Je suis Echoïste!

[chanaleh]

On Monday night I signed on a car!!!



It's a green 2001 Toyota Echo sedan (the poor woman's Jetta). So cute! So fuel-efficient! And the rear seats fold down to open out the trunk! Sure, it has no power windows or cruise control, but hey. -- One of the best moments was when I was on the phone with my dad last Sunday, getting his opinion, and I was going on about the different models and reliability and gas mileage and power-train warranty and this and that, and he said, "Wow, you've certainly done your homework!" *beam* Yeah, I did try...

To celebrate, Tiger Boy sent me the following link about, as far as I can tell, an entire movement of Echo artcars (it's from Canada, where the Echo is still being marketed, in fact in a hatchback version): Echoïste et fier de l'être. "Comme nous, les Echoïstes, chaque Echo est unique. À la fois sportive, irrévérencieuse, écologique et provocante, elle se transforme au gré de notre personnalité et de nos humeurs."

ablock schlepped me over to the dealer again last night to put in the actual down payment and sign a million forms. Today they're getting my license plates, and G-d willing, I'll be driving the thing home tonight.

Of course, this week's train commute has felt even more like Transit Hell knowing that I am so close to never having to do it again...! Plus, I thought buying a car would make me feel young and free, but right now (since all I've done is spend a ton of money and acquire a ton of paperwork) all I feel is old and weighted down with responsibility. I'm hoping that will change once I am actually behind the wheel. :-} It's a zippy little thing, good pickup, good brakes. Really, I am excited.

Thanks to everyone who's provided advice and moral/logistical support through this crazy process. (I went with Nancy Bender's office for insurance, BTW. Finally got renter's, too, while I was at it. Good Lord, I am a grownup.)

Comments

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

congrats!

You go!!!

[happypete.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on your purchase...

Praise from Dad is always good!

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

Green car women unite! Woooo! Congrats!

[quiet-elegance.livejournal.com]

Sweet! Congratulations.

[geoffroi.livejournal.com]

Congrats!

I saw a lot of the Echo hatchbacks up in Canada last year, and I was wondering why they weren't for sale here...they look really good.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

So... drag race? ;-)

[gilana]

Félicitations!

[nacht_musik]

Yay! And it goes perfectly with your hair! ;-)

[stevie-stever.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Congrats! You make me want to retire my lovely POS. :)

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Lemme just finish patching the exhaust so my car's not running on three cylinders.
(Oh wait, it only *has* three cylinders...)
(Oh wait, no, that's the other model. Yeah.)

[muffyjo]

Just remember that despite your familiarity with them, no driving on sidewalks. ;) You'll get used to being comfortably in the middle of the road, soon.

Congratulations!

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, basically it seems that the Echo flopped here because Americans just don't like tiny cheap cars. :-P But Canadians do, so the Echo's still thriving there. I would have considered a hatchback model if you could get them down here, for practical reasons -- but really I like the look of the sedans better, so I'm happy.

In running all this by my mom, I had told her that Toyota is bringing a replacement for the Echo to the U.S. this year, the Yaris -- I just can't even consider buying a car named the Yaris, what the hell is that? The salesguy said to me that even the name "Echo" had failed to appeal to Americans, and I was like, "But THAT's the best car name ever!" Anyway... she read up on both of them, and one of the themes she saw in reviews was how butt-ugly the Echo was and how much cooler-looking the Yaris. I so disagree. I think it's adorable, and the Yaris much uglier. So, hey. :-)

[magid.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Drive it in good health (its and yours :-).

[navrins]

Wow. I'm not a great fan of the look of the Echo, but the Yaris is downright ugly.

Congratulations on yours, though - may it bring you everywhere you want to go for many years.

[hotpoint.livejournal.com]

Terrific! That looks like a great car. I hope the auto-mobility makes your commute and your errands easier!

[mangosteen]

The Yaris has been on sale in Japan for years... and they finally decided to bring it to the states to see what would happen, hoping that the market for small cheap efficient cars might have gotten a boost lately.

The whole Scion brand (also Toyota) was an (apparently successful) attempt to transplant Japanese car models over to the states. "Americans as a whole like huge inefficient cars, but that's not all Americans. Let's try the youth market instead." Various "ka-CHING!" noises followed. :)

[mangosteen]

I disagree. The Yaris is mindblowingly cute.
Then again, I believe that cute hatchbacks are cute.

[besamim.livejournal.com]

Félicitations, chère amie. Mais <<Echoïste>> me semble comme mouvement politique ou esthétique. Tu devras maintenant porter un béret et fréquenter les cafés d'avant-garde.

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

Also, I totally hear ya on the transit hell. I had to visit Home Depot for something for the car, and so had to take the bus, which ended up taking an hour and a half longer than it should have as usual, and it was like 'I used to subject myself to this on a twice-daily basis?!' You're going to love life after the car. :)

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

That's definitely starting to change! I had a lot of competition when I went to get my Metro. I don't mind that I can fit it *under* a lot of the gas-guzzling monsters on the road.

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

Alas, poor Yaris... I knew him, Horatio...
It's kind of cute, but I still think the Metro wins as far as adorability.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

Merci! J'ai encore un beret rouge; mais peut-être que j'aurai besoin d'un beret vert, pour assortir la voiture?

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

Oh la la! Elle pouvait etre un <<beret vert!>>

[dragonfriek.livejournal.com]

Silly minds think alike. :) (see below)

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

How very cute. May you drive it in good health. :)