"It'll just take some getting used to."

Thursday, Oct. 24, 1991

     We got a 1992 Toyota Camry today. It's almond beige pearl, 5-speed standard.

Wed., Oct. 30, 1991

     We had gone to the credit union last Wed. to apply for a loan cause they were having the big tent sale at Met Park Thur.-Sat. I was so undecided about what I wanted. I really wanted a Trooper but I decided that we wouldn't be able to afford that. So I told Guy we could just go ahead & get a car and when we move back to Ark. we could get a four-wheel drive. But we ended up paying more than I thought we would so I should've gone ahead with the Trooper. Oh, well, too late now.

     I really like the Camry & I know it'll be reliable. There have been a couple of things I've discovered since we brought it home. I can't see the back end of the car, even sitting on a pillow. I didn't realize it until we went to pick it up. I need to backtrack.

     When we went to Met Park we looked at the Camrys first & there was a blue one that had everything we wanted on it except a cassette. We asked if there was one like that in a different color. He called the dealership & there was one that had just come in. They'd have to inspect it & service it & bring it over. We looked around at other cars. There weren't any caravans there. This salesman cornered us when we were looking at a Subaru wagon. Guy surprised me by seeming really interested in it. I told him I didn't know enough about Subarus. So we waited for them to bring the beige Camry over. It took over 1&1/2 hrs. They did have a trailer set up with tables & chairs so we waited there & fed Elizabeth while we waited. It was almost dark by the time it got there. We had to stop for gas (they reimbursed us) then both of us drove it. We got on the freeway at Norview then back off at Military Hwy. It drove really well, had a lot more power than the Cavalier. It's a 2.2 engine plus fuel injected. I didn't ever have the need to back it up though until we went to pick it up Sat. But I'm getting ahead again.

     We finally sat down to talk numbers & we had to talk to two other people, one about the extended warranty and one about the protective coatings. We only wanted the coatings. Then Hank, the salesman, went over to the credit union tent with us. They said they couldn't do anything cause their computer was down. (We were getting $800 for the Cavalier but we weren't putting any more down and the total was $300 over our approval of $15,000.) They said the extra shouldn't be a problem but that we'd have to wait til tomorrow to do any more. So Guy went to tell Hank we wouldn't be able to get the car that night. He was gone forever. Elizabeth was getting restless; she'd finished the two bottles we'd taken. I didn't know we'd be gone so late. Finally I got all our stuff together & went looking for him. He was helping Hank put all our stuff in the new car. I told him what the lady had said and he said not to worry cause we could get it financed through the dealer. He didn't tell me til we'd already left that he'd signed a promissory note say that they'd have their money (the whole $15,000+) by Mon. I couldn't believe he did that without talking to me first. But there wasn't anything I could do about it then. We were back & forth on the phone with each other and the credit union & the dealer all day Friday. The credit union kept giving us the same runaround so Guy told them we didn't need the loan. The dealer had told us we could get the loan through them for the same rate. When Hank finally called to say our new loan was approved he didn't know how much the payments were or the rate, only that it was approved. He also said he would give Guy a loaner so he could leave the car to be first in line to have the coatings put on & the cassette installed Sat. morning.

     So Guy went to the dealer's when he got home Fri. I stayed home with Elizabeth cause she'd been out of sorts all day because of being out so long Thur. I should've gone with him. When he got home I asked him how much the payments were, he said $354. I thought he was joking so I looked at the papers & he wasn't. And the rate was 10.5%. I asked him how did he think we were going to afford it & why did Hank lie about the rate and why did he sign the papers when he knew we couldn't afford it. I was crying by then and wouldn't say anything to explain. We ate supper & he gave Elizabeth her bath while I did dishes & he never said one word to explain anything. While he was upstairs I looked at the papers again & saw that they'd added on the maintenance agreement we'd told them we didn't want plus the life insurance. I couldn't believe it. When he came downstairs he still wasn't talking to me. I finally asked him if he knew how late Hank was going to be there & he said why? I said if he wasn't going to tell me what happened I'd call Hank & ask him. He said he'd tell me if I'd finished crying & I told him I just didn't understand what was going on. He said they wouldn't give us a lower rate because we weren't putting anything down. And they said he had to have the insurance. I didn't think they could make you do that. As for the maintenance agreement he said he wanted me to be safe when he's gone to sea. I reminded him the original warranty is 3 yrs/36,000 mi. & he'll be out of the Navy by then so we won't have to worry about that. I don't remember what his answer was to that. We went back & forth about that up until we went to pick the car up. 

     He said the only way to get the payments down (to $298) would be to put money down & he knew I didn't want to cash any more bonds. I asked what about the money we'd been setting aside in savings for it. That amounted to $684. He said would I let him get the rest from bonds & I said ok. So he called the finance man at the dealer's & asked if it was too late to put some money down & he said no cause he hadn't sent the paperwork in yet. So he told him we'd be bringing the money in when we came to pick up the car. Guy said let's just take $500 from savings cause we'll be needing to take some our for the trip & I agreed.

     So we went to the credit union to get the money from savings. Then to our safe deposit box for cashing the bonds and getting a cashier's check for $2000. Then we took Elizabeth over to Mike & Carole's, as we'd already planned, so we could go to a movie. There wasn't a lot to choose from. We saw The Hitman, Chuck Norris' new movie. It wasn't very good, especially compared to his other movies.

     After that we went to the dealer's & our car was already ready. But we had to wait for the finance man to get back from lunch. When we sat down to redo the papers he said the payments would be $309. I asked what happened to $298. Guy said that was before the maintenance agreement, something we still disagree about. So we signed the papers & took the car to get Elizabeth. They asked us to stay for supper. We did but we shouldn't have cause it was later than I thought it'd be before we ate. Anyway, we have the car but I don't think we got a very good deal. Guy said next time we won't wait til everything's falling apart to trade in. Sometimes I wish we'd gone ahead & gotten the Trooper, especially since this cost so much. One of the reasons I told Guy we could get a car instead of a 4x4 is I thought we could save some money. But he said we could've gotten the Trooper or even the Caravan for this price. I don't know if he's still mad at me or not. We haven't talked much about it since then. The only thing I'm worried about is not being able to see out the back to the end of the trunk. One thing Guy didn't like is that you have to roll the windows down to adjust the outside mirrors. We'd asked if we could get remote knobs on them & they said they're not available. Hank said the manager said if we wanted them adjusted to come see him & he'd adjust them, just trying to be smart. It's bad that he said that anyway but Hank didn't have to tell us what he'd said. Our model is called deluxe but I don't know what's deluxe about it - there's nothing power on it except the trunk & gas release. And if I'd seen it in the light I might have decided on the blue one after all. Why'd they put a grey interior in a brown car I don't know. But I guess overall I'm happy with it. It'll definitely be more reliable than the Cavalier has been - knock on wood. It'll just take some getting used to.