by Angela

It keeps happening and makes us chuckle. When Danny turns the car, the windshield wipers come on. It is interesting that with the turn signal on the opposite side, it’s this habit of driving that persists. The scariest habit to change is which way you look to cross the road. I recall being in Australia, looking left, and stepping into the road just as a car came swooshing past. Crossing the road is serious business. Each time I cross, I say out loud “look right, then left.” Even walking is confusing. With the cars on the other side, I get the sense that while walking we are supposed to go towards the left side of the sidewalk instead of the right when others approach, although I’m not entirely sure yet.

We bought a 2010 Toyota Serena minivan with 119,000km on it. We bought it at NZ Cheap Cars. Yes you heard that right but, hear me out, it had 4.9 stars on google and was the closest car place to our airbnb, so we went for it. The salesman, Chris, was from China and educated us on the ways of NZ cars and car buying in a matter-of-fact way, including New Zealand’s consumer protection laws. “If anything goes wrong with the car in six months, bring it to a mechanic and we will pay for it,” Chris told us. At least I hope he was educating us and not manipulating us because neither of us could pass a car knowledge exam for beginners. We figured we needed extra seats for when family visits us here which led us to look at the minivans or rather minivan singular, there was only one to choose from, not sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. 

At this point, driving makes me nervous, Danny too. The kids sense it. They are silent riders. I don’t want anything playing on the radio or anyone talking; I want pure concentration, especially in a roundabout. And God help me when I drive on a highway.

For the first time, I wish I could read Japanese. Apparently the cars at this place are acquired from Japan auctions. My display in the car is in Japanese. I have no clue how to change the clock or change the display to anything meaningful. But for $9,000 NZD, ($5400 USD) and with consumer protections that are afforded buyers here in NZ, we figured we didn’t have too much to lose. Plus we really needed a car and didn’t want to lose time looking. 

By the time we picked up the car two days later, I was having buyer’s regret. This was too easy, something must be wrong. I kept rereading the paperwork and nowhere did it say anything that the seller is required to pay for repairs. Chris repeated his reassurance that if anything goes wrong to call him. Once back at our Airbnb, I started googling and scanning the paperwork hoping to relieve my anxiety. I landed on the Automobile Association of NZ and have an appointment for a pre-purchase inspection tomorrow. I know I’ve already purchased the car so it isn’t exactly a PRE-purchase inspection. But we will see what it shows. Did we just buy a lemon??