Buying a 汽车 (ie, car!)
When you come back to your home country after three-quarters of a year abroad, you quickly find that you need some things which weren’t so important while living abroad. The biggest one usually is transportation, especially when you go from living in a city with a legal population of greater than 17 million (with an illegal immigrant population even higher) to the suburbs where you can walk for miles and see less than 17 people outside and wandering around! Since I will be moving to Greenville, South Carolina and starting work with GE Energy in a little over a month, it seemed that a car was a necessary cost for me to incorporate into my budget.
The problem for me was going into the buying phase knowing that I wanted something that was inexpensive yet also environmentally friendly. Since I want to ride my bike as much as possible (ie to and from work), the car probably will be used more for longer trips and for travel. As a result, gas mileage and emissions were important, though the overall mileage wouldn’t be as high as for someone who needed to commute everyday. I also wanted something light and efficient - a hybrid would have been ideal, but the cost was prohibitive (in addition, buying a Toyota Prius right now is almost impossible as they are moving off the lot as fast as they arrive). While I was offered a Honda Accord CR-V at Kelley Blue Book trade-in value from my father, I felt that such a vehicle wouldn’t satisfy my need for feeling like I wasn’t driving a gas-guzzling SUV.
Of course, price also came into the equation, and that’s when I started realizing how demand and supply actually work. Since 4-cylinder, small engine cars are considered gas-savers, the demand is increasing and the prices are hard to haggle down. While I was originally looking for something gently used, such a car was nearly impossible to find as the demand was running high. Had my conscience been able to settle on a truck or SUV, I would have probably gotten a steal, but the little “green” in me couldn’t agree.
As a result, I purchased a Nissan Versa SL Hatchback this afternoon. While it isn’t the best gas-saver around, the average consumption is over 30 mpg, and it has all the features I needed (plus some, like the intelligent key, that add some panache). I found that buying is rather hard work, as it is an information problem where the dealer knows more than the purchaser. In addition, there are a ton of hidden costs - financing, fees, titles, plates, and tax! In the end, I suppose owning a car will be a good thing, but the investment is so poor that it hurts to spend the money!
Anyway, don’t go running into any blue Versas if you see them around as I will definitely not be happy to have wrecked even a little bit of my new car! On to bigger and better things next week, like finding an apartment, insurance, and a mobile phone. And you wonder why I miss living in China where things were easy...!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Image from Nissan’s website