Clearly, the less expensive cars were in higher demand, and because they make it very easy to “reserve” a car while you consider buying it, other users were doing the same thing I was doing: reserving a lower-priced car in order to check it out for awhile, then returning it to the online fold later.
This led to a bit of a scrum when a decent lower-priced car showed up for sale. I’d try to grab it, then like one of those awful carnival giant claw machines, it would slip out of my grasp when another user grabbed it first.
I had some special needs as well. I have an older home in Queens with a very narrow driveway — at points, it’s only 75 inches wide — and had been very difficult for me to get the 73-inch-wide Impala into. I was looking forward to a narrower car that would be able to zip into parallel parking spaces easier in New York City, but not one so diminutive that it posed a safety hazard on New York highways. I wanted a five-star safety rating.
I also asked my kids what they wanted. My daughter wanted “a really big, giant one,” a request which I unfortunately had to reject. My son wanted “a red car” which seemed like an easier goal, and the two of them came to a consensus on this.
Few red cars that fit my parameters came up in the constantly revolving selection of lower-priced cars, but then one hit. A kicky red 2013 Dodge Dart with a five-star safety rating, 60,000 miles, 72 inches wide, right around $10,000. I managed to win the giant claw game this time.
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