Yay!!! I got a 2000, red Toyota Celica GTS!

[JonathanLB]

Today my dad and I went to a dealership here that actually had what I was looking for, which is amazing because I have searched the entire United States and had a lot of trouble finding this exact car.

First, they don't make very many Celica's anyway. I don't know if this is true where you guys are, but lately the Mustang's are just INVADING! I see them everywhere. I love them, they are fantastic looking cars, nearly as cool as the Celica I think (some would say better, but I prefer the Celica), but there are too darn many of them. I've only ever seen one red Celica and it was a GT, not even a GTS, which is not what I wanted anyway.

Plus, even though I found several GTS models here in Portland even, they were both manual transmission, i.e. stick shifts, and I will not drive that kind of car. It's just way too inconvenient and not enjoyable at all. They have really slow takeoff too. The acceleration is not good when you have to screw around with the clutch and the gears, jesus, it's horrid. I have driven with other people who have stick shift cars and they know how to drive them, but they still are not able to just GO when the light turns green. Sorry, no thanks.

Anyway, I found a used 2000 Celica GTS with 19,500 miles on it. We talked the dealership down from $22,600 to $20,487 (don't know why so exact). The car is like $29,000 new with all of the options this has. Power steering, power brakes, power windows, anti-lock brakes, side airbags for both passenger and drivers seats, sunroof, etc etc.

It's also an automatic, but the good thing is (for those obsessed with their stupid stick shifts) that it also has a manual option. You can crank the thing over sideways on drive and then you can use steering-wheel based buttons to change gears manually. Very nice. My dad's Aston Martin has the same option, only slightly differently configured.

I got to drive the Celica back home today, so I actually got it! My dad ran out of checks and I actually had to write a check for $20,956 (with fees and security added to the previous car price) out of my own bank account! Of course I do not have that much, but my dad will wire the money tomorrow to my account. It was funny writing a check so big. The biggest I ever wrote before was $1,000 to a Webmaster in New York.

Anyway this car is a lot of fun, I love it! It feels SO nice to drive. It's just awesome and it's a real car, which I've never really driven before. I've only ever driven an SUV pretty much. There is such a huge difference. It is also front-wheel drive, which is actually superior to back wheel drive, not just in general but also specifically for rain and icy weather conditions, which are common in Portland so that is pretty sweet.

Now, my AOTC viewings will not be restricted by not having a car! YAY! :) I am very happy.

My dad is awesome for getting me that car. It was super cool of him. It is my first actual car. The last one was not mine, it was just the one I used and had insurance for. The new one is actually registered to me and the title is to me. :)

What a cool car, makes driving fun again.

[BUFFJEDI]

it's about darn time;) sounds pretty darn cool. Just don't get crazy, and DON"T get to many speeding tickets:D

[JonathanLB]

I do not want any speeding tickets. Speaking of which, thank you. You just reminded me I really want to order a Radar Detector here soon. I am going to need it going back and forth from Corvallis to Portland. Everyone speeds there. If you don't, get off the road, I don't want to be behind you, lol.

The speed, I guess, is 65, but that's so slow for a straight freeway. I'd say most people go 75 to 80. I have hit 95 on that road before, going back with Ben once. That was with the Montero too, which is amazing, haha, stupid car. I am not a speedy driver. I'm very cautious and safe and super anal. I get REALLY mad when people don't put on their turn signals and I always stop completely for every stop sign, then I wait for at least one second as the law says before going again. I'm a safe driver, so I doubt I will have many problems. My only problem so far was that stupid Montero really. With the Celica I can absolutely guarantee none of that would have happened. First, it could not roll over like that. Second, it's front-wheel drive, NOT back wheel drive, so it cannot fishtail at the front like that. It's just not possible.

Yeah this will help my AOTC count a lot, haha. A lousy 5 viewings in the last two weeks makes me ill. Now it's go time! :)

[JMK]

Nice score!
Personally I would have gotten manual, for many reasons, but the biggest being engine life. Did you lease or buy outright?

[darth_mcbain]

Sounds sweet - post some pics when you get a chance...

[JonathanLB]

Manual or automatic IS a personal choice, so I can understand that, but I do not like driving stick at all and I far prefer something that is straight-forward and easy to use. The whole clutch nonsense just bothered me when I tried to learn stick. I still think I could figure it out pretty quickly, but this has manual transmission options. I just would rather use automatic anyway.

I bought the Celica outright, cash transaction. I wrote a check for $20,956 because my dad didn't have his checkbook, LOL, so he is wiring the money into my account before the check is deposited, i.e. like today. So that was pretty weird... I've never written a five digit check before. :)

[JMK]

Good move.
I don't think I'll ever write a 5-digit cheque!

[JonathanLB]

Even my dad didn't have that much money in his checking account. I mean, he doesn't just go around writing big checks, hehe. It's easier to wire money from some other account than to write a check, but this worked well enough. It'd be really tight to deposit a $20,000 check! Now someday, I hope I can do that! :) Or more, hehe.

[Super Wookiee]

rice burner alert. Get a real car

[JonathanLB]

Ok General Ceel, i.e. your name at the Swamps, why don't you go read my post there because you're not worth my time reposting it.

I will give you the short version though, this is going to be SHOCKING for you: the Americans DO NOT have the best cars! Wow, what a revelation. You want great cars, you go to Europe or Japan. Toyota's are the most reliable cars on the road, not GM, not Ford, TOYOTA. I'd much rather have a Toyota than a GM or a Ford, not even to mention that you cannot find an inexpensive, sweet looking American car. Now, you can get a pretty cool looking Dodge, I mean, they are ok. They're very ordinary but they are better than most of the alternatives.

