We bought a new car.

It was very stressful.

I kind of knew but found out firsthand that my husband would rather have a knee operation than buy a new car.  He absolutely hates shopping period even for a new car.  It's a very painful experience for him and you could see this clearly as it was written all over his face.  He doesn't like to bargain and he's not good at it.  But it was time, and after dragging his feet he agreed reluctantly to go look. 

My trusty old 2001 Subaru hadn't been doing well for months now.  It would sputter and occasionally stall when I sat during a red light.  I would have to keep one foot on the brake with the other on the gas to keep it going. It didn't do it all the time.  It seemed worse as the weather or the car warmed up and with the hot summer weather looming ahead we knew we had to do something. 

We took it to the Subaru dealership last fall and they couldn't figure it out.  Everything seemed fine.  They played with it and tweaked it here and there and seemed to help a tad but not entirely. 

So in January we went to a car dealership just to scout out new cars.  We warned the salesman that we were not game players. We were just looking.  We only wanted the bottom line and we'd be on our way.

Of course, they didn't listen and set about to play their little games. They went around and around with no clear amount on the table.   So we walked.  We got calls for weeks after that begging us to come back and they would make sure we got an honest price.  We never did go back and I stopped taking the calls. 

So yesterday the car was running very rough and after months of research via the internet, newspapers, and reports we decided to go check out three dealerships.  We set our sights on the Hyundai, Toyota and KIA places of business. 

We wanted a car with good gas mileage.  Bells and whistles are not important to us outside of the basic air conditioning, CD player and power doors and windows.  Other than that, we didn't need to spend the extra money.

My husband wanted to check out the Hyundai Accent which I immediately discarded when I saw it.  It kind of reminded me of the Honda Fit. Small.  He was looking at gas mileage and price.  I was looking for something with a bit more room but not sacrificing the mileage too much.   We are expecting that the gas prices are most likely to sky rocket once again as soon as this recession is over.  So we're preparing for this. 

So we went to the Hyandai place first thinking we'd do a quick swipe at all three dealerships since they were on the same strip.  Wrong.  We never made it out of there the same way we went in.  That's what they want isn't it? 

After looking at and soundly rejecting the Accent, we looked at the Elantra which we knew had a very good rating.  Much more to my liking with more room and just a tad lower in gas mileage although I really would have much rather kept the SUV thing going.  I'm trying to be practical even though my heart was thinking more along the lines of a CRV or any sporty type SUV hatchback.

We told the guy straight up about the no game playing rule and how we walked out of his sister dealership in January.  So he knew.  None of this running back and forth to the manager while they let us sit and stew it over.  Not going to happen.  Give us your best price and we'll be on our way. 

Of course didn't quite happen that way but the manager came out and sat with our salesman and we all talked together.  So far so good.  Gave us his best straight up answer which was a better price than in January by more than a thousand for the same model.  They knew we were on our way to the Toyota place after this so they did everything in their power to get us to sign before the night was out.  Wasn't going to happen.....but......

We did.

Of course we agonized a bit especially after they gave us a low number for our trade in.  I didn't like that number so I said to my husband...."let's go home and think about it."   Well that set off the "wrong answer buzzer" and they immediately gave us an extra $500 for the car.  We knew the blue book value and we also knew the problems the Subaru had including most likely needing a new wheel bearing. 

So I told them if they gave us three free oil changes it would seal the deal.  They agreed and we signed the paperwork.  We should have held out for roof racks. 

We cleaned out our beloved Subaru and traded keys.  Then we went home.  The whole process took over 3 hours and it was way past dinner time.  We stopped for burgers, tired and exhausted arriving home after 9 pm. 

That's when the real stress began.

We came home and under the light of the garage we found two scratches on our new shiny red car. 

We started to second guess ourselves.  Could we have held out for more?  Did we get a good deal?  Should we have gone home and thought about it first?   I missed my Subaru.  I missed the large sunroof and he missed the roof racks.  I missed my six CD changer and he missed the  extra hatchback room. 

He's thinking how he was able to strap up that new Queen mattress to the roof last week.  The week before that it was a piece of sheetrock and a screen door.  That's not going to happen with a Sedan with no roof racks.  He was also thinking about the new shelving we need to pick up next week after our trip.  He treated this car like a truck.

