And Lo, There Was a Leaf
About eight months ago, our son Aubrey was visiting from Baltimore, and he asked us if we knew about the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s program called “Replace Your Ride”. We did not. Since we live in San Pedro on the Port of LA, we qualified for help with purchasing a new or used EV to replace our gas guzzler (and almost antique) 1985 SAAB.
“Well, you could be sitting on a gold mine,” he responded.
I don’t know about you, but whenever one of our four sons suggests something, we’re on it. They are way smarter than we are about navigating today’s life, and taking their advice (when and if it’s expressed) has always produced positive results.
The program, as we discovered, was giving away $9K toward a used EV, but…..they were going to up it to $12K sometime in the near future. We kept checking their site for the upgrade, deciding to submit an application after that happened. Which it did, eventually.
We signed up and sent in our application. After a few weeks, we were contacted by our case manager, Gerardo, who was no nonsense about how we were to proceed. We had our marching orders, so began to look at dealerships for a used EV or hybrid vehicle.
By that time, it was getting close to Christmas, and all the dealerships we went to had up their decorations. Boy, were they glitzy! Gold was apparently the theme for last year, and there were gold decorations in every car place we visited, amongst the glittering, polished cars.
At one dealership in Puente Hills, CA, we had a lovely representative named Frank, who was new to the company. He worked very hard to help us get what we needed, but had to keep checking with someone more senior since he wasn’t experienced with the Replace Your Ride program. We found an Ionic we liked that was in our price range. Since Aubrey was visiting for the holidays, he came along to help us close the deal.
We got there and checked out the car, which seemed fine, and went to work out the details with Frank. He had to ask someone above him a lot of questions, and finally got one of the bosses there to come over and help out. A young employee with diamond ear studs arrived and asked to see our credit score. After he insulted us on that number, he asked a number of other personal financial questions that had nothing to do with the Replace Your Ride program. Finally, he said that in his opinion, it was too complex for their company to work out, and that we should leave!
Frank was stunned (as were we). Aubrey was furious. We left, and drove the hour back to San Pedro. We were all hungry, tired and gobsmacked.
We moved on quickly. Having read reviews about another place that specialized in the Replace Your Ride program, we called them and set up an appointment.
Well. There were no gold decorations at this new dealership. In fact, there were no decorations whatsoever. Cigarette butts littered the entryway, and the tiny office smelled strongly of smoke. Clearly, no one cared about what the place looked like. They were in business to move cars!
One of the employees, a fairly tall Chinese guy, took us out to the parking lot to show us the car we were interested in, a Nissan Leaf. It was a 2021, gray, and in great condition. We went for a test drive, and everything seemed to check out.
Arriving back at the dealership, we went to talk to another Chinese guy who did all the paperwork. He knew the Replace Your Ride program like it was written in his native language, and began filling out all the paperwork. Larry asked about the $1,500 rebate from the LA Public Dept of Water and Power that had been mentioned, wondering if we would get it, and the guy responded, “No! You will get.” (He showed us how to fill out the form, and we actually got it, about a week ago.)
The place took care of everything for us. They got in touch with Gerardo and sent him everything he had said he needed. He gave his approval, and we went to pick up the car with a check for $4K.
And that was it. We drove the car home, and took our SAAB to the junkyard. That was the only sad part of our journey. That car had gotten us to California, and had been a reliable vehicle for many years. It would have taken a lot of money to keep it going. We had avoided talking about a new car when we were around it…..you never know.
We are thrilled with our Nissan. It’s quiet and easy to drive, and we are slowly learning to deal with its computer and the charging complexities. Something worked out, and that’s always a time to be thankful, forgiving, and in celebration mode.
Pamela Bayard Foard is the author of the children’s book, “Giselle and the Little Idea”. If you liked this post, please show the love by clicking the little heart, or better yet, leave a comment! I would love to hear from you.