The Funs of Car Shopping (Part 2)

Are you kidding me?    ……

This is what I woke up to this morning. 

Snow?  Laying on the ground?   That Mother Nature is sure sneaky to make it snow during the night while everyone was sleeping. 

Thank you for the terrific response for the presale pattern orders of this:

“Spring Hatchings” just came back from the printers last night so I should be able to have the patterns ready for mailing out tomorrow morning . If you haven’t already ordered the pattern and wish to get it at the special preorder price, just click that Paypal button over there by the picture and get it done!

Those who wish to pay by check, please just email me.  

Ok, more car shopping was done on Wednesday.  I went to the local Nissan dealer to test drive the Altima and I went to the Chevy dealer to test drive the Malibu.

It’s becoming frustrating because I hoped that by now, I would have found “that” car .. you know… the one that had the “WOW!” factor.   After each test drive, I’ve come to love my old 2000 Taurus even more.  

I followed my rules that I listed in my last post.  I didn’t take hubby and I didn’t go into the showroom to get numbers. 

Without hubby, I can quickly get in a car, drive it and then leave  Hmm…

I do remember a time, long ago, that I couldn’t even get a salesman to talk to me, let alone let me test drive a car without my husband with me so things have come a long way in 20 years.

I still get that feeling that these salesmen don’t take me seriously as a buyer.

I remember standing out in the cold, in the dealer lot, just waiting for a salesman to appear, to talk to him about a car that I liked.  20 years ago, Rach was only a year old and Jen was 7.  Hubby stayed home with the kids so that I could quickly check out the car that I wanted to buy.  No one ever came out.  I could see all the salesmen standing inside, watching me, but they didn’t want to waste time with a female.   

I remember one local dealership , 10 years ago, that did talk to me and show me some cars, but when I asked to test drive a specific car, he told me he would have it  out and ready for me to drive later in the day when I could bring my hubby back.  We actually did go back later in the day but the salesman didn’t have the car sitting out, ready for us to drive.  It was still buried in the back row behind 3 other rows of cars.  We left and I’ll never go back there.

So Pete, from the Nissan dealer took me for a test drive, but this test drive has reminded me to add another rule.

RULE #7 

While test driving a car, don’t chatter with the salesman about your kids in college or what you had for dinner last night. FOCUS on the car and how it drives.

Honestly, I drove that car and I really don’t know if I liked it or not because I was so busy listening to the salesman talking about his college experience and his chicken dinner from the previous night.   I know that baking chicken with his mom’s recipe for a special glaze makes the chicken super moist and tender, but I don’t know how the Altima handles bumps in the road or how much road noise can be heard.

Jen had yelled at me a few days before, telling me, “these salesmen are NOT YOUR FRIEND”!  They are PRETENDING to be your friend so that you will like them and buy a car from them.

Well, sorry Jen, Pete IS my friend now.  Pete and I bonded and even though he never got my name OR phone number, I know I can go back there to chat with him anytime I want.

I am a bit upset that I wasted time chatting with him instead of learning about the Altima.  

So my conclusion about the Altima?  I dunno but I’m going to make some really good chicken this weekend.

The test drive with Dan, at the local Chevy dealer went much better.  However, they only had two Malibus on their lot.  Not much choice there.  Dan reminded me of a little yippy Chihuahua

Nothing against Chihuahuas, they’re cute little dogs, but they’re little and spry and very active.  That was Dan.  I had trouble keeping up with Dan on the lot.  He walked so quickly that he was always 3 steps ahead of me.  Back and forth across the lot we went, quickly, with him chattering the entire time.  I swear we drove forever and ever for the test drive.  I bet we did at least 10 miles.   I liked the Malibu, but I like the Fusion and the Sonata better, I think. 

Tomorrow will be a busier day.  I’ll try the Mazda, the Honda, the Volkswagon and the Toyota.  They’re all located along the same stretch of highway but it’s a distance away so I’ll have to allow lots of time to get them all in on one day.

Happy Day Everyone!