Consumer Reports

The process of buying a car has been, thus far, reasonably unpleasant.

I sold my reliable 1999 Honda Civic before I left for my short-lived relocation to California a couple months ago. Not a bright move in 20/20 hindsight, but had I stayed in San Francisco I would have been justified in not bringing the vehicle. Now that I’m back in the highway-dense DC/VA/MD tri-state area, a car is an absolute necessity. So I started shopping around.

Initially I was captivated by the unique styling and fuel economy of the Mini Cooper S, but a close inspection at a dealership belied its cheap interior and claustrophobically dense cockpit. I considered as well a Scion tC, Toyota’s strategic marketing of their youthful sub-brand having planted a brandworm in my head. If the Mini felt cheap, the Scion felt positively bargain-basement. Perhaps my frame of reference is askew, but I’m not sure why endless reviewers of the tC find it acceptable, particularly in comparison to the Civic. It drives, looks, and feels like the “my first ride” it’s marketed as.

Not being a real car buff, I was at something of a loss for options until directed to the 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse. I knew little more than that Mitsubishi was having trouble with their US auto sales, and that previous Eclipse models weren’t much to look at. The 2006 is another story, however. I won’t echo the ludicrously testosterone-pandering language of Mitsubishi’s press materials, suffice to say that it’s a sexy car, particularly for its rounded haunches. Rrrowr.

This newer model has only been out for the last month or so, and there’s little negotiation on price to be done when they’re flying off the lots. Nevertheless, I tracked a GT (the 6-cylinder model) down at a dealership well north of my perch this week in Annapolis. The test-drive went superbly, and I was ready to do the deal when a stark reality of American consumerism reared its bean-counting head.

I make a fine salary for a reputable company. I have no criminal record, and my personal history as read through a database is otherwise unmarred. There seems, logically, little reason why I would not be eligible for a decent-sized loan. This much was communicated to me, right before the bad news. Being young is a strike against one’s borrowing power in and of itself. That makes sense. But what will really do your consumer desires in is not having debt.

Now I know this isn’t news to many of you. We’re inundated from high school age with information about building good credit. I’ve had a credit card, paid off an Apple loan, and figured I was in the clear. Not so. To get a decent rate, most financial institutions want you to have four (4) lines of credit open. To make that happen by my tender age of twenty-one I either would have had to play the credit card game, applying for cards only to use them for gas money or other small purchases, or else really work at digging myself into consumer debt. In effect, I’m penalized for having lived frugally and responsibly as a student and young worker.

At the outrageously high loan rates I’m eligible for, an Eclipse GT would leave me with devastating monthly payments. I’m likely going to go for its 4-cylinder little brother, the GS (plus a very ample sound system upgrade). It’s hardly settling; either way I get a superb-looking car that will be more fun to drive than the dourly functional Civic.

I just wish that our credit system was a little more sane. It punishes people trying to work their way out of debt, and it punishes people who haven’t yet “proven” themselves overzealous consumers. At least the car dealers I’ve dealt with have been uncharacteristically nice.

As an aside, I’m perfectly comfortable volunteering information about my finances in the interest of conveying a word of warning to my peers. None of what I’ve stated would be hard to ascertain about me, and none of it isn’t fit for public eyes. It’s just money.