The bear has gone back to the den
About four years ago, when I took my first tentative steps in the blogswamp, we were in the process of changing vehicles. Nothing impressive; one van looks pretty much like another, and that goes for the interior as well as the exterior. Changing your “rig” in the middle of the winter keeps the unnecessary chatter around the driver’s window down to a minimum. In fact, I didn’t even go out for the changing ceremonies.
This time around, there was a difference. No more van, man! My final duty was to drive the big brown bear down the highway, for one last time. I piled the extra set of tires into the rear gate, adjusted the seat to my liking, listened to the “ding-ding-ding” that alerted me to a LOW FUEL condition and set course for the town of Ste-Anne. With great caution, I left the radio in silent mode, the better to hear the subtle cough of a V-6 that had no more fumes on tap. Highway driving at 70 kph, to the chagrin of snow plows and fast moving phantoms alike. After all, the best way to conserve fuel is to drive slowly.
Actually, the van comes with a deep reservoir, so I was in no danger of having to walk and carry gas. By the time I parked in the dealer’s parking lot and removed the license plate, the strange feeling of abandoning the bear had passed and all I wanted was to go back home and relax. Even inside, as soon as the salesman perceived (how perceptive of him) that I wasn’t there to make him a rich man, I was left to wander aimlessly (waiting for the spouse with our wheels to arrive).
I still think that the “Big Three” have lost all sense of reality. The residual value of “our” four year old van was not much less than the new price of the same model on the sales floor. The new one looked just the same as the old, excepting a place to stow sh*t papers attached to the ceiling. I agree, the new model is now much cheaper than four years ago, but I won’t get fooled again. After all, we spent a thousand dollars on three sets of seatbelts only a few months ago. The price/quality point is out of whack, and all the government bailouts in the world won’t remedy that detail. Speaking of detail, we had to beg the head of the sales department to come out and see that we were returning a “rig” in good condition. Even he didn’t care any more.
