Back in April I wrote about having to make a late night trip up to Barotac Viejo when Edrian was in the hospital, and how that had made me rethink buying a vehicle now rather than later. I did some checking into how much it would cost to park here at the condo where we live, and was shocked by the P6,000 per month price tag, so after some discussion we decided to put it off.
My lease here is up in early December, and the plan is to move out of the city. Out in the province we will have more of a need for a personal vehicle, including traveling into the city for doctor visits, as well as when shopping for things not available in small towns. We’ll likely start looking for a house to rent around the beginning of October, and we’ll need a vehicle for that. Looking for a place here is nothing like doing to same back in the States. You need to wander around looking for houses with FOR RENT signs on them, and talking with people and asking. Eden says “you need to use your saliva,” meaning asking around. All that being so, we had decided we’d go through the process of buying a vehicle in September.
Meanwhile, I did a lot of reading and looking and decided on what I wanted to buy. We definitely want something with ground clearance and 4-wheel-drive as our long-range plan is to buy a fairly large chunk of property out in the province, and the cheapest property is out on the unpaved barangay roads. So I had settled on the Ford Ranger. It turns out that the discount available in June, coupled with an impending price increase, made it worthwhile to buy now rather than waiting, even with the added cost of renting a parking space, so that’s what we did.
I signed more papers buying this truck than I’ve signed in all the real estate closings and vehicle purchases I’ve made in my life, combined. Efficiency isn’t a hallmark of the Philippines. It took a couple of hours, but we were finally on our way home with the new truck. Poor Edrian was rather freaked out when he realized I was going to drive home. He didn’t believe that Tito Allen knew how to drive. When we made it home safe and sound, he said “Good job Tito Allen!”
It sure is nice having our own vehicle for trips up to Barotac Viejo. Before we had to take the bus, and it was hot and very crowded coming home on Sunday afternoons. And this past Sunday, the bus from Barotac Viejo to Iloilo City lost both dualies on the driver’s side rear and flipped on its side. I’m really glad we weren’t on that bus!
Eden doesn’t yet have her driver’s license, but she’s working on it. She’s taken the required theoretical class and she’ll get her learner’s permit next week, then she can practice driving. It’ll be nice when she can share the driving, and when she can make trips up to Barotac Viejo without me.
We picked up the truck on a Tuesday, and that Thursday I was stopped by traffic enforcers who shook us down for a bribe. It hasn’t happened again, and hopefully it won’t.