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Well, okay, only one more thing about the mouse, really; Kam took the mouse to free it in an open space preserve some distance from here, and it scampered away, and with luck that should be the last we see of it. I'll clean out the trap tomorrow, and when I get back I'll re-bait it and try again; I suspect this wasn't the only mouse in the building.

Onward to cars:

Sometime in the past 24 hours I more or less decided that I liked the Prius more, and that I would be somewhat disappointed if I ended up buying the Civic, but that the Civic was probably safer (due to visibility issues) and that the price difference was still an issue, and that waiting two to eight weeks was also potentially a problem (though since I'll be out of town for two and a half weeks, it might not be such a big deal—but at the high end of the wait time, going five weeks without a car after I got back might be tough), and thus that I was still undecided.

So I called a couple of Prius dealerships this evening. One of the ones I called was one that carsdirect.com had connected me to when I asked for a quote: City Toyota, in Daly City. And the guy there told me that they have several 2005 Priuses sitting there on the lot. Including a black one with the package I want: package #3, a.k.a. BI. (Or at least that's the package I'd tentatively decided to settle for; the cheapest package (#1, GY) isn't available in northern California, and the coolest package (#6, BC) is way too expensive for me).

So the wait time for a Prius had suddenly dropped to zero. And his price was the same as the price I'd been hearing from all the other local dealerships. (It turns out that most of the local dealerships are sort of sticking to their no-more-or-less-than-MSRP thing, except that most of them are finding a way around that by offering a $300 discount (for the BI package; a little more of a discount for more expensive packages) that applies to everyone in a very broad category. Like all AAA members, or all CostCo members, or everyone who asks for a quote online.) I told him I was fairly interested, but would call him back. A few minutes later, I got voicemail from him saying that he really wanted to move the cars off his lot and would give me $500 off MSRP. I misunderstood and thought he was saying $500 off the $350-off-MSRP price he'd already quoted me, and got all excited for a minute, but then I called him back and he clarified. (He really had said what he'd meant; I had just misunderstood.)

So I asked if he could go another $100 lower, and he said he couldn't but that he could go $50 lower, and I said done. (I'm leaving out the several panicky phone calls to various people asking for reality checks and advice on financing—thanks especially to Kevin for advice about loans. And to Lola for suggesting using a United credit card to get lots of frequent-flyer miles.) So in the morning Kam is going to drive me up to Daly City and I'm going to buy a car.

Assuming all goes well. He could try to back out of the price he told me, or I could discover that the seat of this particular car is uncomfortable to sit in, or I could get a sudden panic attack over the price or visibility issues, or my credit union could call me up to deny me the loan I just applied for online. (That last is extremely unlikely, though.)

I'm a little apprehensive about the financing. The credit union may take two days to approve the loan, and I won't know what rate they're offering me 'til then. (Though I'm pretty sure my credit rating is quite good at the moment, so I'm guessing I'll get one of their two best rates, both of which look decent to me: 4.6% or 4.7% for a 36- or 48-month loan, and rate reductions for direct deposit and such.) I may ask the dealership whether they can give me a better deal on financing than that, but I gather that car dealerships have all sorts of ways to screw customers over with tricky little details of financing, and I don't think I know enough to avoid those catches. So unless they can offer me a really good deal, I'd rather go with my credit union, whom I think I can trust not to be trying to rip me off.

I'm excited but nervous. This is my second-largest purchase ever (after the house); several times the price of my third-largest (which was probably the Geo Metro for $5000 cash ten years ago, though I may be forgetting something). I hate borrowing money. (But clearly I don't hate it enough to go with the obvious used-car-I-could-pay-cash-for option.) And this feels like a big decision that I'm making pretty suddenly.

But I think it's probably the right decision. It's $200 less than the discounted price everyone else I've talked with is offering, and it's no waiting period instead of two to eight weeks. (And the guy I talked with seemed to be more knowledgeable and more forthcoming with general information about the business than a lot of other dealers. He was the first dealer, for example, who's been able to tell me that all the dealers in a given region collectively choose which three packages they can sell; and he's the first who's been able to tell me what colors are due to arrive in the next couple of weeks.) And although the Civic definitely still has some appeal, I think I would be disappointed if I got one.

And hey, used Priuses are still sometimes selling (at dealerships, anyway) for more than new ones (because of the wait time for new ones), so it's conceivable that I could get a substantial fraction of the purchase price back if I decide in a year or so that it's not for me.

Anyway. If you see any reason why I shouldn't do this, speak now (or before 10:00 Pacific time tomorrow morning) or forever hold your peace.