Joe and I decided to get away from the house this morning so we went to town and went vehicle shopping. My 1999 Camry is a good and reliable car but since I drive 40 miles per day to and from work it is probably a good idea to start looking. We started on the south side of Paducah and ended up on the west side (I think, I am no good with that stuff). We hit almost all of the dealerships. Now, mind you, we were just looking. Not at all ready to purchase one. The first sales person was very nice. It was a Kia dealership and this guy was fairly young and new. Normally I have an instant dislike for any type of car salesman but he was nice, not pushy at all. I like that and I liked Adam. We got a look at the Kias and left. The next dealership we drove through and didn't even stop. It was a Honda/BMW dealership and we didn't see anything we were the least bit interested in.
We went across the road and immediately a sales person came out. Joe made sure that every sales person that we came in contact with knew that the vehicle we were going to buy was for me. The man at that dealership shook my hand but that was just about all he said to me. He kept talking to Joe. I hate when that happens. The guy assumed, apparently, that any decision making would be done by the 'man' of the house. Uh, excuse me, you were told that the vehicle was for me, you know, me, the woman actually looking at them, doing the math, looking at the features. Ok, so he had already gotten on my bad side by acting like the 'typical' car salesman. I walked around the lot very much interested in looking inside several vehicles but guess what? They were all locked. I got pissed off again. How are you supposed to look at something without sitting in it and being able to feel it out. What they want you to have to do of course is have a sales person get the key for every vehicle you want. Uh, no. Not interested. (I should have had him fetch several keys at one time then said I was no longer interested!) I walked back to where Joe was talking to the narrow minded person called a sales rep. and I asked "why are all of your vehicles locked?" He said that is what they do. I said "well, I was interested in some but since they were locked I am no longer interested." By the way you are a chauvinist pig asshole and I wouldn't buy a car from you if you were the last dealer on Earth. Ok, I didn't saw that last part but I surely was thinking it.
We left and went down the road to the Ford dealership. Joe wanted to look at the 2008 Focus. Yuk, puke, nasty, tasteless, ugly, gag a maggot. They even had one in a horrible green. The guy there was nicer and actually talked to me so I hated it that I didn't like his cars but that was what I told him. Joe asked "Do you want to drive one?" I said "no, I think they are ugly, I don't like them at all." Then I said "sorry" to the nice sales person.
We left there and headed to the Toyota dealer. We had a nice salesman there who was honest, not pushy at all and left us alone until we saw something we wanted to test drive. We drove a Toyota Scion. It was black on black and a really cute little car. Good gas mileage and not too bad of a price for a new vehicle. We both ended up not liking it, just too little. We couldn't even see the front of the car while driving. What I really want is a Toyota Tacoma. I love them. I want a king cab with big ole tires. I have wanted a pickup truck for a while now. We have one but it is an 88 and not easy on the gas wallet. I guess I will have to wait until the next time a vehicle is purchased to get what I really want. A few years before I retire I will buy one so it will be paid off before retirement. Once again I guess I will get a sedan. Anyone have any good ideas for a new or late model vehicle that is an automatic with good gas mileage? I am looking for something around $16,000 or so.
I need all the help I can get!
10 comments:
I love my little 97 S-10 with 4 wheel drive, but if I were to buy a new car it would be a tacoma pick-up. I love those little trucks! Hey mine is a six cylinder and I get 20 mpg around town. I hope it lasts until I finish school, I am heading on 170,000 miles. Then I would love to get a really cool mustang or corvette and drive the truck in the winter. Hey a woman has to have dreams ya know!
Toyotas are awfully expensive, I have owned many many vehicles bbut this one I have now is the first Toyota. I love it so much. It's a 4 Runner, base model, and it was $24,000 (I'm really good at bargaining for cars) and it gets an avg of 22 mpg. My last truck was a Ford Sport Trac and the mpg in that was crap. Plus the Toyota drives soooo much better. I think the Tacomas are built here in San Antonio and are actually becoming quite popular here considering it's Ford/Chevy country. I think they are a very sexy looking truck! As far as something in the $16k range that's bigger than a scion that's a hard bill to fill. Maybe a Mazda? Or a Subaru, I've always wanted to play with one of them.
My Kia Sportage has served me well. Jim had a rental Kia Spectra. He liked it a lot, it got good gas mileage and was really tech savvy. But he truly loves his Toyota Matrix. If I had to look today I would look at Kia's again. They have 100,000/10 year warranties and mine has proven to be a good car. I really want an Audi TT or a VW Toureg, but they are too expensive. You might consider buying a loaner car, they are well priced and cared for with minimal mileage. Kinda like a new car without the cost.
Let me know what you end up with. I will be needing a new one myself soon.
I had an experience with a sales guy that refused to talk to me.When he did a follow up call, I told him I was not buying from him because he ignored me.He didn't seem too sorry about it. His loss..
My husband & I belong to the used car club. The Motley Fools say buying a new car is a terrible investment.I live in the Motor City & try to buy American, but the last couple years I have gotten disgusted with American automakers.When I drive my 2002 Ford Escape(terrible mileage)into the ground,I'm going with a used Honda or Kia.I've heard good things about the Kia.
I am leaning toward a Kia or perhaps a VW Jetta. They had a 2007 Jetta at the Toyota dealership that I really liked but it had over 33K miles (just in one year). I really don't want to buy a new car, an 07 would be better. I'll let someone else take that immediate depreciation thank you. There is a dealership in Clarksville, Tn which isn't too far from us. Perhaps next weekend we might go there and see what they offer.
I love VW's , have owned 2 but the last one was horrible. They are having major problems with quality control and mine was in the shop constantly, at least once a month. It was brand new and the warranty didn't seem to cover things that would break or that got damaged because of the break. Like the window bars would break and while you were driving the window would drop into the door (and scare the crap out of you). The tint was then totally hugely scratched and you couldn't roll up the window. VW would reimburse you but you had to pay for it yourself, send them the receipt and then hope they sent you back the money. No thanks. Then the tires turned out to be defective, they couldn't rotate the tires right and it kept pulling to one side. They then told me to go to a tire sales place that sold that brand of tire and get them replaced. Turns out you have to pay for the miles you already put on the tires so it would have cost me $100 per tire to have the defective ones replaced. I ended up trading it in after only owning it for 1.5 yrs and lost all of my original car's trade in value. The dh wants a VW now and I won't let him get one. Mean wifey.
hummmmm, thanks for that heads up michelle. Perhaps I need to stick w/Toyota or Kia after all.
I am sorry to say I am one that would never buy a small vehicle. I know gas is a big thing, but give me a nice big safe truck any day. Plus I only buy Chevys. I have had a ford ranger, that was the only ford that I have known to be an ok Ford. Toyotas are ok, they can last a long time with the proper maintenance and they are actually made in America and all, but I have yet to have a Chevy go bad on me.
Best of luck with whatever you choose!
Toyota Corolla (less $$$$) or Camry (more $$$$).
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