So now he's thinking maybe he should go back and cancel the deal, grab our car back and pay the extra thousand or two to get it running smoothly again.  Afterall it only has 105K miles on it.  Should be good for another five years.  Besides this new red car is going to show more dirt than our older silver one.  What did I think?

I was thinking about how it was almost nine years old and the silver paint was starting to do some funky things.  There was a big scrape on the front lower half where I scraped against a rock when I was coaching hurrying to get to practice.  I was thinking about how the all wheel drive cut short the mileage per gallon and how the new car would get better gas mileage. 

He was thinking about how the extra insurance with collision is going to cost us alot more.  I'm thinking..... well we don't have to get that extra insurance because we paid cash for the car.   

So he left for work the next morning in turmoil.  He took my extra set of keys just in case thinking he may just go and get our Subaru back since he was supposed to drop off the old title anyhow. 

I called Dad who had just bought his new Corolla a month ago and told him the whole deal about the night before.  He said he thought we did ok as we compared stories.  He's a shark when it comes to this sort of thing. He also told me how we could get one of the those new lightweight trailers to tow behind for our little construction projects.  They fold up nicely and can hang on the wall in the garage when done.  Cool!    Then I called the insurance agent to find out the extra cost for this car with collision insurance amounted to only an extra $120 per six months thanks to our great rating. 

The husband went to the dealership showed them the two scrapes and they said it was no problem.  They would buff these out and it will be good as new.   

So we decided to keep the shiny new red car with yellow Hyundai striping.   Maybe I'll get an ipod for it to make up for the six CD changer I had before. 

........ maybe our next car will be a convertible. 

 

 

 


Comments
on May 08, 2009

I know your pain we just went a bought a new truck. But we came out way on top   We got $1500.00 above blue book  on the trade in. The sticker price of the truck was $29,400.00 and I got it for 30,000.00 out the door with $5000.00 of xtras so I saved 5k.  The trick was I had taken my previous car for warranty work and they were messin about so I took the "unsatisfied customer" aproach to it.  They wanted to haggle on the spot and I just replied "I have a dinner date" which was true.  They came at me with 2 different offers in my favor in 15 min, but I didnt budge and replied "if its good tonight it will be good tommorrow at 9am  hehe they agreed.   Always remember its your $ and they need to work on parting it from you. I also made them match a price with the competitor, that saved me 3k.  all in all I got 35k worth of truck for 30k not bad IMO.

just my little story I hope you are as happy with your purchase as we are.

on May 08, 2009

I am glad you posted this KFC (I'm sorry, every time I see your name, I want chicken).

I am hunting for a new car too, because my 99' Buick decided that the transmission just wasn't up to speed, and has been actively trying to rid itself of said transmission.  It just doesn't understand that without the transmission, it doesn't live either.

My car only has 105K on it as well, which is extremely good for a 99, but because it's American (at least the reason in my head) it has just consistently gone down hill since it hit 100K.

Sooooo, I have been looking for a new used car.  I don't have quite enough savings for a new car, and I want no financing what-so-ever, (I am paying for school out of pocket too, I have this fear of going into debt), so my options are limited to used cars.

This, I think, is even more frustrating, because even when buying from a dealer, they want waaaaay more than what is appropriate for the milage, or history.  I hate having to sign something in order for them to consider a lower offer, because I feel trapped.  I trust a dealer more than I trust most owner-sells though, because I have run into several people that were participating in curbstoning, which is not only illegal, it usually means you get a lemon.  (Thank goodness for CarFax).

I hate browsing for anything, much less cars, so this is extremely frustrating for me.

Buying a car, for me, is similar to getting married.  You are making a commitment, and it's gonna take a lot to get out of it legally.  AH!

on May 08, 2009

just my little story I hope you are as happy with your purchase as we are.

sounds like you did well Slayer.  I told my husband that deep down he's still a truck guy even though most of his construction projects are behind him now (we just bought a new house) but he still likes to tinker and presently he's building us a closet in the garage.  We still need that wire shevlving. 

