February 2, 2008

Time to Celebrate!!!

I just made my last payment on the S…She’s mine!

5 years ago this week a young(er) man with a lead foot and a love for sportscars, set out on a quest to buy his dream car.

I was living in NJ, having moved there for work (not my 1st choice). I had leased and then purchased my ‘95 Accord and had not had a car payment for a few years. While it was great that I owned the Accord, I wished I had something cooler. I had spent all those years making payments on the Accord, and was left with just an Accord. What if I had made payments on something cool? I had considered buying something classic. My neighbors, as I was growing up, had (67-68) Mustangs or (56-57) T-birds, so I thought about something like that. But once I started looking into it, I wondered how much additional it would cost just to maintain a classic car. I did know that I wanted a convertible. That would insure the fun factor. Rather than getting a maintenance nightmare, I decided to get something that was new, had a warranty and would most likely be reliable. Something that might be a classic car in the future and definitely cooler than the Accord. I considered and looked at the S2000, the Boxster, the 350Z, the TT, the SLK and even the T-bird (no judgments, I was just looking folks). Part of my consideration was what would be reliable. The Accord I owned was an incredibly reliable car. I still own it today as my 2nd car. And I had previously owned an ’84 Accord that had 210K miles on it before I donated it to charity. So I kept coming back to the S2000. The dealership I passed on the way home each day had 3 Silverstone S’s and it was the middle of winter (and in NJ). I figured they’d be willing to make a deal. I emailed the dealership to schedule a test drive. The Saturday I went to the dealership, it had snowed the day before. The car had to be dug out of the snow before driving. The salesman I had spoken with was already helping someone when I got there, but took the time to let me test drive the car. As soon as we got back to the dealership, I said, “I’ll take it!” (He really didn’t have to try and sell it to me) He quickly completed my sale and went back to helping the other customer. A day or so later, my salesman picked me up, drove me back to the dealership, and I got to drive her home. It was snowing as I drove her carefully home. Here’s a picture of her the week that I brought her home.

Because of the snow, I had to park her. I think the day after I bought her; I bought a car cover that arrived a week later.

At times I had wondered if it was a wise decision to purchase the S. I got paid pretty well and thought that I could afford it, but living in NJ and later in CT wasn’t cheap. I additionally thought about selling the S when I was out of work for 6 months and had moved back to GA. All thoughts of regret quickly disappear once I realize the great group of friends that I’ve gained from owning the S and all the thrills this little car has given me.

So 5 years later and 60 payments, she’s mine! Yeah!!

*No, I am not now going to by a BMW now.

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April 20, 2006

Off to the Dragon

(yeah, I know it’s my first post and I should write something to open with, but I’m inclined to cut to the chase and talk about the here and now)
So tomorrow I’m off to the Dragon. Owners of Honda S2000’s will be traveling to Western North Carolina to participate in the 4th Annual Wake the Dragon event. The Dragon is a road that runs from Deals Gap NC Northwest into Tennessee toward Knoxville, with 318 Curves in 11 miles. It should be a fun weekend.
Here’s a pic of me from last year: Me @ Dragon

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