The Worst Winter Weather Night For Picking Up A New Car

I mentioned in my previous post that last Thursday, Hubs deemed that night the worst winter driving day ever. It also just happens to be the day I picked up my new car.

 

Let me start from the beginning.  Get ready, it’s looong.

Over Christmas break the starter went out in my car. My mechanic, who also happens to work at a Honda dealership, replaced the starter and made a comment about the number of miles on my car. He said that we still had some good miles left on it but that driving back and forth to work every day would begin to take it's toll. (I think it already has, hence having to replace the starter)

So with that information in hand on Martin Luther King Jr. day, we went car shopping. I had an idea of what I wanted. Hubs and I have owned three Honda’s in the course of our marriage. And I kind of wanted another one but I also kind of wanted to try something else. I know Honda’s are great cars and they last. Let me tell you they last. We currently still have two Honda’s and both have 150,000+ miles on them. And my mechanic can work on them at his cost whenever something needed to be done. And because we keep our cars F-O-R-E-V-E-R, I had to think of repairs down the road. Even with all that information, I still wanted something different.

I had my eyes and my heart set on a Nissan Rogue. I’ve had several friends that have owned Nissan’s for years and love them.

So Hubs and I set out to the Nissan dealerships in our area. I liked the features and body design, the 2013 body design. The new 2014 body style of the Nissan Rogue’s did not appeal to me. So it was with this in mind I began to wheel and deal with the sales guys. Yes I said guys. We went to two Nissan dealerships looking for the best price and I began to play them off of each other. I felt like a kid again trying to play my parents against one another to get what I wanted. (Which for the record is never a good thing as a child.)

So when I finally got the price I wanted from one of the dealerships I called my credit union to see about financing the new car. When they couldn’t get my interest rate where I wanted, my loan officer asked me if I had been to the other Nissan dealership in one of the neighboring cities. My reply was, “They have a Nissan over there???” She gave me their phone number and I immediately pulled up their website and began looking at what they had.

Now here is where it gets good. These next events all happened within 30 minutes.

I found the car I wanted and I called the sales guy. I told him to see if they still had the car on the website on their lot. He said he’d check and call me back. He called back in about five minutes and said yes. I said OK I want it and I want walk out price at this. He said walk out, and I repeated myself. He said OK let me check with my manager and I’ll call you back again. Ten minutes later he called back and said OK you’ve got it. Then I asked if they did financing because I didn’t like the interest rate my credit union had to offer. He said yes and I said OK I want my interest rate at this amount. He said OK, I’ll call you back. A few minutes later he calls back and said we got you the interest rate, even more we got you two points lower than you requested. I said OK now I want my monthly notes at this specific amount.  Again he said I’ll call you back. And when he did he said OK we’ve got your walk out, interest rate and monthly payments all set where you want them , now when are you coming to pick up your car.

That’s right I bought a car in 30 minutes! How’s that for wheeling and dealing?

So on the worst driving night of the year, rain, freezing temperatures, and sleet on the way, Hubs and I drove to pick up my new car. A 2013 Nissan Rogue-Special Edition.