Car Shopping Is No Fun

So apparently dear husband has given up on this blog, but I won't leave you hanging. I know that you all wait with bated breath for our next entry. Knowing how we are doing and what we are doing is central to your happiness and ongoing existence, right? In that case I highly sggest that you get a telephoto lens and start stalking us, because it seems that our blog entries are a bit hit and miss.

However, for today you are in luck.

Saturday, DH and I decided (ok, I decided, DH agreed after several doors slammed and he was locked out of the bedroom for awhile) that I need a new car. OK, Fine. I am willing to admit that I WANT a new car, but the need phase is just not that far away. In 2007 We put a TON of money into keeping my 1995 Nissan Maxima running, and while it is in fact still running, finding my self meeting two truck drivers to tow my car to the shop more than once in a 12 month period is just no fun.

So new car shopping we went. I have been doing research for awhile so I had narrowed down my choices, but kept my "dream car" at the back of my head as too expensive and never even checked the price. Well, what do you know! We looked at the price of my dream car and realized that it just isn't that far out of the realm of possibility! And even better, there was one at a dealership up at point of the mountain that had one just like I wanted in stock. So, we call, make sure it is still there, load in the maxima, with Weston gimping it due to an unfortunate collision with a door, and set off to do battle with used car sales-people.

So we met with Ringo Delgado at the Ken Garff Volvo dealership in Southtowne and test drove a similar car since the one we wanted to test drive hadn't even been cleaned up yet. So far so good. We drive around the block, enjoying the smooth ride, the great acceleration, the comfortable seats and decide its a great car. We will buy it RIGHT THEN if Ringo will take 10% off the price of the car. Reasonable, right? Any used car shop will take off 10% to sell a car. WRONG! Not only will Ringo NOT take off 10%, he tries to charge us the full list price rather than the internet price we brought in. WTF? The internet price was ~$22k. The warranty we wanted was ~$2k. Our offer was this. Include the warranty in the $22k internet price and we will pay the taxes, tags, and licensing out of pocket and we drive this car home as soon as its ready. Reasonable? Apparently not.

Then he has the nerve to try and get us to look at mitsubishi. I will look at the mitsubishis when cows grow wings and fly over my house. This is actually the 2nd time we have driven up to Ken Garff to look at a car. The last time the guy flat out REFUSED to show us the car we had come up to see and tried to get us to look at mitsubishis as well. I guess the moral of my story is DO NOT buy from car salesman. When we bought Weston's truck, we purchased it from an individual off of the internet and that was an EASY, GREAT transaction. The F150 was in perfect condition, exactly as advertised, and the haggling was nil, he had a good price listed, we agreed to it, and VOILA! we have a new truck. And, we saved the sales tax on it as well.

My DM says that it is because Weston and I look 16. Ok, maybe 18 now. Either way, the phrase young and stupid entered her mind. But I guess it doesn't matter. I am sure that someone out there has a certified (with warranty) 2004 Volvo XC90 with the 2.5 L 5 Cylinder engine in an AWD that they want to part with for a price we can agree on, so we will keep looking. But it will be an icy day in you know where before we buy it from Ken Garff Volvo.

Rant over.
Steps of soap box.

Walks Away