new car

This weekend I got a new car as a graduation present from my parents (thanks mom and dad!). Its a silver 2008 Civic EX Coupe (pictured below). It is a welcome change from my ant-dominated, gas-guzzling disaster of a Jetta (also pictured below). Benefits of this new car over the previous Brendan-mobile include improved gas mileage, better safety features, and fewer strange crayon odors. I would also hope that this polite, efficient Japanese machine will have better luck than the six-cylindered German brute in the sense that: 1) fewer trees will choose to fall on it, 2) as corollary, it will spring fewer flood-inducing leaks, 3) and ultimately be less of a shitshow of a auto. To be fair though, the Jetta wasn't all bad. It was a stylish ride for its first few months, and at one point it featured a fully functioning 10 CD changer, a sweet chrome grill... and floor mats!

But on to the new...

Getting the car was a bit of a show. Mom and I went over to the Honda dealership to check out what they had in stock and what kind of deals they were offering. We were greeted by a gentleman named Chris, a Jon Voight looking fellow who was eager to show us around. As he extolled the virtues of the Civic, I looked nervously at Mom, who was texting Dad to see if he was on his way to the dealership. 30 minutes into car searching and she was already tired of the rigamarole and calling into the bullpen to bring out the closer. A few minutes later, on comes goateed, sunglassed, tight t-shirt sporting Dad ready to make a deal. What ensued for the next hour and a half was the time-honored absurdity known as haggling. It went something like this:

Dad offers to pay x over invoice.
Chris counter-offers x+y (citing esoteric features and options included with the model)
Dad remains firm
Chris says he will "talk to his manager" to "see what he can do"
reapeat x 10.

I think by "talk to his manager" Chris meant "use a calculator to see how much his commission would be pinched by the price reduction". In any event, they finally agreed and I had a new car. I am now soliciting all for names for this beauty of a automobile, so let the suggestions fly.

new car needs a name?

goodbye jetta!