The Celica is very much a REAL car, in fact, it's a REALLY awesome car probably far better than whatever idiotic thing you drive.

Have fun under the bridge ya troll.

[Rmiao]

I'd definitely take my Maxima over any American sedan. Not that the cars aren't good, but they just aren't as good. All the consumer reports and other ratings show it.

[JonathanLB]

Amen to that. I agree. Just look at the facts...

[Taylor Millard]

I've got a 2001 Corolla. Great car. Too bad it got totalled over a month ago. Grrr....Oh well I get it back...soon. I think.

[Marcus Telcontar]

I have a Galant VR-4 and even if it is an older beast, it would give the two fingered salute to just about anything coing out of Detroit. You might have some good stuff in the USA, but simply put, your home-born cars are simply not as good. No one in their right mind in Australia would choose a USA built car over the Jap and Euro or Aussie cars we have. Oh and your next Pontiac GTO? It's actually the Holden Monaro, aussie built.

[JonathanLB]

Sorry, but I gotta agree with Marcus here. I love the USA, but being patriotic doesn't mean ignoring the facts. The Japanese make better video games than us too, so what? It doesn't matter, it's just the way it is. Same goes with cars. There is nothing wrong with Japanese cars. It's not like, "Well it is my duty as an American to ignore Japanese made cars and act like they are horrible vehicles!"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

You know why it is, right?

Its our own fault. I seem to recall we forbid Japan from having an army (or maybe my facts are screwy) after WWII. So, all those resources for an army had to go SOMEwhere.

So Japan simply put all their extra resources into research and making cool gadgets. Voila! They are now the best at everything!

Yes, over simplified, but still true, nu?

[CMJ]

Very true LD. We also stufled ingenuity right after WWII and let the Japanese pass us(see "Tucker" and you'll see what I mean).

[JonathanLB]

Well...

The Japanese are not best at everything, lol, but they are my favorite country other than the U.S. because they contribute the most to the world economy. They have a ton of cool inventions and products and they are actually useful. They develop technology that furthers the human race.

Many other countries make nothing of real value. They make special chocolate, or they make different cars, or they make wine or something, but who really cares? The world could do without all of that and not be any worse really, but the Americans and the Japanese, and occassionally a few other countries like Britain, lead the drive for new technology and human development. Most countries in Africa and the Middle East, for instance, do not contribute anything useful to anyone. I'm sure someone is thinking, "What about oil?" What about it? If we owned their land, we'd have their oil. They didn't make oil. It was already there to begin with, lol.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Well we *don't* own their land, so they DO contribute oil. DUH.

And what was this about special chocolates not mattering?! HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT THE WORLD WOULD BE LIKE WITH NO CHOCOLATE?!

Believe me, you don't want to find out.

[JonathanLB]

No, you don't get my point. If the USA just shipped LOGS to other countries, we wouldn't be contributing anything at all. DUH. The whole point is that those Arab countries make no useful contributions. Their oil was just there naturally, it wasn't their contirbution to the world. It was already there!

Semiconductors, Nintendo systems, Playstations, Toyotas, NASA space stations, space craft, and all of those goodies were not here to begin with! They were MADE by intelligent people from Japan or the USA or whatever. Oil wasn't made. It just was there. Seriously, duh, lol.

Chocolate is great, but we make it too. American chocolate is still good. Point is, there are great foreign chocolates I like, but the world wouldn't be worse off if we just had American chocolate.

[Daanarri Raurrssaatta]

YES IT WOULD BE! :mad what about Yorkie Bars!? Or Toblerones?! *:cry

This is LD, btw, sorry I'm too lazy to switch accounts. :)

[JonathanLB]

Well Toblerone is quite a great brand, but still, you can live without a certain type of chocolate! LOL. That kind of thing does not progress the human race. Make us fatter? Maybe... :)

The sheer number of fatties in the US is disgusting. No wonder foreigners think we are all fat and lazy! It really hurts our image. Ugg, 1-800-02-Jenny, or something, but Americans gotta lose weight. :)

[JMK]

Chocolate makes the world go around. That's the end of that. :)

And you want to know why everyone is so fat? Just go to Wal-Mart and at the checkout counters they have a freakin HUGE fridge full of cheese! People snatch up the cheese on their way out, especially that curd cheese. You can even hear your neighbors getting fatter when they eat that stuff!

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Cheeeeeeeese!

Mmmmm. Thank God for the Swiss. Cheese and chocolate. :D

[JMK]

Now if only we could find a way to combine the two, we'd be rich!!!!

[JonathanLB]

Cheese? Eww, disgusting. No use for that crap at all.

Some expensive kinds can be good, but if it's not expensive I don't want it! lol, j/k

Hey want to know a great way to RUIN a hamburger, one of America's finest foods? CHEESE. Yup, just slap some cheese on it and it's totally ruined. Ick...

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Yeah..then it is transformed into what we peons like to call a "Cheeseburger." ;)

JMK...I've heard about chocolate oranges (delicious!!) but a chocolate cheese wheel? :x :lol

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I lied. Chocolate Cheesecake. :cry Someone else already got rich on this idea. :(

:lol

[Marcus Telcontar]

Chocolate Cheesecake??? WHERE? GIMME!!

[JMK]

Dammit! Stymied again!
I'll never win. :(

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Better luck next time. :\

:lol