Car Purchase (aka, The Ride)

We bought our 2005 Scion xB last November from Lithia Honda in Bend, Oregon.  What started off as a great experience turned sour just after the sale.  Part of the deal was they were supposed to detail the exterior of the car to remove hard water spots from the windows and paint.  I didn't know how to do it, so we worked that into the deal.  Turns out is isn't hard to do and even harder to mess up.  Well they messed it up big time.  Instead of following the standard method, they went to Ace Hardware and bought a bottle of Whink Rust and Stain Remover for about $4.

This product is mostly highly concentrated hydroflouric acid (HF) and it is approved for use only on white toilets and carpeting.  Our car may look like a toaster, but it doesn't look like a toilet.  Anyway, it turns out that HF has been known since the 1600's to melt glass.  They melted three of the windows and then tried to act as if nothing was wrong.  After much difficulty, those windows were replaced.  The issue now is the paint.  It looks great right now, but HF also affects paint by destroying the resin system in it.  That means the paint will eventually peal.  It also means that the paint job it will need will be more difficult because it will need to sanded down to bare metal.  So the saga continues ...

Other than that mess, this is a great car.  It gets great gas mileage (the main thing we were looking for), is fun and comfortable to drive, has lots of extra room inside, and has a reputation for being very sound mechanically.  This one had one owner who took really good care of it.  Our mechanic gave it two thumbs up.  With the exception of the after-the-sale problems, we got a great vehicle.