Posts Tagged ‘new car’

Yesterday, I had to say goodbye to Loki in all of her glory…

I’m a little sad to say goodbye to Loki.  Loki was a 2003 Suzuki Aerio that my parents bought for me in college.  I loved that little car.  It took me through some really great times in college, took me through the hell of grad school, through my first job at the County and drove me to my interview in Carnegie.  It took me on long drives when I’d cry about ex-boyfriends, it took me through the snow and ice.  Last night, it was time to move on.  In fact, there was going to be nothing the dealer would say that wouldn’t allow them to sell me the new car.  So quickly Jared and my father were able to clean out the car and put random things into my new car.

Some highlights of my former cars life:

• It drove me to a summer in Lehighton where I baby sat with my Cousins.
• It drove me to Pitt, day after day, when I went to grad school
• It drove me to a really bad ex’s house, even though I shouldn’t have gone
• It drove me to Jared, and our early relationship runs
• It drove to really loud Amy Winehouse music
• It never got a speeding ticket (because it could never speed )
• It did, however, get a lot of parking tickets

Okay, Whitney.  Snap out of it.  I guess I just live so much of my life with a car that I cannot help but feel attached.

Actually, yesterday went more like this:

1. Jared and my dad quickly cleaned a few things out of my car while I talked to the salesman about a few last minute details.
2. I signed all my papers and gave Loki away.
3. I got a lot of explanation about the keys.  Don’t know why…
4. I turned the heated seats on the new car (unnamed) and make a big sigh of relief.

My father fell in love with the car, which I consider to be a good sign.  He liked the one from last week, but I think with the different paint color, he really liked this one.   In all, I got my Outback at below invoice price.  So, the “cold weather package” was basically free.  My warm butt is thankful for that .  

That is the color of the new Outback, with the exception of the license plate of coarse.  It’s a neat looking car, with ample storage room.  It’s got AWD, stabilization, and anti-lock brakes.  That’s basically all I need/want.  Warm butts are not a requirement, but the particular model I got was a demo so I felt like I got the best deal I could.

My biggest concern is the transition period between the Suzuki and the Outback.  Clearly, much different cars.  Size size, it feels a lot longer than the Suzuki. 

What I would do differently.  Over the last year, the Suzuki has had some abuse…  Some of it was abuse from others, some of it was abuse from me (late oil changes, brake issues), some of it was just the “age” of the car.  Loki was brought from Enterprise, so it had been a rental prior to me owning it.  At the time, though, I really couldn’t afford to put money into the sounds of the radiator when the heat was on (it was so obnoxious at intersections).  Or fixing whatever wheel problem just occurred this week.

The Suzuki needed inspection.  I knew before all of this started that I’d need 4 new tires (just spent $200 on 2), new brakes, and my father said something on the axel was going that would be $500 for one part and another $1,800 for another part.  Adding up all of those figures in my head well surpassed the trade in value I ended up getting ($1800), as well as the down payment I was going to give. 

Day Subaru

A close family friend just purchased a car from Day Subaru.  Last weekend, after all of the hoopla, I was surprised to find she recommended them.  After a series of e-mails this week with the GM, the Sales Manager, and the Finance Manager, my mind was totally changed.  Sure, I was still nervous about the car.  I was still nervous to go in there (“Oh, not this girl again”), but they were going to sell me the car.  They were going to give me $1,200 for my car.  I asked for $1,500.  They gave me $1,850. 

The one person that was consistent through all of this was the salesman.  He was fantastic through all of this.  I found out after I bought the car that he sold the car to the family friend. 

My new friend through all of this will be my car payments for the next six years.  Yes, I financed for 6 years.  I’ve also got an extended warranty for six years so if anything happens, I won’t be making a car payment and repair bills.  And yes, I consider all big purchases like this very carefully.  Hence the 30 blog posts .

Happy Friday?

Yesterday, I had my review at work.  After about a month of delays, it was review time.  I was going to attempt to not allow them to reschedule it.  I would have never happened if I allowed them to stall it.  Or, it would have happened, just not when I wanted.  I’d rather “get it over” and know what I could be doing better instead of waiting another month and making the same mistakes.

