 It s time to replace the family s aging station wagon, and Cliff is given the task of picking out the new car. He takes Theo along, presumably to teach him how to haggle with a car salesman and get a good deal. Their task is a tough one: They re dealing with a very experienced salesman who has plenty of tricks up his sleeve to get people into a car they don t necessarily intend to buy. Cliff is hep to each tactic, forcing the salesman to work to secure a deal. However, the whole plan is nearly undermined when a loud-mouthed customer recognizes Cliff in his everyday clothing (Cliff had dressed this way and hoped to avoid talking about his profession, as he sees that as irrelevant to making a deal on a car). However, Cliff remains focused and eventually, the salesman makes an acceptable offer. A new car isn t the only thing that Cliff has to buy. He might have to replace his encyclopedias after Rudy cuts pictures of animals from them. Rudy, it seems, is doing a report for school and takes Vanessa s advice on illustrating the report. However, she doesn t know where to find suitable pictures until she starts reading the encyclopedias.