A few months ago, as I was perusing the Advocate for a used car to prepare for when our soon to be 16 y/o son will embark on facing the perils of driving in Baton Rouge, I chanced upon an ad about such vehicles – otherwise now affectionately known as “pre-owned” cars.
Anyway, this Advocate notice brought back a flood of memories – not the least of which is about my current used car, a 2002 Echo, which I bought in December 2005 only because of a “Wheels” Section ad that I had seen. It was neat how that came about, as getting a good and functional used car can truly be a tricky affair, but I have found that buying one from a private individual who was the sole owner can make a difference.
With the price of gas going through our vehicle's roof tops with no end in sight – and not even including the annual steep increases we all usually expect to face when summer arrives – and many folks being stuck with gas guzzling SUVs, it may well pay for people to finally consider getting more fuel efficient means of transportation. I don't think there will be many takers for electric cars like the Volt until they are less costly.
Buying a good used car is a lot harder these days as many good ones were taken off the market a few years ago when the “Cash For Clunkers” program forced that. I had a mechanic contact that worked at a local car dealership where I couldn't believe the great traded-in and still fully functional used cars that I was shown which were headed for “auto burial.” My contact told me how he had to put some type of destructive liquid into those cars' engines to ensure that no one would be able to “ride off” with them!
My second used car was bought in 1982 out in California. A friend's dad, Jack, was a car dealer, who, like many others in that field, would have access to car auctions. Since he needed drivers to bring back his car purchases, he let me go beforehand with him to size up some in my price range that I was interested in and that he would, on my behalf, make bids.
Since I'd had a Ford Pinto previously in high school with my siblings, I kind-of liked them, so I found one that looked affordable and told Jack to try and get that one for me. Hearing the auctioneer verbalize the bidding was a first for me – I almost couldn't understand what he was saying and wondered if Jack would be able to discern the process accurately. From the paperwork, it appeared to have had only one previous owner who had kept good records of the vehicle's routine maintenance.
So when the bidding began, Jack put in the first proposal and went back and forth with a few other participants' bids until thankfully, Jack got the final one in – and just for $ 100 more than I would have liked but had given that as a ceiling range should the bidding go on. I had to restrain my excitement as I jumped up and down in the joy of the moment! And while I did have to eventually get the Pinto taken in for a repair of the “blow-up” recall that it infamously had, it served me well. I wound up selling it to a friend in 1986 for $ 600.
My first used car that I got was a 1976 Capri which I bought in 1977, my senior year at De La Salle High School in New Orleans. I had a Honda CB 125 Motorcycle for my junior year, but decided to sell it after a near accident on St. Charles Avenue – it is never safe to try to turn quickly in front of a 22 ton streetcar.
Sam, a neighbor sold me the car, long before “Car-faxes,” but he was reportedly the sole owner of the vehicle. It was a nice sporty vehicle that had “headers” on it to give a great roaring sound. The only problem was when I went to get a “brake tag,” a vehicle inspection as us 'Yats call them, I had to get the headers extended – due to the concern with carbon monoxide getting into the car. That adjustment didn't cost too much, but I missed the sound effect! When I didn't really need the car in college, since I could bike to classes at Loyola, I was able to sell the Capri very easily and not lose much.
About 20 years ago, I did “buy” a family used car from my parents for a very low price, and it lasted me quite awhile. It was a Ford Fairmont that eventually developed a problem with the air compressor that I couldn't afford to fix. Even with that difficulty I still used it for about 3 years even when I had started to commute to jobs from New Orleans to Covington and Baton Rouge for about six months.
I donated the Fairmont to St. Vincent de Paul before getting what would be my only “Lemon,” a Dodge Shadow, which I got about 10 years ago. A local friend's dad was a used car dealer who did the auction thing like I had done in California. It appeared that there were many previous owners without any service history provided like I'd gotten on all my other purchases. The Shadow, while looking flashy and getting decent mileage, blew a rod not long after I got it even though I'd just taken it in for an oil change.
Next, around 2001, I got a nice used Crown Victoria that an elderly lady let me purchase even though she could have traded it in for a little more than I paid for it. It happened that we both used to frequent Billy's Texaco repair station, and I had found out from Billy about the car when I told him what had happened to the Shadow. That car was great although not very good on mileage. I sold it for next to nothing to a friend of ours when I had started a management home care job in January 2005, which included the usage of a company car, a nice Nissan Altima.
