Adventures In Car Buying After Travelling For The Past Eight Months
/Setting: Travis and Nicole arrive at an Arizona car dealership having already identified a used car online that they are interested in purchasing. They take a test drive and Travis is sitting in the dealer's office while Nicole is on the phone with car insurers.
Travis: The car drives great -- we'd like to buy it.
Dealer: That's great, so let's get some of your information down.
Dealer grabs a form from desk. Travis provides their full names and phone numbers...
Dealer: So Travis, what is your income?
Travis: Well, actually.... zero.
Dealer: Oh ... okay, no problem, how about Nicole?
Travis: Ummm... zero, too.
Dealer looks confused, but marks zeros on his form.
Dealer: Hmmmm ... and what about your home, where do you live?
Travis provide the address of their friends' cabin where they will be staying upon their return to New York -- the closest thing to a permanent address they have at the time.
Dealer: Ok, great, so what's your mortgage payment there?
Travis: We don't own the home, so there isn't a mortgage for us.
Dealer: So what is your rent payment?
Travis: It's free actually, no rent. Side Note: A big thank you to our friends for letting us stay in their cabin while we plan our next steps! :)
Dealer looks even more perplexed, pauses then continues to write zeroes on his form. He looks up at Travis...
Dealer: Wow ... so ... I mean ... are you looking for work?
Travis: Well, not at the moment, we are on a work sabbatical! But I will start looking soon.
Dealer: Hmmm ... okay.
Travis and Nicole proceed with purchase of automobile. The first automobile they've owned in eight years!
Dealer: Great, so I'll just need a copy of your insurance and we'll get you on your way.
Travis: Car insurance? Oh, we don't have that. Nicole's actually trying to get us some now.
Dealer: Really?
Travis: Yeah, we haven't owned a car in awhile.
Dealer: Wow. Well I can't let you drive your car off the lot without proof of insurance.
Travis: Oh.
Nicole, in the mean time, has been on the phone talking to various insurance agents....
Agent: So who are we transferring the insurance from?
Nicole: No one, we haven't owned a car in eight years.
Agent: Eight years? Hmmmm ... let me check our policies [On Hold]. Okay, what is your address in Arizona?
Nicole: Actually our address is in New York, we are just buying it in Arizona.
Agent: Oh, well shoot, we can't insurance across state lines, sorry!
Nicole dials to next insurer and provides information...
Agent: Well, we can certainly help you out, let's see... Due to the holidays and signatures needed, we should have you all set in approximately three weeks.
Nicole: Three weeks??? Sorry, looks like I will need to call another insurer, we need insurance tonight.
Travis contemplates having to ask the dealership if they can store the car he just bought for a few days because he isn't legally allowed to drive it. Then ... Nicole's third call is the charm! ... Car insurance for the Meserve Reserve abounds!
Travis and Nicole drive their car off into the sunset dreaming of their upcoming U.S. road tripping adventures. Stay tuned for more!
Road trippin' in our new (used) car!
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