It is Done

The car purchase, that is.

Though I will probably spend the next week curled up in a ball, whimpering softly after having to plunk down the cash, it had to be done.

Check it out.....

I got them down about $2,200K from what they initially wanted.  And I clawed my way there a $100 at a time.....ugh.

The car cost $17,766 before tax, tags and title.

This was my first time working a deal without "a penis" along.
Yah, I had a man with me at this place the first time we went into that dealer but I worked the other dealers via the internet and the phone and closed this deal on the phone.

The salesman sputtered at first that me, the WIFE, had called him back and wanted to dicker the price.
Hubs is so bad at this game and if I had left it to him we'd probably had paid MSRP or very close to it.

I did the research and found the same car(same everything)at another area dealer, plus found this color was a slow seller, and used both of those points to get both dealers to bid it down until one cried "Uncle".

Plus if something had come up at any point to turn me off of this car/model/deal, I had a Corolla waiting in the wings with a firm price offer I could live with.

Just call me Faye Dunaway in "Mommie Dearest"....





And if I didn't get a good deal please don't tell me and spoil this for me......lolz

So my next question is.....
Who wants a freeloading visit this Summer?

I gots wheels, will travel!!!


Sluggy

 

Having Nightmares About Cars

I am having nightmares about cars at night.
This is getting ridiculous!  I have to get this over with.

Here are where we stand on the 3 cars in contention........
Keep in mind that the out the door price includes PA new tags($230)  and PA taxes (around $1100).

Car #1-in town
2014 Chevy Sonic Hatchback LT
Deep Magenta
11 miles
$19,824 out the door
$18,475 est. car cost before t&t

Car #2-30 mins. away
2014 Chevy Sonic Hatchback LT
Deep Magenta
6 miles
$19,230 out the door
$17,780 car cost before t&t

Car #3-45 mins. away
2013 Chevy Sonic Hatchback LT
Black
2,996 miles(trade-in at Hyundai dealer, 1 owner)
$14,650 out the door
$13,604 est. car cost before t&t


I am also considering a Toyota Corolla I found. It's not a hatchback and it's anything but stylish, but it's a "good car".  And these retain their value better....not that I'm going to trade it in or sell it but still.....

Car #4-45 mins. away
2014 Toyota Corolla LE Eco Sedan
White
1,768 miles(trade-in at Honda dealer, 1 owner)
$18,249 out the door
$16,999 car cost before t&t
(But I can probably get this down a bit more)


Now if I could just put the best price of $14,650 on a Magenta Hatchback Corolla, I'd be sold!
lolz


Frankly my head is about to explode.
I have refrained from spending large sums of money so long I am having an extremely hard time just pulling the trigger on this purchase.

It's not that we don't have the money, we do.  Hubs got a bonus this year and we only spent part of it to finish off #2 Son's college fund so I have unaccounted for $ sitting here.  Don't hate me. 8-)
And we need to replace the clunker van.

So my friends, if you were me(and thank goodness for you that you are NOT me!)which car would you buy?

Sluggy

 

I Need a Shower

Why?
Because we went car shopping today.
And I feel dirty. lolz

I may not have mentioned this but I HATE shopping for cars.

We went to see if I could fit my fat ass in drive a Chevy Spark.
I haven't driven a compact car in years!

My timeline of cars Hubs and I have owner so far in our lives......

Chevette(new), Dodge Omni(new), Ford Escort(used), Chevy Caprice(used), Chevy Lumina APV(new), Ford Tempo(used), Kia Spectra(used), Dodge Caravan(new), Chevy Malibu(used), Toyota Corolla(used), Buick Century(used), Hyundai Elantra(used).

My cars have been the Chevette(1981), Caprice(1991), Lumina APV(1995) and the Caravan(2003).
I haven't driven/owned a compact car since 1990.

So we hiked over to a local dealer.

The Good news-I can fit in the Spark and can reach the pedals and everything.
Rah.
The Bad news-they only have 2.....a pale yellow one with a manual tranny and a black one with a automatic tranny.
I am not doing manual tranny here in the mountains and I don't want a black car so both of those are out.

We found out that no, you can't order one in a different color(a color they make it in)and no, they don't do dealer trades(find a car at a different dealer and they trade it to your dealer for something else that dealer needs for a customer).

Now I don't know if he was handing us a line or if this is how they do things in 2014.
We haven't bought a new car since 2003 so we are unfamiliar with standard practices nowadays at dealerships.

So I can't get my "Grape Ice" Spark, at least not from them.

But this dealer does have the next car up(in size), a Chevy Sonic in stock in a limited release color of Magenta.
It's no Lavender but it's close to Purple but on the pink side.

So we look at that one.
A bit roomier inside(not much)but there are lots more features to adjust the driver's seat and steering column.  There is more room in the backseat and the hatchback trunk area.
Same size engine, same number of cylinders and the gas mileage is marginally less than the Spark.

I could drive this one too.
But it does have a sun roof, which I don't like.
Those are just another electronic thing to break and somewhere the car can leak(and with my luck, it WILL! lolz)

I crinkle my nose at the salesman as he goes on and on about the sunroof.
Get a clue guy....you are losing me the more you go on about this "feature".

Here is the Sonic in question.....I think I would have to name it "Hedgehog" even though it's not royal blue.....lol

Then they started the ol' hard sell back in the office.
2 trips out to "confer" with the manager and we get a bottom line price of $18,445 cash out the door with tax and tags.

We walked out of there without a new car.
I just wasn't sold on this one.
He kept saying it's the only one and they don't make this color anymore trying to get me to take the deal NOW.

Nope.

So we get home and I go on the dealers website and guess what I see?

A Grape Ice(lavender) Spark for $14,445(before t&t).

Either they lied about not having the car in the color I wanted or they seriously need to update their website.
It was too late to call them on it since they were closed for the day by the time we got home.

So I went on the Chevy dealers website in a city 45 minutes from here and they are showing a Grape Ice Spark for an internet special price of $14,070(before t&t-which should add another $1300 or so).

I'll be calling them tomorrow morning to see if this car is actually on their lot.
If so, we'll be riding down there to see what we can get it for.

Or I could just buy this little number I found in the model showroom at the local dealer.......

This Camaro Convertible just screams ME, doesn't it?
Not a very frugal price though at $36K+ and with horrible gas mileage........ouch.
But oh, wouldn't I look HAWT driving this thing?

Did I mention how I HATE buying cars yet?

Sluggy