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To Me, from Me…

By January 24, 2012Depression

One of the only times I saw David make a decision and not immediately regret it was when he finally decided to plunk down and buy his little Audi. He had been talking about it for the longest of times that he wanted a car “to get out of the city.” Very much in the spirit of David, I am assuming, that since he was so frugal, the thought of renting a car was completely absurd to him.

He at first wanted an SUV, and we went and looked at the little baby Mercedes, which I regularly reminded him was a “girl’s car”—very much a Mazda Miata in SUV form. So then he was zeroing in on the Audi Q5, which I also reminded him was also a “girl’s car,” as proven by Sybil Watson purchasing one shortly thereafter.

We then looked at the Ford Edge, which we both had really good experiences with in the past for snowstorms and styling. But I don’t think David could get his head around a domestic vehicle costing as much as the Edge did. We then looked at my old car, the VW Touareg, which was absolutely awesome, but the prices went up pretty dramatically from when I bought mine, and we both were surprised when the price tag was roughly $10K more than I paid for—”top of the line” on mine vs. a “nicely-equipped” one in 2010.

The entire time I kept saying I really love the A4—always have since I looked at the new body style at the Park Ave. dealer. I had actually put a deposit on one and was waiting, but the Hyundai we had in the city finally shit the bed, and we were forced to pick up the last year body style. It was a nice car, but nowhere near as cool as the new styling. I also expressed my love of the Avant (read: station wagon), which remains one of the nicest sport wagons on the planet and offers all the benefits of an SUV and a sedan when loaded up with a rack.

David wasn’t buying it, but I could tell he was starting to see the light on the A4. So we went down and took a look. The test drive was great. Me sitting in the back seat, re-confirming my love for the car and so pissed for not having gotten it before Jackie ended up with the car. Which actually, in hindsight, is a blessing because had I gotten the new body style, Jackie and I might not be on talking terms since some other guy got to drive “my” car after we separated.

Digression… so anyway, we’re on a test drive, and I know this is the car for David. Now it was just a matter of picking options and finding the right one. We wander around looking at inventory, and there is this really sporty leftover silver one just calling our names. Both David and I are immediately drawn to this car. Compared to the other A4s, this one just looked more aggressive and more “sport sedan”-ish than the other ones. It was priced accordingly, as well, being several thousand more dollars than other A4s. But it was a leftover 2009.

Now begins the wonderful negotiation process where I need to help David a little bit with the “poker face.” He wants the car, but the way I see it, this thing has been leftover since 2009. 2010s are really where it is at, and clearly this car is way too loaded for the average A4 buyer.

Now I don’t know what it is about auto dealerships, but they literally create a sales experience that works against them. All the back and forth with the manager, then the “let me just talk to the manager,” then if you cannot make the call here, it’s “hoss.” David puts his number down, guy walks back and forth like four times—I shit you not—wasting two hours of our time with funny stories of why our price won’t work. So I remind David that the person who has the power at the negotiation table is the person who is willing to walk away from the deal, even if it is just for right now.

So we get up, walk out the door, and thank him for his time. I suggest to David that he call the guy once a week or so to ask the guy if the car sold, then ask him how much it cost them to keep it parked in the garage. This went on for a couple weeks when finally, the Audi folks came to the startling realization that in 2009, the car was worth X but was clearly going to sit on their lot until another David came along. David got his car, and I have never seen him so excited and sure about anything in his life. I was very proud of him on making the decision to get the car.

The one interesting thing about the purchase was that I never actually have been in it for the purpose of snowboarding. We NEVER went. I know he went up with a couple people, but he and I never actually took a single trip snowboarding in that car. I do know he loved the crap out of it, even more so then his little black BMW, which was also a great purchase.

He would walk around the car over and over every time it came out of the garage, inspecting it for the slightest dents. When he found one, he would steam on it for hours at a time. I would be so nervous when he was like, “You need to take the car and do this,” and that. I knew it was a double-edged sword. Something would happen in the garage, or he would miss something and then it would be on me that that something happened to the car. And sure enough, the car comes out and the garage put a little nick in the front fender, the very first time I needed to pick the car up. That would go down in infamy at his looking at me as if I had done anything.

After David killed himself, I had most of the dents repaired and even bought a wheel cap for the winter tires that he lost. I try to keep the car in as good of condition as I can, but I will tell you this: It will never ever be my car. I’ll always be carefully driving David’s car, thinking about what he will say if I make the slightest dent, ding, or scratch.