I knew this weekend had some boring potential so I hedged my bets by scheduling a couple test drives today. I realize that to some of you this might seem like torture but I truly do love me some car buying. And in my current circumstance I am a nightmare customer but not because I am an asshole… it’s more about my complete lack of caring about cars.
Don’t get me wrong I appreciate a fine automobile as much as the next guy but I’ve never based my identity on my vehicle. I actually like my current car except the fact that I have to fold the seat down to get my golf clubs in the back. So more room went on the shopping list. All wheel drive has made things less stressful on the early morning unplowed streets of Saint Paul so that gets added as well. Finally, because my world runs on my phone it needed to have apple car play. Other than that I am a blank slate.
I am also interested in lowering my payment and because I rent the rest of my life there’s no reason I shouldn’t lease my car. Two years seems to be my boredom threshold and I’ll need 12,000 miles a year because I like to drive. Other than that I’m brand agnostic. No car company has ever done anything to earn my loyalty and I am naturally adverse to blind faithful fanaticism. My grandfather was a Pontiac man the entire time I knew him and the people at General Motors didn’t give a single shit. You might think owning a dozen or so of your cars over the years might warrant a plaque or something…
Finally, timeline. I was told at my last oil change and confirmed with a second opinion that I would need tires soon. The car has almost 40,000 miles on it so it makes sense but the low quote I’m looking at is $800. I’m buying something in the next couple of months which is the main reason I went shopping today. I should tell you I’ve already been looking for the last month and a half having walked away from 6 total deals due to shenanigans.
Low bullshit tolerance is an excellent negotiation tool but these are strange car buying times. Some dealers are demanding over sticker price which makes springs fly out of my head. I had an asshole dealer try to charge me a “Minnesota equipment package” and when I proved that his dealership made it up he just said “well it’s a thing now.”
So I didn’t have high hopes when I showed up to my 10:00 appointment at 10:20 (never look too eager) but I got surprised right out of the gate. The exact car we were emailing back and forth about was here waiting for me to drive. And, after introducing herself, my salesperson asked for my keys so we could get the appraisal started.
I won’t bore you anymore than I already have but I got a bigger vehicle at half the payment for the next two years and I was in and out in under two hours total. A record that I don’t know if I’ll ever break. For those who might care I got a basic Mitsubishi Outlander. First, I had no idea they still made cars. My friend had a Montero in the 90s but like I said - not a car guy. Secondly, extras are wasted on me. I got some on this thing but only because they couldn’t take them out. (by the way one of my favorite things is to tell a dealer to remove something they think will set the hook in me. Very satisfying.)
Only one drawback so far and that’s squeezing this bigger thing into my current apartment parking space. I’ll try to take a picture tomorrow to illustrate. Fat car in a little spot…