What would a “Used Car” story be without a “Dahlin” reference. A year ago, we got a nice one-owner used 2006 Toyota Camry from Price Leblanc by trading in another used car that I had forgotten to mention about. After Katrina, we bought a used 1997 Escort from my sister for a real good price and used it sparingly at first expecting to save it for one of our kids. It actually got used a lot till last year, when the transmission gave out – but I was able to drive it for the trade in. It was neat to drive away in the Camry and to discover some lagniappe sausage on the floor of the passenger side! And we also recently did wind up getting another a nice used Toyota, a 2003 Corolla with low mileage, for our teenage son from that “dahlin and sausage place;” my wife recently added some of the latter to spice up a great batch of jambalaya which she had made for us!
So back to my current Echo, and how did I manage to get it? After Katrina came in August 2005, which entailed my care giving for my displaced parents, I was unable to continue the management position, so I had to look for a good used car. I called Mike, the owner noted in the Advocate ad, and made plans to meet him at the CC's on Siegen Lane.
After my test ride in the neat Toyota Echo with a Standard transmission, I told Mike I was very interested. He had told me he had some other prospects but that he would get back with me. It only had 59,000 miles, got around 33 mpg in the city and about 39 for highway driving, had only one owner and had mainly been used for highway transportation, as Mike was a medical sales person. About 5 days later, he told me the vehicle was mine – even though someone else would pay him a few hundred more than I had offered. Why? Mike said he had just read a copy of my then published article in the Platinum Record (East Baton Rouge Council on Aging) about my work with seniors.
Like the Human Condition column, you never know who's reading what you write or what impact it may have – or what good used car deals may result from them! The pen (or now, computer) is truly mightier than the sword!
Keith John Paul Horcasitas, LCSW, MHA, 1133 Knollhaven Drive, BRLA, 70810, khorcasitas.yahoo.com, March 30, 2013.
Your article brought back memories. My father tended to buy new cars in the 1950s, although he told me that (after he bought a 1939 Buick new and had to sell it to my mother's parents because he couldn't pay the payments) he bought many Model As for $50, drove them until they quit, and then sold them for $25 during World War II. I don't recall the Model As, but I do recall a used Plymouth and used Pontiac. He rolled the Plymouth over with me in it and the Pontiac “had to run 30 minutes before it would pull.”
He bought new Fords in 1951, 53, and 57. He also bought used cars for “driving to work.” I persuaded him to stop buying new cars, and he never bought a new one after that. My twin brother and I bought a 1935 three window Ford hot rod with a 1950 Cadillac overhead valve V-8 for $100 in 1962. Unfortunately, I wrecked that car in 1963. I bought back my father's 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 in 1963 for $250. I bought three more used cars after that, a 57 De Soto for $100 in 1965, a 66 Toronado for $3000 in 1968, and a 73 Monte Carlo for $3000 in 1975. I drove about 500,000 miles in those three cars. In 1970 and 71, I was invited by Dr. Helen Van Zante, a foremost authority on home equipment, to teach a session on buying used cars for her senior girls in her consumer economics class. It was one of my most enjoyable teaching sessions, with thirty or so beautiful young girls eager to find out about how to buy their first used car!
During my years in graduate school, I encountered several immigrants eager to learn how to drive and buy a car. I helped them learn how to drive and buy their first car. In 1970, two of my best students, married, wanted me to help them buy a used car. There were a number of used car lots in my neighborhood and we took a look at all the cars. Danny had his heart set on a derelict Porsche 914 sitting in a yard with a “for-sale” sign on it. For some reason, we never contacted the owner or got to drive that car which appeared to be junk. However, there was a beautiful powder blue Pinto sitting in one of the lots. This was just after the scare about the Pinto gas tank blowing up in a rear end collision. After I coached Danny on how not to be too excited about the car before making an offer, he took a test drive and bought the car for $600. It was a great little car and served them well.
After driving my Monte Carlo for a couple of years, Beh, my helper of eight years at that time who had learned to drive from me, wanted to buy a new car. Her brother suggested that she buy an Echo. We took a look at the Echo and both decided that we didn't like the looks or the cheapness of its general exterior and interior. She bought a 2000 Corolla instead, new. Thirteen years later, she has 95,000 miles of city driving with little or no trouble from the Corolla. That was one new car purchase that paid off.
It's almost Christmas. Lynn Basil is writing her last book about a secret entrance into the magical doll land of Sha Bebe that she loves so much. Bagannos have taken over the world! Lynn finally meets her dolls in real life. Can she write in a Secret
A few months ago, as I was perusing the Advocate for a used car to prepare for when our soon to be 16 y/o son will embark on facing the perils of driving in Baton Rouge, I chanced upon an ad about such vehicles – otherwise now affectionately known as “pre-owned” cars.