It went okay.  I got a “slightly above average rating” which I think I might challenge on a good day.  Not because I think I do a fantastic job, but because Council isn’t there full-time and I think there are things they over-look. 

Regardless, I asked the same question after every segment: What can I do better?  I was also looking for specifics, because in my position, I have no feedback other than with Council.  And trust me, they have no problem telling me when they aren’t happy =).  I did my own evaluation (or accomplishment list) earlier in the day and realized I have brought a combined savings/investment increase to the Borough of over $300,000.  That is something to be proud of. 

The game plan for the week is going okay.  Then again, it’s Tuesday so it’s still early enough to completely miss the bus (so to steak) and the whole plan will be thrown to the waist side.  My Tuesday evening solicitor interview was rescheduled to last thankfully, so I have some extra free time.  Though, I got home from work at 10:00 pm last night and was in bed by 10:30.  Balance, eh?

I think the staff really enjoyed their cookies (whew), and I hope it prevents any remarks about not having gotten anything from their boss.  I also will be doing a give-away at the holiday party hosted by Council on Friday.  Again, another good thing that I think they haven’t experienced.

Car Updates

I think the dealership and I have met at some point regarding the car… 

MSRP: $27,188

Invoice: $25,507

Trade In: $1,850 (holy hell!)

Down Payment: $5,000

Monthly Payment: $387.95  (Ahhh!)

$400/month for a car?  Are you serious?  With that large of a down payment?   Is my reality warped to think I should be paying $100 less a month for a new SUV?  $300, okay, I can deal with that.  $400 you are pushing it a lot.  I need some time to think about this.  I’m not good with major purchases.  I guess I’ve failed to mention in my blog that I feel sick over all of this.  Did I fail to mention this?  =)

Okay folks.  I have narrowed it down.  I have decided upon, or think I have decided upon the Outlander.  Jared and I went to Day Subaru yesterday and had quite the experience.  I wanted to look at it again to decide…

The salesman was very nice.  In fact, probably one of the nicer ones I have come across.  I’m convinced, though, that he is all part of this “game”.  Let me elaborate…

After we decided on the car, it all happened pretty quickly: he told me the price, asked what my trade-in was, and asked if I had a down payment.  He then had me fill out a credit application and from there we waited.  I spoke to (what I though was a salesman) about my job in Carnegie, and he mentioned he was a township supervisor in Robinson.  We made some small talk for awhile and I thought nothing of it again.  Turns out he was the General Manager.

I was feeling a little uncomfortable because I hadn’t yet been given the opportunity to negotiate.  Then, the finance manager was a jerk.  He kept us waiting and waiting without any response.  Then he went to lunch.  I couldn’t believe it.  Then, Jared went to their waiting room where he heard the finance manager on the phone.  Jared told me he sounded like even more of a jerk (though his term was asshole haha!).  We had been waiting about an hour at this point without hearing from anyone.  Then the finance manager came back and asked if I would be willing to take “less car” because he believed my down payment wasn’t enough.  I said, I will increase my down payment to X.  In the back of my mind, I knew how much I wanted to finance and somehow knew how much I could finance.  Women’s intuition. 

They told me they would give me $1,200 for my car and were going to sell me the car for $25,600.  No room to negotiate on the $25,600.  Thus, I had to increase my down payment.  I was a little sick feeling after this.  After I told the finance manager that, he said, let me go back and work the numbers.  Another hour passed and nothing.  Jared and I got up and left.  We were not going to be waiting and ignored.

So we left.  We went to Pamela’s for lunch.  I had an egg white muffin sandwich and felt very down in the dumps.   I told Jared was done with looking at cars.  We decided to go to the Outlets because I have a few gifts I still needed to buy.  I was on the phone the whole way there with my parents and they told me to call back Day and complain about the way I was treated.  It sounded like the right thing to do. 

When I got off the phone I had a voicemail from the finance manager “Hey Whitney, sorry we missed you before we had the chance to tell you you were approved for the car.  Come on back and sign the papers so we can get you in this car today”.  Bull.  I called back and went right to the Sales Manager.  I told him how upset I was because of the way I was treated, that I had been waiting there for 2 hours without being talked to, and that I found it very disappointing this is the level of service you give someone who is about to purchase an automobile. 