Time will tell if we're happy.  We've never been Sedan people before but this one is cute and maybe we're at that time in our life where a Sedan will do us good.  We'll see. 

I don't have quite enough savings for a new car, and I want no financing what-so-ever, (I am paying for school out of pocket too, I have this fear of going into debt), so my options are limited to used cars.

good for you.  Debt free is awesome and how we work it as well.   We did the same buying of used cars  when we first got married.  We've been married 27 years now and so far have had three brand new cars (including this one) and one brand new truck.  The Subaru was like new condition but actually was like 4 years old when we got it with 70,000 miles on it. 

Buying a car, for me, is similar to getting married. You are making a commitment, and it's gonna take a lot to get out of it legally. AH!

good point unless you're like Elizabeth Taylor who married like 8-9 times......we kept thinking that we had three days to break the contract (that's today).  But I think we're ok now.  We also are very committed to our cars usually running them into the ground.  Our Dodge Neon commuter car we bought for less than 10K took us to 200,000 miles and we still ended up getting $300 at the end for it even though it was bleeding oil badly. 

I am glad you posted this KFC (I'm sorry, every time I see your name, I want chicken).

hahaha....but have you ever thought that maybe the next time you go out for chicken and drive into that KFC parking lot.....you'll think of Kickin for Christ? 

 

on May 08, 2009

hahaha....but have you ever thought that maybe the next time you go out for chicken and drive into that KFC parking lot.....you'll think of Kickin for Christ?

Maybe someday... right now every time I see KFC the food place I think "Grilled? What were they thinking?"

on May 08, 2009

I can't wait to buy a car (not new!) with cash.

When I bought our explorer I thought I got a great deal at 6.5% apr. D'oh!

on May 10, 2009

I enjoy new car shopping. As long as you do your homework in advance. Car dealers can smell rookies like a shark smells blood in the water. First find the "true" invoice of the vehicle you want, many dealers will show them to you if you ask, but I'd recommend getting it online, don't forget the accessories you want too (they are marked up too).

Go look at the car you want, preferably on a Sunday, so nobody will bother you. Find out  (also online) if there is a dealer hold-back (as much as 4% for US cars). This is what the manufacturer gives to the dealer to sell the car. This is how dealers can sell at invoice and still make money. Of course they want more!

Look for any dealer/manufacturer incentives. Look for the inspection sticker on the car. If it is over a month old, the dealer is losing money on the vehicle. They get the cars on consignment and usually must pay a fee to have the car on the lot after a month.

If you get a great offer on your trade-in, stop cause there is no such thing. Dealers will be hard pressed to give you wholesale for your car let alone retail. Better to sell the trade-in yourself, that will bring you the closest to retail. If the dealer gives you a lot for the trade-in, they all ready figured that into what they will sell the new car for. In fact, always negotiate the new car before telling them what you will trading in. If the trade in is older, it's going to auction to be sold to a used car dealer (that's why you won't be getting much for it, each hand it passes through get a piece of the pie). Late models might stay on the lot for a while, still don't expect much. I once traded in a car (four years old) and had a friend go by the dealership a few days later and get a price on it. They asked for $3000 more than they gave me for it, which was 4.6k, a better profit margin then they made off selling the new car to me (true invoice).

Call your insurance company in advance to see what you'll be paying for that particular model. Don't be afraid to walk away. It often takes me 3 days to buy the car. Even if the offer sounds fair, you should never buy the first day. Tell them you need to think about it. If they say the offer is only good that day, run away, they are probably not a dealer you want to do business with. This cool down period will give you time to consider everything and the dealer just might come down a bit more or throw in extras just to get you back in. Let them call you.

Never take the undercoating, scotch guarding, and rustproofing. Cars built today have anti-corrosion protection. If you really think you need it get it done somewhere else. This is almost pure profit for the dealership. Extended warranties are another thing. I personally don't like them. If you believe you are buying junk, why buy it in the first place? Major defects usually will occur well within the original warranty period. If you must, many insurance companies offer warranty protection for much less, or you can try US Fidelis and still pay less than the dealer. Buy the last close to when your original manufacturer warranty is set to expire, why pay for double coverage.

Just relax and stay in charge. Do you homework well in advance and it will help minimize your buyers anxiety.