Protecting Our Vehicles
This past Saturday I made my way, in the rain, to the fabric store. They were having a HUGE President’s Day sale and I just couldn’t resist even with the bad weather we were having. I was able to stock up on thread and interfacing as well as a few other fun items. I was driving home when the rain began coming down so heavy that I could barely see the road, then, it started to hail. I was only about a mile from home and I new that I needed to get our full size van in to the garage to protect it from hail damage.
Our van is now 8 years old and paid for. It has a few small door dings, but other than that it looks really good and I love the fact that it is paid for. While I would prefer to have a different vehicle, I have no desire to go car shopping any time soon. I want to do whatever I can to protect what we do have and make it last as long as possible.
8 years ago, we were driving home when the vehicle we owned at the time, broke down. We did eventually make it home but it turned out that the transmission had gone bad and it was going to cost about $4,000 to get it fixed. I was so disappointed because it was an SUV that I really enjoyed and it was almost paid for. We went to the dealership to see what we could do.
My husband and I decided that due to the high repair cost, we should just put the money into a new vehicle. I picked out what I wanted, we test drove it, I loved it and we started the negotiation process. Of course, the salesman had to go “talk it over” with the sales manager. While we waited, my then 3 year old daughter and husband began looking at the vehicles on the showroom floor to pass the time. My daughter climbed into this huge, (in my mind) full size van and was enamored. My husband seemed to really be taken in by it as well. Truthfully, I think it was the fact that it had not just one, but 2 televisions built in to it and a VCR as well. Me? I hated everything about it, from the size of it to it’s color, white.
I’m still not exactly sure how it happened, but over the course of way too many hours, we went from making a deal on the vehicle that I loved, to purchasing this big giant van that I’ve never liked. I walked out of that dealership hating the decision and wanting to turn back the clock. I was so exhausted from the process I couldn’t even think straight, I felt numb. I see that van every single day and it reminds me of the dreaded deal at the dealership, something I do NOT want to repeat. I hate car shopping!
Like I said though, that same van is now 8 years old. I realize that eventually I am going to have to face the fact that I will have to replace it. When I do, I hope to go back to an SUV, maybe even a hybrid. I have a good idea of what I want and I really do enjoy the new car smell and test driving new vehicles. It’s all the negotiating and stress that I hate. It’s just exhausting! I’d like to use a Car Buying Concierge service to do all that stressful stuff for me. I’d like to be able to tell someone else exactly what I want and how much I’m willing to pay and let them deal with the dreaded car salesman.
I recently learned that CARCHEX is just such a service and it’s free! They’ll not only negotiate on the new vehicle, but they’ll also work out trade-in details, another part of the whole negotiation that I despise. It sounds like a great service that I may just have to use when the time comes.
So, what kind of horror stories do you have about car buying?