Jared and I eventually came back.  On the drive back I talked to my uncle who sold cars briefly between jobs.  He gave me some pointers. 

We went back and dealt with the sales manager.  He wasn’t full of roses himself.  I kept referring back to the sales man, who was very nice.  I asked him why I should buy a car from Day.  I told him I would purchase the car and be done.  That they would never see me for service.  Again, I was not provided the opportunity to haggle over the car.  I said, I did my part and increased the down payment, where are you going to meet me?  He said, they are going to have to eat the $250 bank fee from the loan.  I scoffed at that.

He then said I was being financed directly through Subaru.  My blood was boiling.  After I increased my down payment amount, I should have gotten instant approval.  I knew I would.  That wasn’t the point.  The point was that here I am meeting them 90% of the way and they gave me an extra $300 on the trade-in.    I also reminded them that the reason I saw this car was because it was a Rohrich.  It got to the point that we just left.  We thanked Gabe, and the sales manager, and we just left. 

When we got home, I was wrapping gifts and saying to Jared that I thought it was all a game.  They are super-nice with Gabe, they are an asshole with the finance manager.  They are super-nice to get me back in and won’t budge when I get there.  And I thought I felt bad for the salesman, but Jared and I agreed after that he’s a part of it, too.

Then I get a voicemail from Gabe (if you haven’t caught on, he’s the salesman).  He was apologizing for what happened, he agreed and hopes I find the car that’s right for me.  He said if I want this car, don’t let pride stand in the way and he will work with me.  My uncle told me to get the salesman on my side.  Let’s hope that worked.

Then I get an e-mail from the man I was talking to earlier!  The township commissioner from the dealership (who I thought was another salesman) turned out to be the general manager. Whoops.  Totally not my style to use my job to get a car.  Totally not.  Um, that made me very uncomfortable.  His e-mail was basically apologizing for my experience, assuring me that future service would be excellent, and asking me to call him to discuss anything.   In fact, I like to think I am “Whitney B” outside of work hours not “Whitney B Borough Manager”.  My parents disagree.  I guess it’s true.  Not like I am running around bar-hopping on the weekends, but you get my gist.  The most I am doing on the weekends in running around.  Bad joke. 

So now I am stuck, but I think I have my action plan.  I am going to respond to the GM’s e-mail on Monday.  I am going to explain to him that I am not upset about the service, that these things happen.  I am going to explain to him that I was never offered an opportunity to negotiate the price.  That the sale’s manager kept reminding me that the dealership is “taking a hit” with the $250 bank fee.  That if I would have been more involved in the process, they would have learned I was able to increase my down payment, that I wanted to meet in the middle.  I am going to ask him to meet in the middle (for the first time).  And remind him I have not asked this before.  And also that I didn’t want to make a scene (not that I made a scene) and tell him I am surprised by the fact that I haven’t been given the opportunity yet.  Simply put:  Sell me the car for $23k.  Value my trade in at X and take my DP of X.  Done deal and you will have a service customer for the life of the car.  Did I mention the car in question is a demo with 2,000 miles on it!??!!?  Not like I am trying to have them cut a huge loss on a new car!

Jeez.  Talk about a day!  I really don’t even want to buy a car now.  Seriously.  Will all of my experiences be like this?

Thursday, Jared my father and I went on our first round of looking at cars.  We didn’t make it far along West Liberty Avenue (the car-buying meca of Pittsburgh)…

We stopped at Rohrich Toyota for our first stop.  My “ideal car” from there would have been a used Highlander. 

I would not want payments for a new Highlander, but they only had a used Hybrid Highlander, which was still selling for $30k.  Sorry, but I’ll kill a tree and the ecosphere before I sell out $30k for a used SUV.  I know.  I’ll probably go to hell for that one.

So that was easy enough.  We left and I just wanted my dad to look at my dream car.  A Volkswagon Tiguan.  We then stopped at Rohrich Volkswagon because I wanted him to just see it.  The sales guy ended up making me take it for a test drive.  It was impressive.  German engineering.  It’s a nice vehicle.  This is the dream car.  Well at least for right now.  It would have been $27,400.  

