[speaker001:] Well, what, what kind of car, did you just buy a car or are you in the market to buy a car or,
[speaker002:] Actually, I'm real close to being in the market to buy a car.
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] I've got, uh, a couple older cars, they're both over ten years old
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and, uh, they've served me well, but I kind of would like to get a more, uh, gas efficient car
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and a newer model, something looks a little nicer.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Uh, I've got three children at home. Two fourteen year olds and a twelve year old, and so I need to make sure I've got one that I can fit,
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] all five of us into.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And if you, if you know anything about teenagers it's kind of hard to get them to sit together for any amount of time.
[speaker001:] Yeah, I, I seem to remember when I was young that was a problem [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] No, * Seems that all of B.17 is one utterance. The "no's" are not negative answers but the start and restart of utt 3 no car was big enough for that [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Well, uh, I've kind of been leaning towards a Caravan.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Uh, now I know that, that, uh, they've gotten quite pricey in the last couple of years, but, uh, I like the Dodge products and, uh, been, uh, couple times I've had a opportunity to rent one
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] uh, I've been really pleased with its performance and with the size and because if you get the seven passenger version [LAUGHTER] you can put some space between the kids.
[speaker001:] Yeah, yeah.
[speaker002:] And, uh, I think that would, that would serve us well. Plus it's got, uh, good storage capacity in it for, you know, taking things along,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] going to the store,
[speaker001:] Which is the one that has modular type seats? You know which one I'm talking about? They have the commercial on TV where you can, you can pull some seats out,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and you can move around.
[speaker002:] Exactly correct. Yeah, if you want,
[speaker001:] Is that, is that the Dodge Caravan,
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] that does that or,
[speaker002:] Yeah it, uh, the Dodge Caravans will do that. Uh, you can take the, uh, uh, usually there's a, uh, a double seat behind the, uh, front buckets.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And then if you get the, and then there's a three seat that goes or three person seat that goes in the back. Now what you can do is you could take that middle seat out and just have the three seats in the back,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and the two seats up front, or you can take the, uh, three seat out and just use the two seat or you can take the two seat and move the two seat to the back. So it's very versatile. You can move,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] the seats all around. About the only thing you can't do is take that three person across seat,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and move it forward.
[speaker001:] Well, the one that, I can't remember one it is, if it's the, it it's the Toyota or, or one of the other ones. I don't know if it's one of the Americans or the import ones where, uh, they actually have like, uh, some bucket seats in the back but you can actually pull them out. I mean they're really easy to pull out.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Uh, and you can, uh, move them around and stuff and it, it, to me, that, that would be real good for us. Uh, my husband and I, uh, like to go camping and stuff,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and right now we have a van which is, it's an older van and we're, we're thinking about buying another sedan, uh, probably next year. Uh, [lipsmack] right now motorcycles takes precedence,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] since that, that's what my husband really wants right now. But, uh, next year we'll probably buy a new car and we're looking at, uh, possibly the Honda Accord. Uh, that's kind of, uh, as far, as far as the interior, it's got the luxury interior, but d-, it doesn't really have the luxury price tag that a lot of the other cars have, which is one of the things that we were looking at.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] You know, finding something that's, that's fairly affordable, but, yet has all the nice luxury items that we want.
[speaker002:] Yeah, I think that's getting to be kind of important now that, uh, the price is becoming the driving factor,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and then you look at, once you realize how much money you've got to spend, then you start looking around at, at what you can buy with it, where before I think you, you looked at the car you wanted, and then you looked to see how well you could afford it [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Yeah.
[speaker002:] Or how you could afford it.
[speaker001:] Well, I think it's going to be a lot easier now. I just heard that they lowered the prime lending rate, so I think it's going to be a lot easier to, to be able to get a car now
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] and finance it. I think banks are going to be a lot more, a little bit more lenient.
[speaker002:] Yeah, I know they're trying to do everything they can to, uh, end the recession.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And dropping the prime is probably one of the things. I just bought a new house so [lipsmack] I got a, a, uh, nine and a half percent interest rate.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I'm not sure I could do much better today. But, uh, that is also effecting buying a new car [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah. I can imagine. You got to kind of work, work that into your budget.
[speaker002:] Well, that and that,
[speaker001:] Balance that and the house payment, and of course, uh, is if you buy a new car you're going to, are any of your kids driving age yet?
[speaker002:] Uh, two fourteen year olds will be, uh, fifteen on the fourth of July so,
[speaker001:] Are s-, are they twins?
[speaker002:] Yeah, they're twins born on the bicentennial.
[speaker001:] Oh, wow.
