Ellie To Pearl

Two years ago Steve and I wanted a "cheap" car in Florida so we found a Honda Element, the ugliest car since the Aztez.  The main problem with it was that the back seat was set so far back that our old friends down here (FRED) had a rough time getting into the back seat and in order for the back seat passenger to get out, the front door had to be opened before the back doors could open.  It wasn't so bad for Steve and I because we don't have kids but for a parent trying to drop kids off at school it would be a horrible choice. 

We got to Florida to a mountain of mail and one of the items was an offer to trade Ellie in for a new car so we thought we'd go in and check it out.  We looked at an SUV but they were small and more than what we wanted to spend.  Steve told me to look at the Accord so we did.  We really liked it.  Nigel, the man we purchased Ellie from was there and worked with us.  Ellie had 3600 miles on her and they were not giving us much of a deal on her so I walked away telling them that it was them who approached us about this and the trade in offer was horrible.  A day later I received a note from Nigel asking me what payment I wanted.  I told him is was not the payment but we were not getting a deal on Ellie NOR were we getting anything off on the Accord.  He wrote back again telling me there were now incentives on the Accord but did not tell me what they were.  I told him point blank, I am not going to negotiate against myself and I wanted to know what the incentives were.  He then told me he'd give us $500 more for Ellie and $1000 off the Accord.  That afternoon we went in to do the paper work and now we have Pearl.  She even has a door unlock switch on my side and lights that go on by themselves, which Ellie didn't.   We really moved up in the world.  We plan to drive Pearl back to Wisconsin this spring and drive back for the summer and fly home for school to start again.   Sounds like a plan to me.  Although flying is much quicker, it is not as easy with Mr. Moe as we had hopped and Steve's doctor saw no reason we could not drive as long as he got out regularly to walk around.  With the dog and two weak bladders, we have to do that anyway.