I’m Little and Smart, Just Like My New Car
I’ve been wanting to buy one for almost two years, it’s on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days and now I’m finally doing it. I’m buying a Smart car!
See, the thing is, I need a car for my new job. My new office is going to be in a place that I can’t reasonably get to on transit1. Plus, I will need to do some driving around for the job itself, so car buying time it is! And I’m super stoked about the Smart. It’s amazing on gas (and thus, enviro-friendly), ridiculously easy to park and drives like a dream! Plus, the price really can’t be beat. I’m buying the base model with nothing added (because the base model comes with everything I want) and right now you get a $1250 rebate for buying an eco-friendly car, plus it’s PST-free (another incentive to buy an eco-friendly car) and combine that with the fact that Vancity is loaning me the money to buy it at prime + 1% because, you guessed it, it’s an eco-friendly car, and well, you can’t afford not to!
Now, when I tell people that I’m getting a Smart Car, I usually get one (or more) of the following comments:
- It’s so small and unsafe! Aren’t you afraid you’ll be crushed?
- You can’t take it on the highway!
- It’s so small, there’s no room to fit anything in it!
- They are so expensive!
So, before you say any of those things, let me dispell those myths right now!
Smart Cars are surprisingly safe considering how tiny they are. I’m confident that I’ll be much safer in my Smart with its tridion safety cell than I was in my 15-year-old rust bucket of a Honda Civic2. And it has plenty of power for highway driving, so I’m not worried about that at all.
For anyone who thinks the Smart Car is too small to carry anything with you, I give you this picture:
When I went for the test drive on Saturday, I got my friend Kim to drive me and we brought all our hockey gear, just to make sure it would fit in the trunk. (Yes, Smart cars do have trunks). Not only did both our hockey bags and our sticks fit no problem, we had room to spare! In the picture you can see Kim’s bag – my hockey bag is directly below hers and our sticks easily fit down the middle of the car (which is how we put the sticks in Kim’s much bigger car as well).
And as for price – after all the taxes and fees and whatnot, I’m paying $16,000. And it is a Mercedes – I’m pretty sure you can’t get any other Mercedes cars for that price!
Me, test driving a Smart.
I had my loan approved today and went to Vancity to sign all the papers and pick up the cheque3. Tomorrow I’m going to get my plates and insurance so that I can pick up my new baby on Friday! Now all that remains is to give it a name. I have an overwhelming urge to name it Zaphod Beeblebrox, although part of me thinks this would be a bad idea. What do you think?
1Unlike my current office, which is a mere 15 minutes by bus from my house, my new office is 1 hr 40 mins by three buses and I have zero insterest in spending 3 hrs 20 mins commuting everday. Google Maps tells me my new office will only be 37 mins by car.
2Man, I loved that little rust bucket!
3I like to think of it as them paying me $16,000 for my autograph.
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Tags: finances, hockey, Mercedes Benz, rampant consumerism, Smart Car, test drive
Congrats! It’s very cute AND practical – WIN!! And as long as you don’t name it HAL (learned that the hard way), you’re golden.
Rebecca’s last blog post..I (kind of) judge you when you listen to bad music
I’m so jealous. I love the little Smart cars. But, with kids (plural) they just aren’t big enough. Maybe it’ll be my retirement car.
Stacia’s last blog post..6 months
Hooray for the Smart! You’re getting a tiny car, and we’re probably going to have to get a minivan for our next car. Man – I am OLD!
I cannot wait to go for a spin in the Smart when we’re in town. I am sure it’ll be easier to deal with in parking garages unlike a certain Jeep. EEP! I am still super sorry for that incident (which was over 15 years ago. OLD).
Sarah’s last blog post..Two posts in two days? It’s a Georgetown miracle!
@Rebecca – Funny you should mention that. I was actually thinking about how you said “whatever you do, don’t name any computer HAL or it will live up to its name” when I got the feeling that naming my car Zaphod might be a bad idea. I mean, will my car live up to that name?
@Stacia & @Sarah – Yeah, Smarts aren’t so good for those of you with kids. I was excited to find out that the Smart car passenger seat has a weight sensor so that if you have a kid in the passenger seat, it will automatically disable the airbag. So at least I can take my niece for a drive if she comes to visit (everyone else will have to stay home!)
Sarah – lol! Oh, the Jeep incident. Good times! Also – a minivan? Really? How many more kids are you two going to have? You = old!
Will you have your most smartest car when I’m in town? I hope so. I fully expect a tour of the car if that is the case. WOOT!
Also, it’s only 13 days until I arrive. Not that I’m counting.
I will, in fact, have the most smartest car when you are in town. And I will definitely give you the full tour – have you ever ridden in a Smart before? It’s good times!
Zaphod was distinctly unsmart, although I do kinda like “beeblebrox” for a car.
It’s not a Ford, you shouldn’t call a car Dent… Trillian? Or does it have to be male? Hmmm… how about Slartibartfast? The Fast part is good for a car, and he designed planet Earth, which smart cars are good for…
Cath@VWXYNot?’s last blog post..Thanks, Auntie Mermaid!
I think I kind of like the idea of naming my Smart Car after someone who is so decidedly unsmart. I was thinking I could even refer to it as “the Beeb” for short.
It doesn’t have to be a male – in fact, I think most people refer to cars as female. Maybe I should think about Trillian….
Oh my gosh… I just figured out what you should name your car (not that you probably care but I LOATHE the Hitchhiker’s name–it’s just heinous).
You’re Dr. Beth, so your car should be Dr. Car.
I know, it’s brilliant. 🙂
[…] the dentist tonight and was quite shocked to see a *giant* crack in the windshield of my beloved Zaphod Beeblebrox the Car. Like, *giant.* I know for certain that it wasn’t there in the morning when I scraped the ice […]
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