I am going to assume most readers of my blog are not fans of Justin Bieber. This might be due to many reasons, but chief among them the fact you were forced to buy his album for your little sister for her birthday. Well now you have another reason to dislike the teen pop sensation. He got a Fisker Karma, a $116,000 electric car, as a gift for his 18th birthday on the Ellen Degeneres Show a few weeks ago.
His manager Scotter Braun and Usher gave him the gift, because they know he likes cars but also wants to be environmentally friendly you know. “Don't get anything flashy!' You know, we're not about that.” said Scotter on the show. Who doesn't want to be flashy when you are making mad money like Justin Bieber?
Bieber will probably have a hard time looking humble with the Fisker Karma, as this is one badass looking car. Bieber won't be the only celebrity sporting keys to a Fisker Karma though. Leonardo DiCaprio got the very first model in July 2011. (Another reason to dislike him too!) Politicians who got “Karma's” are former Vice President Al Gore and and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Imagine a drag race between these four! The Fisker has also appeared on the ninth season of the CBS show Two and a Half Men as the vehicle of choice for Walden Schmidt, played by Aston Kutcher. (Who replaced Charlie Sheen!)
Even though I don't like the Bieber, it's hard to hate him when you watch the video and see he goes to hospitals to visit fans that have cancer. Argh! I wonder what Bieber's girlfriend Selena Gomez will think of the new car? Even if you still don't like Justin Bieber, he's got a good Karma!
You might think an auto writer/blogger would be able to find some way around the terrible experience of going to the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA). Unfortunately this is not the case. I had to go to an MVA office today to get new Tags & a Title for my Honda Accord. Here is the story of my experience.
I went late in the day, probably around 3pm. Always a bad idea. It is a better idea to go earlier in the day. This is when people are just trying to make it afterwork or taking off early to go to the MVA. Instead of going to Mondawmin Mall, where the Baltimore City MVA office was, I went to the new Hilltop Shopping Center office on Reisterstown Rd. Apparently the Mondawmin office closed in May and they moved to the Hilltop location.
I waited in line for the information desk for about 20-30 minutes. What I found strange is when I got up to the desk I told the lady, “I need to register my car and get Tags.” I handed her the California title and inspection certificate, she took both and looked at the title like it was some weird document. Without saying anything she went over and starting talking with the supervisor for 5 minutes. I was thinking, “Really? They don't see out-of-state titles?” She came back to the desk and just said, “Fillout the information on the back as well.”
I took my ticket and sat down in the waiting area. I started filling out the Title form and making sure I had everything set. I realized I needed to go get the mileage from my car. I thought I might not have time to do this… then I realized I was at the MVA. There was plenty of time!
When I came back in from getting the mileage out of the car, I looked around at all the people in the MVA. It didn't matter age, race, gender, whatever because everyone has the same exact look at the MVA! “I just want to get out of here!” Why won't this line move?” “Why is it taking so long?”
Luckily I brought a book ‘Real Money' by Jim Cramer, but it is hard to read in there. There is the automated voice that goes off every 20 seconds “Now serving C45 at number 12.” After another 30+ minutes I finally got my number called. You feel like jumping and up down when that happens.
I handed the lady my title, form, and bill of sale. She was pretty helpful and nice. She commented about my car, “Wow! The mileage on this is really good!” I told her the story of how I drove it across the country and that it was my Grandma's car. “Oh so she just used it to drive to Church and the Grocery store?” I replied “Yeah, pretty much!” She told me her Grandma had a Mercedes that had very few miles on it too. When I got out my credit card to pay I gave her my business card and said I was an auto journalist. We talked about that for awhile and I told her about how I got a media pass to the Baltimore Grand Prix. She seemed enthusiast about it and asked me some questions.
So I spent about 2 hours getting to the MVA office, waiting, waiting some more, and actually doing what I needed to do, before getting back to my house. It cost $266.40 to register, get a title, and for 2 MD license plates. Since I was smart enough to get a bill of sale stating the car was bought for $0 and therefore a gift, I was not charged 6% sales tax. It would have more expensive if I did not have that. Of course I still spent too much time there!
I have great news, I am getting a new car. Well… a “new” car to me at least. I will be buying a 1996 Honda Accord from my Grandma in Irvine, California. It has 120,000 miles on it, was kept in superb condition, runs and drives great. Lucky for this car it has been in CA its whole life. So no harsh winters, therefore no rust. Originally it was my aunt's car and now I'm buying it. Accords are such good cars, we want to keep this one in the family. I know I will be able to get another 120,000 miles out of it easily. Maybe even get 300,000+ miles out of this car. Hey, it's a Honda! It can make it.
The only problem is… well… I'm in Baltimore, MD and the car is in Irvine, CA. That's on the other side of the county. My two options are to ship it through an auto transport company, or drive it on a fantastic road trip across the country. I would love to drive it, but my family feel it's better to ship it and not put extra miles on the car. My thoughts are “It will be an adventure. Besides it's a Honda, another 3,000 miles is nothing. It should make it back to Baltimore no problem!” The car does need a few maintenance items before it could make a cross country trip. The back tires should be replaced, it could use a new battery, a brake flush, and probably an oil change. Just that, then it should be set. I'm having trouble deciding. Shipping would be about $800-1000. Driving might work out to be about the same, but it would be an unforgettable journey.
I would love to hear suggestions, comments, or advice from people. What are your thoughts? Ship or drive?
