Sweetie’s old 2003 Highlander needs either fixed or replaced. The heater and the air conditioning doesn’t work and the check engine light is on. Young SuperPizzaBoy has been kind of hard on the back seat.
So spend some money or get a new one? Who doesn’t like a new car. Lets go!!
Here she is at breakfast all set to go.
Off to Riverside Chevrolet we go. We are looking at Chevy’s Traverse. We had not looked at American cars in years but hey we are loyal American Republicans wanting to help our economy out. Our salesman is Eric. A very nice young man, an OU fan even.
Here is Eric showing Sweetie the car.
Later we go to the showroom to get brochure’s and stuff. You know what we find in the showroom.
Now that is what I call a family car! I could find a few geocaches with that thing. Is there anything prettier than a new car in a show room. Lets do some ciphering. That car is worth about four Traverses. Or about twenty 2003 Toyota Highlanders. I’m pretty good at ratios aren’t I? Problem is we have only one 2003 Highlander. Anybody know where I can get nineteen others?
Let’s check back with Sweetie to see how she is doing.
Looking at cars is FUN!!!!
So we end up fencing with Eric a little while. Then the sales manager shows up. He’s also a nice guy. We fence with him for a little while. We mention that we are going to look at Toyota’s. Hey they also have a Toyota Dealer, Riverside Toyota. Wow, good for them. Hey, and Eric can sell us one of those. Ready, Set, Go to the Toyota dealer with Eric in hot pursuit.
Ooops, sorry, we test drove on and don’t like the new Highlanders. Sorry Eric, gotta go! See ya!
So now we run to the Nissan dealer. We are going to check out the Murano. Cost is quite a bit more than the Traverse. But they are cool. Back up television cameras, ipod plug-ins (we played my Miles Davis. They didn’t want to hear Metallica). Blue tooth this and that, leather seats, dual moon roof, heated seats, safety features out the wazoo.
A really nice salesman, Simon, demonstrates the car for us. Lets see, only three Murano’s equal’s one Corvette.
Simon is cool. See’ya Simon. Time to go test drive a Honda CRV.
Hey we survived the first day of car buying. We don’t have a car yet. You know, lets just get the old girl fixed and drive her another 50K and see where we are at? I don’t know. Stay tuned.
Right now, I’m downing an adult beverage.
Oh man, am I glad I’m not dealing with that. I remember when we had to buy a big momma car when I was preg with baby #3 (yes, we HAD to…couldn’t fit 3 large carseats in my Jeep Cherokee). Oh was it a painful experience.
We ended up with a Nissan (Armada) and have had some issues–just letting you know. Let me know if you want more info on that.
Good luck–let us know how this turns out.
I hope she finds the perfect car. Not easy! I am loyal VW driver, so the choice is always kind of simple. And seldom. Because I drive a VW.
Your car shots are incredible fun. Thanks.
Fun indeed, I highly recommend the zoom-zoom Mazda’s. Now on my second and they’re great cars, they also do similar models to those you’re looking at.
If need be, three or four grand to fix up a good car is cheaper than a new one…but a full new warranty is nice, too. Get an awesome Ford F-150 extend cab. Who cares about gas mileage?
I like that shiny yellow showroom car — but I’m sure I wouldn’t like the price tag.
Okay, Brett said if he were to buy American he would go Ford because they didn’t take a bail out.
I have had 2 Honda Pilots in a row. I love them! We’ve never had even one issue. Plus, they are pretty spacious without being BIG. You might take a look at one. You may have when you looked at the CRV.
I will probably always stick with Honda or Toyota. I’ve had a Corolla and Camryn. Loved them both and never had any problems.
Good luck. I LOATHE car shopping. It takes Brett forever to haggle a deal. It’s a waste of a good day. So the past two times he goes and haggles all day and then just calls me when it’s time to sign my name. LOL! I refuse to ever go and sit through the haggling ever again.
Oh, and I love the pics you took of Sweetie on this shopping expedition!
Don’t take the depreciation hit on a new car, buy a gently used car instead.
I do not like car buying lol…abby will be in the market for a car like in 5 days I am NOT prepared my 96 mercury sable which we were gonna hammy-down has issues-hopefully fixable sooooo I need to get on the ball cuz i feel like I just cant share my expedition with her LOL
enjoy your weekend Bro!
Most advice I’ve read says you shouldn’t be too excited about the car you pick out as the dealer will use that against you in bargaining on the price. Still it’s hard not to find the car of your dreams and not get excited. Good luck.
I just talked to Sweetie about this. She is stressed!!
I love the haggling but Doc HATES it.
Funny, Yogi! My Hubby is just now trying to buy us a new van, since ours is falling apart and costing us money. The only choice we have is Toyota because we need 4 wheel drive for the Mts. I know nothing about cars/vans – my only prerequisite is that it has good traction. A bright Red paint job isn’t bad, either…
Get her a Nissan Frontier Crew Cab Pick-up. You won’t be sorry.
@Alyssa – When SuperPizzaBoy was born we bought a mini-van. We didn’t like mini-vans.
@Sandy Carlson – being a loyal customer has its advantages. We have been Honda or Toyota people for years. I think we are going to stay that way.
@Sarah -I’ve known lots of people with Mazdas and they love’em. We may look at them this time.
@CoffeePot – I think Sweetie is at the point where fixing up the old car is an attractive option.
@Janie – They will give you that yellow car for $123,00!!!
@Sidney – that is excellent advice and we have done that a lot. We have not bought a new car for me in years. For some car s they don’t depreciate that much.
@Dawn – I love the whole process of buying cars. Sweetie doesn’t.
@Georgie – Dad bought my brother and I a Renault Dauphine for our first car. He paid $95 for it.
@PM Prescott – We are lucky. The types of cars we like, there are lots of and we have upped and walked off when a salesman gets too pushy.
@Aunt B – Yep, Sweetie hates the process but I need something to blog about.
@Barb – yes you guys need 4 wheel drive. We need it maybe 3 days a year.
@Driller – I would love such a truck. I have a Toyota Tacoma Crew Cab and love it. She hates it. The 666BOI license plate has something to do with it.
Oh good luck. As you know we spent a good part of a week with that before the end of the year. It starts to get confusing the more you test drive.