This'll be funny someday...

Steve and I bought a new car two weeks ago. I didn't blog about it initially because I was waiting for time to nudge what happened on that car lot from the frustrating to the funny side of the equation.

The newly acquired vehicle is a 2014 VW Jetta SportWagen (brand new, only 9 miles on it when we bought it). My top three criteria when we went shopping (the first two heavily influenced by the scary accident that demolished our poor truck): 

1. Safety (I didn't want to look at anything that didn't get a perfect score from IIHS)

2. Visibility (I wanted to feel I was sitting up high enough to see what was going on around me, coupled with large and well-placed windows)

3. Hauling capability (Though I don't expect a wagon to be able to do everything our little pickup truck could do, I wanted it to be able to handle most of our project needs)

It has a clean diesel engine (no smell like old diesels) so it gets up to 42 mpg highway (30 city) and 600 miles per tank (nice to not have to stop for gas on our drives to Southern California). We got an automatic transmission as I am past the point in my life where I'm willing to sit in traffic with a stick shift. It drives wonderfully and has all the fun bells and whistles one expects in a new car: navigation system, bluetooth, backup camera, etc. It also has a feature I love as a person prone to carsickness: air vents in the backseat (in the center console facing the rear seats, that is). Steve and I are very happy with the car so far.

So, what was the aforementioned frustrating part? After a long day at the dealership, after the finance and sales staff detailed the car themselves so we wouldn't have to wait any longer for the overworked detail guy, as I sat in the car adjusting my seat to drive off the lot, before I could even start the engine to move from where the dealership staff had parked the car... another customer backed into our brand new car.

(dent around seam between front fender and front passenger door)

The other customer clearly didn't even turn around to check behind him before backing out of his parking spot. He sheepishly admitted fault on site to the pissed-off sales guys (who were much angrier than I was about the whole thing). Luckily the other customer's insurance has moved forward promptly and our new car is currently being repaired. The dent wouldn't be such a big deal, except that it impedes the operation of the front passenger door. And that I was (and am) still a little shaky behind the wheel after the accident and the crunch sound and rocking of the car after it was hit triggered a bit of an anxiety attack. [sigh]

Regardless, it's a great car and we're happy with it. Soon we'll even be able to open the passenger door without the terrible cracking/popping sound. That'll be nice.