> Recent Entries
> Archive
> Friends
> User Info

June 22nd, 2008

11:00 pm - Looking Ahead I am heavily researching Winter Tires so I'll be prepared come next season. Current Location: My Condo Current Mood: geeky Current Music: Elton John - Your Song Tags: autos

(Leave a comment)

February 21st, 2008

11:22 pm - Car Pickup So I go to the dealership today to pick up my Mazda6, and it turns out the bank made an error in the draft and did not put the proper stamps on it. STAB Tomorrow I will visit the bank again to give the manager a piece of my mind. Current Location: My Condo Current Mood: frustrated Tags: autos, money

(Leave a comment)

February 18th, 2008

(1 comment | Leave a comment)

February 3rd, 2008

08:16 pm - Car Financing: Most Insane Deal I've Seen OK, so this is a $17.5K 2007 Ford Fusion. Off-lease. Almost new. Very low mileage. Finance with $2000 down and $72/month for 320 months. WHO THE HELL WOULD WANT TO FINANCE A CAR FOR 26 YEARS?! Current Location: My Condo Current Mood: shocked Tags: autos, money

(Leave a comment)

January 26th, 2008

03:56 pm - Auto Body Shops Dear Local Auto Body Shop: Considering that it is your job to repair things so that they are like new, it does not engender confidence when the glass front door of your business has cracks, and you have repaired those cracks with packing tape. Current Location: My Condo Current Mood: stressed Tags: autos

(Leave a comment)

January 20th, 2008

09:34 pm - Ah, The Song & Dance of Used Car Sales So it's about time to sell off my old faithful Camry. At 304,000 km, it's showing its age, and I just spent $450 on it fixing a failing oxygen sensor in the engine. I do not relish the idea of putting so much money into a car that's really not worth very much money. Knowing that I don't drive a lot and don't want to spend a lot, I'm considering abandoning my principles and getting a used Hyundai. Something with 4 years warranty left on it can be had for a comparatively low amount of money! My dad and I went to this one Hyundai dealership to do the typical used car song&dance. Anyone who's done it knows that it's a veritable charade of treachery, backstabbing and false camaraderie. We were eventually sitting in the office of the dealership manager: A brown guy who was a cross between a human & Jabba The Hutt. As soon as I realised this, I needed every ounce of my strength to prevent myself from snickering at the guy ... ("Bring me the trade-in and the Wookie!!") We test-drove three cars and honestly I am 100% impressed by how the Sonata drives and handles. Very smooth. Very nice. Very quiet. Much improved compared to Hyundais from previous years. I like it. Mr. Jabba tried all kinds of stories and tricks to get us to commit to buy on the spot; Logic, cajoling, the good salesman / bad salesman act, anger, sympathy and more. I had to squeeze him to get him to tell us he would give $2000 for the Camry, which is honestly a fair price. Just as we were leaving, he walked out of the office... Jabba: "I got a call from one of my wholesaler friends, and he'll offer you $2500 for your trade!" Me: "So you didn't tell us this before?" Jabba: "No, I had just left a message for him before and he phoned me back just a minute ago!" Me: "So, $2500 you say ... " Jabba: "No, it's actually $2600!" And they say money doesn't fall from the sky ... We got a good laugh all the way home. :D Current Location: My Condo Current Mood: amused Current Music: Howard Shore - Forth Eorlings (LoTR:TTT OST) Tags: autos

(3 comments | Leave a comment)

July 4th, 2007

(Leave a comment)

July 8th, 2006

01:29 pm - Visiting My Parents This Weekend... Things done today: Buy Pesos for trip to Cancun next month. Investigate travel / health insurance for trip. Haircut - I am aerodynamic again. Make quarterly GST payment for business income. Clear up some inconsistencies at the bank with my mortgage. To do today: Check out some cars I'm considering buying. Show dad my diploma. I graduated over a year ago but commencement was the day after we moved into my parents' current home. Things were hectic and busy and my dad never actually got to see it. Current Location: Parents' House Current Mood: busy Tags: autos, cancun2006, misc, work

(Leave a comment)

June 18th, 2006

12:28 pm - Note To Self: My Next Car Will Be A Hatchback I've been short a printer and scanner ever since I moved. Today I finally needed to print something, so I picked up multifunction Brother MFC-8460N unit. (Holy overkill, Batman!) The guy at Staples was real sly about the extended warranty and I ended up turning him down. So I got out to the parking lot with the printer on the dolly cart. Oh crap. How am I going to fit this frickin' big thing into the Corolla? Won't fit into the truck, back seat or passenger seat. Double-crap. Only one thing to do. I walked home with it on the dolly cart. Good thing I live pretty close to Staples. They didn't blink when I showed back up with it 45 minutes later. Time to set up my new printer! Speaking of cars, I'm looking into getting a used Mazda 3 hatchback next month. Those things are beauties with an excellent cost/benefit ratio. Though it makes me feel a little guilty because the Mazda 3's are Made in Japan, while the Corollas are made right here in Ontario. Current Location: my condo Current Mood: accomplished Tags: autos, misc, tech

(1 comment | Leave a comment)

June 3rd, 2006

08:58 pm - Car Trouble :-( The Camry is leaking oil. Not just any leak; It is coming from the rack and pinnion steering and the whole steering system will have to be pulled and replaced. Cost: $2600 + tax with dealer parts. Maybe $1300 + tax if we went aftermarket. Sorry, no way. That car is too old to pour that kind of money into it. (Just to be clear, we have two Camrys: A 1997 and a 2005.) This means we get to trade in the Camry for something else. I'll probably be plunking a wad of cash down to trade it for a newer Corolla. And it will be in my name. (We've been a 'Toyota Family' for ~15 years now.) That will probably be in July after the Federal Sales Tax (GST) drops by 1 point. The Camry served us well, and I did all (I think) of my provincial driving exams in it. Alas, all good things must come to an end. Current Location: parents' home Current Mood: discontent Tags: autos

(1 comment | Leave a comment)

08:29 pm - My Parents Were On TV... Hidden Cameras And More! A few months back, my parents and I discovered this shady car dealer. Prestige Auto Sales of Milton, Ontario tried to sell us this Camry that had 'never been in a collision.' After I uncovered the deception and car's salvage records through CarFax, my dad became extremely annoyed and my parents were really concerned that some young starting-out couple would buy the lemon and waste $22K. My dad eventually got in contact with a reporter from CityTV Toronto. Last Monday the feature aired with my parents being interviewed. They reporter also went to the dealership, got all kinds of footage of the car, and hidden camera footage of the sales pitch with the dealer talking about how it had never been in a collision and such. There was all kinds of cool stuff with secretly recorded phone calls and involvement with government law enforcement authorities. And the car dealer was outed. Yes, justice is sweet. LET THE WORD GO OUT -- If you screw with me or my family, you WILL be publicly outed and cut down to size. Prestige Auto Sales. DVDSoon. Bell ExpressVu. Many random eBay fools. They all now bear my proverbial tire tracks. Asshats, you have been warned. Current Location: parents' home Current Mood: satisfied Tags: autos, broadcast, misc

(1 comment | Leave a comment)