"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Thursday, February 7, 2008

New Wheels

I bought a new car today.

The decision was made at 7:30 last night although it had been hemmed and hawed at for months. I went in at 3 today for a test drive and by 4 the whole thing was buttoned up. Had I decided to not be picky about colour this time around, I could have literally driven home with my new car.

I'm not going to get into all the details, but will only say that it made perfect financial sense and except for the fact that I quadrupled my current debt (something that sounds scarier than it is in reality) this transaction was definitely in my financial favour.

I bought the current year model of my old car and got the deal of a lifetime. I could not have bought a used car, not even for cash, and gotten all the financial advantages that this new car is giving me.

One of the things that helped was my excellent relationship with and loyalty to my dealership. They gave me more for my current car than I could have had anywhere else. My car is not even four years old but it has the mileage of a car that is about six. I've maintained it perfectly and the cosmetic shape is good. The dealership knew that they could give me a bit more for it to motivate me to trade up. Makes sense.

I went in today with all my numbers crunched and I came up with the absolute lowest figure that I could hope to pay for this car, as well as a more realistic figure to talk the dealership down to. Well, the dealership crunched its own numbers... and arrived at the same low number I did. Then, as I sat there stonefaced (jumping up and down in my head) they asked me what goodies they could add to sweeten the pot....

The way I see it is this: I've been an excellent customer for 4 years, but they know I'm savvy and always looking elsewhere for a better deal; I never take anything they say at face value. They want my continued business, so it's in their best interest to just straight up tell me what's the best deal they can give me. No haggling, no condescension, no gypping, no bs. It's refreshing.

I can't wait for my road trip next month. :-)
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2 comments:

1001 Petals said...

Cool. What kind of car did you get?

I can't imagine ever buying a car personally, cause I see them as big money pits, plus they're bad for the environment, plus to this day I get car sick very easily (a life long thing.) I can see the convenience of having one though. I miss being able to go camping, for example. One day I will get my driver's license and join one of those car clubs I guess (I am 30 now and still never have gone for my license!!)

February 9, 2008 at 12:59 p.m.
Rae said...

It's a three door Hyundai Accent hatchback. I absolutely adored my 2004 model and I have a feeling I'll love my 2008 edition even more.

I waited a long time between getting my driver's licence and buying my first car because I knew I'd never live without one again. When I bought a car for the first time, I knew it was a lifetime commitment to payments, repairs, gas, etc. and a commitment I was willing to make in order to be free to live where I wanted.

The environmental factor does bother me, but at least I picked a car with really good gas mileage (I can drive from Ottawa to Toronto, tool around TO, and not have to gas up before Whitby on the way back). Eventually, I'd like to have a more environmentally friendly car, but that's not possible right now, so I do other things to minimize my ecological footprint.

I'm glad I got my licence right at 16 even though I didn't own a car till I was 23. That gave me a seven year accident-free driving record which got me excellent rates on my insurance. Plus, I find that I was a bit more fearless at 16. I couldn't imagine learning to drive today; I'd be such a wreck (and probably cause a wreck!).

February 9, 2008 at 1:17 p.m.

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