First, a quick background on Psychotronicman's expertise on the subject of buying a car. Two years as a top car salesman in a major metropolitan city. Skilled in negotiations and closings. Set records in both sales and in technical and training skills. Quick advancement and an average annual salary of over $100,000 a year. I could even sell Suburu's to old people with regularity. That is no mean feat my friends.
You got a great new job and you feel like an upgrade to a beautiful new car but you aren't sure how to approach the process? So what is the real secret to buying a new car? Follow me below the fold and I'll tell you.
Don't.
What the fuck is the matter with people here? I see a quick comment the other day by a front pager saying that he is looking at new cars but only the Mazda 5 seems suitable. Another diary described the various ways you can outsmart the car dealership and really 'steal' the car. Nary a comment about just not buying or, if possible, not owning a car.
I had to stop and check to see that I was actually on the Daily Kos and hadn't accidentally linked into Redstate. Has anyone here actually been reading the environmental diaries? Anyone? You know, the ones that are describing, in realtime, how our beautiful planet is being destroyed right before our eyes. I guess those diaries are kind of boring and too sciency (sic) for you guys. Maybe you'll all finally get around to watching 'An Inconvenient Truth' eventually. Or maybe you all just don't give a flying fuck about the future. Shame. You don't know what you are missing out on.
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Roughly two years ago I swore off the car habit for good. I'll never own one again. I made this decision after a weekend where I was in a terrifyingly close call on the freeway and two other friends died in a fiery crash one block from their house. I was already sick of the car business with all of its lies and moral compromise. The basic tenet of the car biz: Fuck them before they fuck you. That philosophy reigns from the lowest used car lot to the highest corporate castles. The entire business with its fealty to the oil companies is just one stinking cesspool and it needs to go away.
I know many of you will say that we need a healthy car industry so that people won't lose their jobs. NO. What we need is a healthy transportation industry. One with clean burning busses and trains. Easy access and affordability for everyone and well regulated growth. That's what we need. What we don't need is even one more car to be built. Every new car is just another bullet into the heart of our children's future. Kossacks should know better and I think its high time that we set a better example.
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Trust me, the movie wasn't called 'An Inconvenient Truth' for nothing. Not driving a car in our society is a tricky business that is a real pain in the ass sometimes. But, for every downside there's been an even better upside. I feel healthier and more grounded than I did ten years ago. Dropping an $800 a month burden from my paycheck didn't hurt either. I don't jump in my car out of boredom and go buy useless crap out of boredom anymore. That's added a lot to my savings. But, ultimately, it isn't money that drove my decison to quit being a car junkie.
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For most Americans the first reaction to the idea of not having a car is that it will be way too inconvenient. I posit that it will be far less inconvenient than when your children and grandchildren are driven from the homes by savage wildfires and rising coastal flooding and have to relocate to refugee encampments. Not driving a car now is certainly less inconvenient than trying to nurse a child suffering from dysentary in the refugee camp. Its also very inconvenient how refugee camps tend to turn into slums and hotbeds of crime and violence. But hey, here in 2009 its 93 degrees out today and walking two blocks to Raleys for some ice would be just too tough.
We may call ourselves generation X, or Baby Boomers, Gen Jones or whatever but I know what our unfortunate children and their brood will call us if we don't put an end to the car culture right the fuck now.
The Selfish Ones.