car of the old stock that we can give you" Ok, well, I am willing to wait for two more days for either a special approval or an "old-stock-car"!
Two days later still no call. I was worried, and called Emad. Emad was off - sick-leave. He had tried his best to find another 2011-car for me, but now the only option was to wait for the approval of the low price for the 2012-model. If everything went according to plan, I would receive a 2012-car!!!! I was excited as a kid before Christmas :-).
And on August 13th the relieving call: I will get the Toyota RAV4 2012-model at the special pre-agreed price (approximately 20% off the list price)!!!!!! I could pick it up in two days! Unfortunately it was not ready for the drive to my climbing tour with Dominic, but still I was very, very happy to finally have the confirmation that everything will be alright.
Now, finding the name was the real challenge! After Margie, my beloved scooter, she is my second vehicle, but my first very-own car. Amongst the SUVs that I had tested, the RAV4 was the most graceful car, so I figured it has to be a girls name. Friends came up with all sorts of names like Homer (as loving memory to Marge), Kamat (after my favourite Indian restaurant), Ravi ("sun" in Hindi), or Audrey. I liked Audrey, as I have a picture of Audrey Hepburn wearing a silver dress in mind. And since the car would have a dark-grey colour I saw an analogy...
In the end I found my very own name for her: Grace, as she is a wonderfully graceful car, and the name goes well with "grey", which somehow became her last name... And now I am crazy for Gracey Grey!
P.S: The missing AUX-plug is no longer a hold-up for unlimited love - yesterday we simply changed the stereo unit and now she has a 6-CD-changer, a bluetooth connection to the phone and an AUX-plug for my music to offer :-)
HA! what a sweet deal! enjoy your time with Grace and i hope she'll accompany you on many memorable climbing trips! by the way, i bought the mountaineering bible "freedom of the hills" yesterday :-)
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