Today was a proud day in the life of this mama. My twenty year old son worked two jobs all summer to save up for a down payment on a new car. Like most of us, his first one was a real clunker. A money pit from day one (literally). The last few months he has done hours upon hours of research on makes, models, warranty's, consumer reports, etc. He asked folks he trusted (who work in banking) about financing in a way that will boost his credit and create a monthly payment that is attainable without diving for pennies in the local wishing well. The kids done his homework.
His plan was to purchase in mid-October, but his '98 Coupe de Shit decided to take its final dump late Thursday night. This was the last time he wanted to be stranded on the highway waiting for AAA to rescue him. So, today we all braved the 95+ heat and did some car shopping. We went into the day with a plan... he would appear to be the over zealous cub and I would play the role of hard-assed, over protective mother bear. It worked pretty damned amazing.
The first lot had the wheels he really has his eyes (and heart) set on. After ditching smarmy salesman #1 ("Let me ask my finance manager what we can do to get you into this ve-hickle today my brother") and working with someone with a bit more finesse, the boy had a wealth of information including quite a bit about how leasing works. When the youngins' stepped outside, I looked at the salesman and quite blatantly stated I wasn't letting my son be taken to the cleaners. "Bottom line, he wont pay more than $16,500, out the door. If you can't work with that, we will find someone else who will. " AHEM. Not to toot my own horn, if you pardon the pun, but yea... my cut-the-bullshit-charm got us an offer, in writing, for our price. I went outside to inform my cub and he shocked me by saying although he was overjoyed at my negotiating prowess, he wanted to keep looking and not make a hasty decision.
Lot #2 was Douche Bag Central. They had an extremely limited selection and no one could seem to give me a straight answer about their customer loyalty program for trade in, nor what their warranty actually covered. It was quite unsettling to see a very well hidden, PRE-OWNED 2013 (NOT a typo.. a brand new car) in the back of the lot with "Transmission Issue" written on the window. We bounced out of there quicker than the losing pit crew after a Nascar race. Lot #3 was much of the same. Larger selection, but nothing that really struck his fancy that was in his price range.
We headed home and worked out a ride sharing plan for the week to get us all to work and school using my wheels, thus eliminating the need to rush into a purchase. I was so proud of that kid for keeping a level head and not getting sucked into the excitement of new car smell. Stay tuned for the update on his decision.
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