The Car Purchase

Car buying, stage 1.

My objective was to purchase an old beater truck, nothing too nice, but functional for the new “Ranchito”. Lacking the presence of any used car dealerships here in San Miguel, I enlisted the help of my friend Karla. Karla’s husband is the bass player in the band Pila Seca and they recently left for tour in the U.S., leaving 5-month pregnant Karla behind. I promised Mauricio (her husband) that I would keep an eye on her so what better way than to get her to help me buy a truck.

Karla is not like the pregnant women that I met growing up. Instead of wearing large blousy tops to conceal her condition, she wears tiny tee shirts that leave her bulging middle exposed. Karla is so petite that at five months pregnant she looks seven months and her tummy is out there for the world to see.

After a fruitless internet search Karla suggested that we call her Uncle in Queretaro to see if he knew of any used car dealerships. Not only did he know of a couple but he agreed to takes us to them.

The next morning we set out in Karla’s car. I drove as her condition makes driving uncomfortable for her. In addition, she usually has Mauricio drive her so neither of us were entirely certain where we were going. Queretaro is a city of a million people and getting lost was to be more the rule than the exception. We met her Uncle in the parking lot of Costco since it was the only place that either of us had the remotest idea how to find.

I was a little uncomfortable, as transactions of this nature tend to be in cash. So there I was with $45,000 pesos (approx. $4,500 USD) in the pocket of my cargo pants, as we headed off. The two dealerships were right next to each other and they had a fair inventory of cars but trucks, small trucks (not the big Dodge Ram type), were scarce. I particularly wanted a Nissan as they are the predominant vehicle in San Miguel and I felt servicing would be easier.

The dealer was just putting an SUV out onto the lot. It was a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder with oversized tires, custom wheels, Bose stereo system, four-wheel drive and about every bell and whistle one could ask for. It had a crack in the windshield but it was also sporting only 68,000 miles and was in very good condition. It was 115,000 pesos. They told Karla that they would take 110,000. We kept looking around the lot where most of the pickups had over 150,000 miles on them, and I kept being drawn back to the Pathfinder. So I took down the information and asked Karla’s uncle if we could go to an internet café and off we went.

I looked up the Kelley Blue Book web site and entered the vehicle information. What the dealer was asking was almost identical to the value listed at Kelley. When I went to pay for my internet time, Karla’s uncle had already paid. Back to the dealer we went.

We approached the pathfinder to take another look. As we were standing next to it, Karla eating cereal from a Tupperware container, a woman approached the dealer and began speaking. Karla leaned over to me. “That woman over there wants to buy it. She just came from the bank with the money but they guys told her that you were first and you have to decide.” The pressure was now on, not to mention that I had only 45,000 pesos on me. I need a days notice to take money out of my bank here because it is not really a bank but a brokerage house and they need to sell shares and prepare the check. My other option was to write a check on my U.S. bank account and get my Mexican bank to guarantee it. So I called my account representative, Inez, on my cell phone (yes, one actually has an account representative that is available by phone). She assured me that I could cash my check at Lloyds in Queretaro and if there was any problem to have them call her. Relieved, I hung up the phone. Then I looked in my backpack to find that I had not brought my checkbook.

Now this was a Friday and Lloyds is closed on Saturdays. It is now about 3:00 in the afternoon and we are an hour from San Miguel. Lloyds closes at 5:00. The dealer agreed to a 5,000 peso deposit to hold the car and off we raced to San Miguel where I stopped at the house and picked up my checkbook and then charged off to Lloyds. Inez was gone for the day but I relayed the story to the receptionist. “I’m not certain that we have that much cash, let me call someone.” She did, they did, but in small bills. So with a sack of money I returned home. Karla suggested that we take the bus the next morning so that we could drive the car back. “I warn you,” she said, “It is going to be a long day. We have to take the car to the Transito to make sure that it is not stolen.”

I went out that night. A friend was singing at one of the local bars and another friend had reserved a huge lounge section for us. After the concert we were all having so much fun that we continued on. I finally got home at 3:30 in the morning and fell into bed.

The alarm went off at 8:00 and I nearly cried. It was raining and the sound of the rain and the warmth of the blankets said, “Stay in bed.” But I knew I couldn’t. Karla was waiting, so was my new car. We arrived at the bus station and had to wait until 10:00 for the next bus. We both slept nearly all the way to Queretaro. Then we took a taxi to the dealership where we all piled into the prospective new car and drove to the Transito. An official there took the car and disappeared. Another official walked around carrying a large riffle. About an hour after we were clear to go but one of the men wanted a tip, “For a beverage or something.” The dealer suggested 100 pesos. Karla said, “That’s a lot of soft drinks” (all in Spanish of course). She was pissed, I just wanted to get out of there and I paid. All through this I’m carrying the equivalent of $10,000 USD in cash in my backpack and I’m beginning to sweat.

I was also going to have a mechanic look at the car but by the time we had driven to the Transito and back, I thought, “What the hell, I want this car and if anything is wrong with it I’ll just have to have it fixed.” Back at the dealership we closed the deal, Karla reading over all the detailed information. We were free in a new (used) vehicle. From there we went to Sam’s, Walmart and La Europea before having comida at Karla’s uncle’s house. There I inspected and admired toy cars handed to me by 6 year old boys as I recovered from my adrenalin rush of the purchase. One of them came over to me while I was eating and began singing a song in English until his parents kicked him out. (They don’t see many gringos in Queretaro.) Karla faked a doctor’s appointment so that we could leave immediately after eating.

The last two days I’ve done little other than drive around. Volunteering to take friends home, move furniture, shop for groceries, listening to music on the stereo system, etc. The car is a little big for the streets of San Miguel and I sometimes have to fold my mirrors in. But I’m not alone. The other gringos and the chilangos from Mexico City have the same size or bigger cars. Parking is nearly impossible in Centro. But the sense of independence offered by having a vehicle has opened up new horizons. Tomorrow I go to get the car registered in San Miguel and to look into getting a Mexican drivers license. I’m sure that this will be an adventure in itself.

Now a house (renovations for phase I start October 4 and are expected to be completed by mid-November) and a car (that is nicer than my old car in the bay area). I guess that I’m going to be here for awhile.