I was waiting for a call from the car salesman today to tell me he had the model I wanted. Instead, about two pm he called to say that not only did he not have one, they’re weren’t available to buy anywhere except in California. Because Californians love plug in hybrid electric cars more than anyone else does, I guess.
So I looked at some California car dealerships and they had none in stock, and eventually I rang somebody up and he said it was nonsense: he’d happily sell me a plug in hybrid and I could pay for it to be shipped to Seattle (from the factory) but he didn’t have any, because the factory isn’t making them until September.
So I emailed the guy in Kirkland to tell him this, and five hours later, as I was putting the girls to bed, reading them one of my father’s stories about Janet Dogwoman (or is it one of my mother’s stories? Me and the girls can’t figure out which is which) he called me back to say he’d pulled some strings and I could have the car I want.
In eight to twelve weeks, depending on how long it takes the factory to get started again.
This is actually a good thing as we get to spec exactly what car we want, down to the colour and all the little accoutrements; in general, cars aren’t made to order here, they just have lots of cars and you choose the one closest to your ideal, but it seems for once I’m circumventing that by ordering a car that doesn’t exist yet. So that’s rather exciting.
We just have to decide now between blue, green, or gold. Decisions, decisions …