Pixie Dust

New Bern, NC

Remember my rant against bureaucracy yesterday? Well, it is all sorted out. We are register and insured on plan A.

The secret was the wizard Brian at the Honda dealer. Brian knew of magic pixie dust that would grant me an exemption from the NC residency requirement. What's more, and something I didn't understand was that I don't need to deal with the DMV ever; Brian will do it for me, and all DMV fees are rolled in to what I paid. Further, the dealer also helped me to move from Nationwide insurance to Geico. Nationwide wanted proof of residency as a precondition to insurance, which is a precondition to registration. Geico is willing to accept a copy of NC registration as a post condition. That makes an essential difference.

Brian also revealed some of the wizard's secret. The NADA (National Auto Dealers Association) is a very monied, very powerful lobby. NADA makes sure that all onerous government regulations always include a loophole that NADA members can use to complete any and all auto sales. When all of us rant about lobbies corrupting government, remember this example of a lobby which is a check on government power.

The incident is also revealing about me. When confronted with bureaucratic obstacles my face turns red, my hackles raise and I am in full fight-or-flight mode in zero time. I am the opposite of People like Brian. He navigates bureaucracy with never a ruffle of feathers. I fight it like a raging bull.

By the way, the dealership charges an explicit $499 administrative fee over and above the price of the car. I appreciate them being up front about it rather than burying it in the price. Brian's expertise is evident. He earned the fee. We pay much more for professional engineering, legal or medical help all the time. If I had saved money by buying the car privately, I would be squaring up for battle with DMV tomorrow.