Car shopping in the 21st Century

(Editors note:  We’ve omitted the names of the cars.)   My wife has a 10 year-old car.  The wipers stopped working.   She loves the car and wants to drive it for another 100,000 miles.  Took it to the dealer who replaced the wiper motor.   A week later the wipers stopped working again.  You really can’t own a car in this state if the wipers don’t work.   So we took it back to the dealer for the third time.   This time they said they found the problem.  Two wires were rubbing against each other and shorting out the motor.   They replaced the motor for the fourth time.   Three days ago, the wipers stopped working.   It was then we decided that she needed a new car – – or at least a low mileage, fairly new, used car.

We drove them all – – all of those with our criteria.   New ones, used ones, some with great reputations, some with major rebates attached.

The result – – car buying the the 21st Century is more than buying a form of transportation.   Cars now not only get you from point A to point B – – but are also your living units with a measure of “Mom” attached.

Dashboards are alive with buttons, gadgets, lights and instrumentation.   Video screens in the dash connect you instantly to the world.   Where do you want to go, I’ll show you, they say.  I know the weather.   I can connect you to your party. On and on, the new cars have become your living room, entertainment center and video conferencing center.   If you want to listen to music, you have half a dozen choices of devices.

You don’t need a key to start the car anymore.  The FOB does it for you.   A friend of mine bought a brand new car and spent half an hour trying to get out of it.   He finally rolled down the window and opened the door from the outside.  Recently, while trying out a 2013 vehicle, I got locked out.   The FOB wouldn’t work and I couldn’t open the door.

And now, we bring Mom along on all trips.   The soft pleasant female voice tells us to buckle up, back up carefully, don’t go over the lines and watch out for traffic.    It also tells me when I missed my turn.

I don’t know how I was able to drive from one place to another without Mom along.