Used car shopping guide for the elderly

It is very important for seniors to adapt to just about everything if they are going to keep sane and happy. Don't like purple Mohawk hairstyles? Get used to them. Body piercing? Look the other way. And Rap music? Not all of it is mean and vulgar; some modern Rap is very descriptive. Give it a chance as long as it doesn't hurt. Be happy that it's someone else's kid. If it is yours, I'm sorry.

Raring to rip into the bag of unopened mail and toss everything untimely, I picked up a statement from our bank. It contained an ad. What? They'll give me $500 over the Blue Book price if I buy a used Enterprise car and refinance with them.

We're not too happy with our present Chevy Malibu. Like the girl says to the boy, "It's not you, it's me" we have the same feeling with the car. It's not the car; that's great. It's me. I'm too short to see the road from my low-to-the-floor driver's seat. My husband Cor is 92 and I'm 80 - we fall down into the car, but have a terrible time climbing up to ground level to get out. We had a Chrysler Pacifica. That was perfect: just back into the driver's seat at fanny-level and when ready to exit, swing your legs around and let gravity take its course.

The Chevy has been faithfully maintained at the local dealer's, so we opted to see what they could do on a trade. And that is why Day 2 of the challenge is about elderly car dealings.

No wanting to be totally green, we checked the online used inventory and prices within 50 miles of our home in Burlington, Vermont. Then we looked into the Blue, Black, Green any-color-book prices of cars in the sport-utility class as their seats are higher than sedans. Our car is a 2006 Malibu LT, listed at $10,000 +/-. We learned that was dealers' retail for an excellent car. Ours is neither. Lesson number one. Look at the lowest price: that's yours.

Our salesman, Mike was most obliging. After pouring over the ones I had seen on Shearer's website, we settled on two potential vans in the eighty to ninety thousand mile range; a Chevy and a Chrysler. I could see Cor was not thrilled with either, so we pressed further. Just before giving up, I came across a black minivan, roughly in our meager price range. Mike got the keys, put on a dealer plate and away we went.

I asked Cor where he wanted me to go. At that point, Mike said, "We'd better get some gas unless you just want to drive around the lot." Then he added, "The Mobil station is just up the road. I'll get the gas card and we can pull in there." Funny man.

About a block and a half later, as I pressed on the accelerator the car began slowing to a crawl. I was able to pull into a left turn lane as the car began to slip backwards. Quick, the brake! Now for the hazard lights - it's so practical to learn where all these things are when you need them. The knowledge really sticks.

Mike used the cell phone to call the dealer and ask for someone to bring us fuel. It arrived quickly enough, but by now, a magnificent Nor' Easter was dumping drizzling snow on us. The fuel arrived just as Mike realized our battery was dead. It never rains, but it pours. Mike was in the back seat shaking his head, "I've been in this business for sixteen years and this is a first for me."

Follow your horoscope. Mine said for today, "Nothing is going to go as planned..."