April 22, 2006

April 22, 2006

Kingston & Belleville, Ontario

YEAR 2 DAY 309

 

Today was raining and cold.

BUT ... WOO-HOO ... we bought an ( almost ) new truck !

This morning after showering I phoned the 2 Dodge dealers in the vicinity of Belleville. We had decided that Belleville was as far west as we were going to shop for a new truck. One of the dealers didn't have what we wanted. The other one did, but it wasn't new, it was slightly used. We decided to consider it, and set up an appointment. We drove to Belleville, about an hour west of Kingston towards Toronto. The salesman was waiting for us when we arrived.

He dealt with us very promptly and professionally. Within an hour we had a fair and reasonable trade in value on Dee-Dee, we negotiated a price for the new truck, and a deal was made ! We bought a 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 4x4 Quad Cab SLT Sport, a one ton diesel dually with the Cummins turbo-diesel engine. WOO-HOO-HOO-HOO ! ! ! It was originally sold in Montreal almost a year ago, but was recently repossessed by Chrysler Canada. It has approximately 17,500 km. on it. Buying a new truck lifts a huge weight off my shoulders.

We had reached a deal within an hour, but it took us about another 2 hours to deal with paperwork, registration, insurance, sales tax issues, and finally, test drive the truck ... after we had already bought it. We left the dealership, and drove to a nearby large mall to have a celebratory lunch. Joanne had KFC, because we never have KFC. Mr. Colon and KFC don't get along very well. I had a hot dog and ... ( yesss ! ) ... poutine ! Haven't had poutine in 2 years ! Yippee ! While we were having lunch, our friend Erbon in Ottawa phoned to discuss our upcoming visit to Ottawa. After lunch we drove over to Wal-Mart to get a box to ship Amelia's birthday gift. Finally, we drove back to Kingston, to Rideau Acres. Once again, the day was a bit longer than we had anticipated it would be.

We took care of the animals. I phoned Joyce Malley, and we tentatively arranged to meet for dinner tomorrow. I reviewed the new truck paperwork, and dreamed of how nice it is going to be to have a new, reliable, safe truck. Cross your fingers ! We had supper. I did today's accounting. Sharon returned my phone call, and I explained to her what I need her to do to get the new truck registered and insured. We will be having the dealership send everything to Sharon by overnight courier, she will take care of everything with Autopac, and courier everything back to the dealership. Hopefully, that will be all completed by Wednesday, or Thursday by the latest, assuming there's no glitches. Again, cross your fingers.

I did today's journal. I read a Chrysler extended warranty plan booklet. I have never considered extended warranties to be a good purchase, but after the last 2½ years with Dee-Dee, I'm extremely tempted. I have until I pick up the new truck to decide whether or not to purchase the extended warranty.

Oh, boy ... a new truck !

DSK