Little Red Wagon

Since they had landed in Auckland, Bryan and Jane had been told that they would need a car. The city of Auckland is a sprawling metropolis, or at least as sprawling as a city can be with only 1 million people in it. With only a mediocre bus service and ferries connecting the two sides of the city together, Bryan and Jane knew that if they wanted to see more of the city than what was within a mile or so of their apartment, they would need a car. And so they spent several days walking through used car lots trying to decide on their right-hand-drive car.

Before coming to New Zealand Bryan had been enchanted with the idea of owning a vintage Mini. As if his American Miata wasn't a small enough car, the compactness and character of the original Mini intrigued him and now that he found himself living in a former British outpost, it became the car that he decided would be his next toy. Every time a Mini crossed their paths, Bryan always pointed it out and said, "Now wouldn't that be a great car to drive around in?" Of course, he recognized that it wouldn't make a very practical every-day car; for that, Bryan and Jane went to the Asian importers.

Because of strict emissions laws, most Japanese car owners replace their cars every four years, selling their old car to Australian and Kiwi importers. Like the former British colonies, the Japanese also drive on the left, so their cars are perfect for the ANZ market. The one thing about Japanese cars that Bryan found a bit disturbing was the tendency of Japanese drivers to trick out their cars: big stereos, race-car seats, spoilers, and lots of other little extras that made almost every car look like it had been on an episode of "Pimp My Ride."

Car lot after car lot, Bryan and Jane circled around the Toyotas, Hondas, Subarus, Holdens, Fiats, and Fords peering in the windows to see the car was automatic or manual. Before they were married, Bryan had warned Jane that her Saturn would be the last automatic she would own, and she had sold that car off on a snowy night in Chicago in late February.

They were at first looking for a Subaru (pronounced Sue-bar-ou by Kiwis), but it turned out that they did not age well in the Pacific. The last Subaru they test drove was missing chucks of its body, and Bryan felt that it did not handle well. It was all rather unfortunate for the salesman who had been helping them, for he thought that he was going to have a sale that day, but as they drove back to the lot, Bryan and Jane both knew that they would not be going home with that car. All of the car salesmen they had met thus far had been pleasant, non-aggressive people - so unlike American used-car salesmen. They allowed Bryan and Jane to walk around their lots and did not pressure them to buy a car they did not like or try to get them to look at cars outside their price range. The salesman at Buy Right Cars was no different, but he had been looking forward to selling a car to the two Americans. Not to be defeated, the salesman invited them to look around a bit more and see if there was anything else they might like. "We've got a manual Toyota at the edge of the lot that you might be interested in," he informed them.

Mostly to humor the friendly salesman, Bryan and Jane checked out the red Corolla wagon. Bryan had been of the opinion when they began their car search that there were only two types of cars worth owning: a two-seater or a wagon. As they neared this particular wagon, Bryan and Jane also noticed that it had a sunroof, another one of Bryan's car desires. It was also not as tricked out as many of the other Japanese imports they had seen had been. During the test drive, Bryan further found out that this little wagon had a lot of power. Bryan and Jane left the lot after the test drive, but they returned four hours later to buy the red Corolla wagon. The Mini would have to wait.