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April 9, 2006
Car Buying Fun
While the Medcalfs were breaking down yesterday, I was on an entirely different car buying adventure. We have been on the lookout for another car for a few weeks now. Both our vehicles are around 100,000 miles. I plan on running them to about twice that, but since they are both so close in mileage and miles per year, they would both be there (and probably worn out) at about the same time. I really don't want to be saddled with two car payments at once, so we were wanting to either buy new to replace a car, or buy an additional used to take the load off my car. When we added our 12-year-old into the mix, we decided with the latter option. I'm sure at 16 she'll have an entirely different opinion of what kind of car she will want to drive, so taking that decision out of her hands seems like a good idea.
We have been looking at the "Certified Pre-owned" cars. They are often rentals or single-owner vehicles that are dealership-serviced. I like the warranty on them, plus the cost is comparable to the "used" price that has no service options. You can search for them relatively easily (autotrader, carsdirect, plus the manufacturer sites). We decided on the Taurus/Sable as the best deal overall. Parts are plentiful plus the cars are safe and well-made. Since Ford has discontinued them, there are plenty of them around at reasonable prices.
The hard part is finding the right deal. Most of the CPOs are 2005 models, and they were just a little out of our desired price range. I found three deals that looked good over the last three weeks. One was 75 miles away but was gone when I called to ask. The second I found had just had an offer placed when I arrived to look at it. The salesman was very nice here. He asked what I wanted (model, price, etc.) and said was going to be on the lookout for me. He didn't try to sell me something I didn't want, which I really appreciate.
The last car I found was also gone when I got to the dealership. Here, the salesman wasn't so smart. He showed me a couple of other deals, which I told him were out of my range. He gave the "let's see what we can do speech". I humored him, knowing it wasn't likely. Once he gave me his best offer, I told him it wasn't doable, and tried to thank him for his efforts, and asked him if he could keep a sharp eye for a deal for me. At this point, he pulled out all the stops: what's your preferred payment? price? What can they do to get my business today? When I tried to explain that it wasn't possible, he got the sales manager. After a few more minutes of this I just got infuriated and walked out. I really hate high-pressure tactics. I stormed out of a dealership a few years ago because their second "better offer" actually would have cost us more since they reduced the value of our trade-in on the second offer letter. All these tactics accomplish is to get me to not ever do business with a dealership.
So, I came home a bit frustrated and angry. I checked the web sites again, and there it was: a certified 2003 Taurus with about 24k miles on it - and it was in the right price range. I was hoping for about 20k miles, but I'll trade 4000 miles for a few thousand in debt. The only problem: it was 150 miles away. Still, it was the best deal out there. A quick check of Kelley Blue Book showed their price was already about halfway between "sticker" and direct sale, so it looked very promising. I called the dealership, and it was still on the lot. When I told the salesman I wanted to come have a look, but was 2-3 hours away, he immediately pulled it from the lot - just on my word.
We drove to the dealership, did the test drive and found it to be in very good shape overall. So, we made the deal and drove it home - just to find out that Jeff and Steph were stuck on the side of the road 20 hours away, and that they were now in the market for a new minivan. I had to chuckle at the timing, though I don't think they appreciate it at the moment.
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Comments
Have you looked at Carmax before? They have good deals. You will probably be able to beat their prices with other dealerships or individuals, but it's hard to beat their quality control. I know quite a few people who have gone this option.
Posted by: queuno at April 9, 2006 8:11 PM
Not Carmax, but from Autonation before they went under. We had good luck with them, as well as Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
The main thing is just to know values when you go in. If you know what you want and how much it's worth, the rest is just filling out the paperwork.
Posted by: Nemo ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.caerdroia.org/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 9, 2006 8:29 PM
Heh, I just bought a Taurus from Enterprise this weekend too. Got a good deal from them and the car seems to be in great shape.
Posted by: Karl Gallagher at April 9, 2006 8:56 PM
Oh, no, we've been chuckling too. And here's a laugh: we also just bought a Taurus. While I was up in Michigan last week, after driving the truck up, I picked up a Taurus (1999, 63000 miles, every option except leather seats, maintained by someone very, very anal, and with aftermarket in-frame anti-rust protection, never driven in Winter and I paid just under Blue Book "direct sale" value). Yeah, we're chuckling. Admittedly, it's a little bit manic chuckling, but hey, we're still laughing.
Posted by: Jeff Medcalf at April 9, 2006 9:34 PM