New Car

As most of you know, I have to go to Hoover Dam for three months starting sometime in January. My group at work sends new employees out to a power plant for an extended period of time as a learning experience. I'm glad I get to go to Hoover. It's actually close to somewhere unlike most of the dams that are in the middle of nowhere :-) Just think! I'll be within driving distance of Death Valley!

Since I'll be gone so long, I needed to finally buy a car. I've been putting it off as long as possible since I knew it would just be an endless money pit. First, you have to pay for the car. That's only the beginning. That initial purchase just gives you the privilege of paying for insurance, gas, maintenance, etc. (I now feel so privileged. :-)

I've only gotten to drive it three different days so far, and already, I'm beginning to think it's pretty cool and not all that bad. It must be some chemical manufacturers use in cars. Makes you forget how much it cost and how much you don't want to pay for it.

I had a rather limited time to shop, so Dad and I looked at tons of cars every weekend for the past few months while people like Steve have had to answer tons of dumb questions. We finally found something that looked good from Carflex, a little one-man outfit near DIA. I ended up with a 2002 Toyota 4runner, 78,600 miles, for $11,600. It seemed like most the other ones we saw had at least 100k miles (many had 200k+ miles) and were priced way above the KBB value.

It's in really good condition, has brand new tires, etc. When Dad went to pick it up, the guy knocked another $100 off the price because there was a dent in the passenger interior door panel (which he pretty much fixed). (I don't know why. The guy would only drop the price $200 even with a "walk-out.") The next day, the dealer called Dad again and said he'd decided to buy us new mats for it since the old ones were dirty. Yahoo! Rubber dealer mats! They fit and they're easy to clean!

I'm really starting to like the thing. It has some toys (like sunroof, rear air, etc.), but is still a "heftier" vehicle. 2002 was the last year before Toyota turned the 4runner into an ordinary car. Sure, it only has a V6 3.4L, but it's not horrible.

Here's a picture Mom took when they picked it up: (I was at Grand Coulee)

(Yeah, boring silver. I know, I know... if only it were lime green with hot pink and bright yellow accents like Lisa Frank : ) I'll have to fix that...

I took it out on the icy streets today to see how it handled and was thoroughly impressed.

First, I punched the gas on an icy stretch and started turning to try to get it to fish-tail. The traction-control kicked in and started beeping at me, telling me that I was out of control. I started to fish tale and eased up on the gas and was going straight again before I knew it. Pretty sweet.

Next, I had to do it again after shifting into 4-wheel. That was cool. I made it to 30mph up an icy hill in about 250ft. Sure beats the old '72 Chevy pickup with bald tires and "Denver Broncos" mudflaps. (Yeah, I miss it, too :'( I don't know how many times I had to find alternate routes to avoid hills with that thing. I don't miss feeling like an idiot for flooding the engine all the time, but I enjoyed it.

Now for the anti-lock breaks. I've never been all that impressed with anti-lock breaks, but I was really surprised with these. They work -- Really well. Sure, I have some good, brand new tires, but it was still pretty impressive. Hopefully this means no more sliding through the stop sign at the bottom of Quail on snowy days :-)

(LOL -- And, no, I don't normally drive like that :-)

Anyway, I'm really pleased with the thing. Yeah, it was about 30% more than I was originally going to spend, but I think I'll be happy with it for quite a while. Plus, 4-runners seem to hold their value pretty well right now. Craig's list is full of old 4runners with 120-200k miles for $8k-$10k, all in bad condition.

With the recent snow, I needed an ice scraper. A normal, every-day ice scraper wasn't good enough for me, so I opted for the telescoping scraper/snow broom, complete with a shock-absorber to make it easier on your wrist. (I.E. A Sam's Club special! YAHOO! :-P)