[speaker002:] You're going to have twins have them on the bicentennial, is our motto. July fourth seventy-six [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] So, uh, uh, I've still got another full year and three months before they're going to be behind the wheel,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] of a car. So America's safe for another fifteen m-, and, uh, after that, [lipsmack], now I may keep the, uh, one or both of the two cars I, I currently have, for them to drive. You know, they're, they're, they're small enough that a first time driver could handle it, yet big enough that I feel s-, feel safe that,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] if they were in an accident they would survive.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Know what I mean. It, I don't get that kind of feeling with the kind of car like you talked about, the Honda. They're just,
[speaker001:] Well, the, the Honda's have been, have been very safe.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] In, in accidents, uh, more so that a lot of the American cars.
[speaker002:] Is that right?
[speaker001:] Matter of fact I just heard something today on, on the news about those, uh,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] automatic seat belts that are attached to the door
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] uh, they're questioning the safety of those now saying that, and they showed, uh, a simulation where there w-, they had a dummy in the car and the door opened and the dummy actually fell out of the car and the car rolled out on top of him.
[speaker002:] Jeez.
[speaker001:] So they're saying they're not as safe as, they give the appearance of being safe, but they're really not as safe as they, as they, uh, appear to be. So, uh, I'm kind of concerned about that as far as, you know, w-, the seat belts.
[speaker002:] Well,
[speaker001:] Uh, I don't know if Maryland has a, uh, a seat belt law, but they do have one in Texas.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] And you're,
[speaker002:] Definitely.
[speaker001:] you're required to wear them.
[speaker002:] The thing is that they're, I think it's a two part seat belt, though, there's the, uh, door belt and then there's one,
[speaker001:] Exactly.
[speaker002:] a lap belt.
[speaker001:] But, ninety, uh, probably about, well, I don't know about ninety, but probably fifty percent of the people that have those probably don't wear the lap portion of it. I know my brother doesn't and he has one in his car.
[speaker002:] Make sure you smack him around then [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] So, I mean, it, it kind of gives you a false sense of security. You think, oh, I've got one portion of my seat belt on, uh, but if your door comes open, you know, it's not going to do you any good.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] So, that, that, that's a concern of mine as far as, uh, what I'll be looking at with buying a new car. Uh, I'm not really sure if I would want the seat belts attached to the door. I think I would feel better with them attached to the actual car. The inside where they're normally attached to,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] like behind the door.
[speaker002:] Yeah. The, uh, the supports. Uh, [lipsmack] a good source of information I've found has always been these, uh, used car manuals
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] because you can flip through the used car manuals and they'll give you a list of all the problems that the car's had in the past.
[speaker001:] Um.
[speaker002:] And you can look at the, uh, the track record on,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] a car over the year, and, you usually notice, uh, a lot of problems at the beginning and then things kind of iron out,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] to where,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] there's fewer problems. And you get an idea on how well the, the next car's going to be. Now as long as they aren't changing the model, you know, like when the, uh, Pontiac Grand Prix went from being a huge car to a small car they had a lot of problems,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] with the smaller car. As long as they aren't,
[speaker001:] Yeah, the, the Le Mans is like that, too. Uh, we used to have a Le Mans when I was in, in high school, uh, and it was a big car. I mean it was like the, uh, the Grand Prix,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and in, I think around nineteen eighty, uh, they changed the model and it, like, went to half the size.
[speaker002:] Yeah, sure.
[speaker001:] Literally, I mean it got chopped in half and it wasn't even the same car anymore. Didn't even remotely resemble the old car.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Yeah, I remember when that happened. So unless they're really changing the model, uh, yeah, chances are that it's probably going to have the, the fewer mistakes than it had the year before.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Well, everybody that I've talked to who's ever had a Honda
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] loves them. And my husband had a Honda, uh, and it was a lease car and he had to turn back in, uh, a year and a half ago. Uh, and he had it for four years and never had a single problem with it. And it was great. Uh, and the only reason why we ended up not buying it was because we didn't feel, the, at the time the residual was like sixty-five hundred dollars and it was a four year old car with seventy thousand miles on it and we thought that was a little bit too much to pay for
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] uh, a four year old car [breathing].
[speaker002:] Yeah, I agree.
[speaker001:] So, so we ended up, just went, just went ahead and just turned the keys back in and, and got out of the lease. Uh, [pause] one thing that I, that I am curious about is, uh, reading information on air bags, do, some of the vans I think, I don't know about the Dodge Caravan, but some of the vans now have driver side air bags.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Which I think is a good idea.
[speaker002:] Yeah.