After he worked the numbers, he valued my car at $1,500, plus a down payment, the numbers still didn’t work.  I knew I didn’t want to pay over $400/month for this vehicle.  That’s a huge payment. He wasn’t getting it.  We were still $50 apart.  They wouldn’t budge.  The car salesman was pushy.  Jared also said he had a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth the whole time.  Classy. 

We were going to leave when the owner walked into the conversation.  He suggested I try a different vehicle.  A used 2010 Subaru Outback that only had 1,800 miles on it.  He said it was fully loaded.  What shocks me is that they would work with this used vehicle, but not with the Tiguan.  The price between the two is only $1,000.  He suggested I test drive this now. 

I drove it.  It’s nice.  It looks strange.  It doesn’t drive as well as the VW.  It’s got more features than the Tiggy (my nickname for it) like a moon roof, privacy glass, some strange nightlight lights.  But it wasn’t the Tiggy.  And they wouldn’t budge on the cost of the Tiggy.

So we left.  They still had my keys (because they valued my car) but this was unknown to me.  So we get home and I have this voicemail “This is XX from VW.  You must have forgotten your keys.  Why don’t you stop in tomorrow when you get off of work and pick them up”.  Bullshit.  Never going back there again!

_________________________________________

Enter Day Automotive Group.  With the super cheesy jingle “We’re gonna make your day!”.  Not so sure how I feel about dealing with a company that had this type of jingle, but I figure two things: (1) They have many companies under their umbrella including Toyota, VW, and Subaru.  (2) Their locations are all over the city including South, East, and West so I can get my car serviced anywhere.

I called yesterday and I have an appointment today to (1) talk to the finance manager and (2) I have a list of cars I want to consider, and it may be easier for them to pick from their inventory and work accordingly to get the a car from a different lot.

To me, the most important part of all of this is the finance manager.  If I put down X, get X for my trade-in and they give me X for the cost of the vehicle, then I will be financing Y.  I will probably do this before I go in. 

Yes, I am excited.  More than that, however, I am scared.  The guy at Rohrich was not friendly and kind of stupid.  Also, as I mentioned before, my father came with me and he started to get mad.  When he gets mad, he talks really fast and his eye bug-out.  My father is the nicest and hardest working man I’ve ever known (daddy’s girl much?), but if you cross him watch out.  I think I am my father’s daughter 100% so it was funny to watch.  He scared the salesman.  It was awesome. 

______________________________________

The cars I am considering:

Still the VW Tiguan:

Pros:

• German Engineering
• Stylish (I know, I know)
• Saftey features
• Heated side view mirrors (standard)
• 4 cylinder turbo
• Electronic Stabilization
• Pinch protection on windows (Ambrose’s head won’t get stuck)

Cons:

• Price
• Needs premium gas only (thanks to the turbo)
• Any “bonus” features drive the price up
• Would have to finance it for the next six years!!!
• Price!!!

Subaru Outback

Pros

• Included AWD
• Boxter Engine (?)
• Integrated controls on the steering wheel
• Can afford any “features” I couldn’t with the VW

Cons:

• I know little to nothing about Subaru
• Larger than the Tiguan, much larger than my current car
• Admittedly akward styling

Nissan Rogue

Pros:

• The Nissan is a good car manufacturer
• Standard warranty
• 360 Degree value package
• intuitive AWD (less wear on tires than Subaru)
• Highest safety rating
• Least expensive, with all the “stuff”

Cons:

• Not stylish (in my opinion)
• Smallest SUV
• Not the best review

In retrospect, probably any car I pick is going to be this way.  If I want the best, I have to dish out the money.  If I pick “second option”, for either model, I will have to “sacrifice” some things.  All cars come with warranties, and I think any car that I would purchase new would be a good car.  If you are good to your car, it will be good to you.  Anything else should be caught under the warranty.  That said, I kind of like the “awkward” styling of the Outback and I think I will continue to pursue that option.  What a mess.  Buying a car is probably the hardest decision.  Unlike what the VW salesman says, it’s not like buying shoes, because once I drive it off the lot, I cannot return it.  And I would never go into in-depth research about shoes.  If they fit and are on sale, they are mine.

Happy Weekend!