My First Car Buying Experience

My First Car Buying Experience

Anna and I have been shopping for a car for the last couple of weeks. I have found right away that we fell in love with, however, due to dealer incompetence we chose not to buy at that time (story to come later in the blog).

First off, there are a couple of websites that you must read through before you consider buying a new car.

The first is:

http://www.carbuyingtips.com

This guy knows his stuff. He is honest, straightforward, and thorough. This website is a must read for anyone considering buying a car. There is so much info in there will not only save you money, but will also save you from being scammed by a devious dealer.

The second is:

http://warrantydirect.com

This is a reputable company that was recommend by the previous website as a site to receive extended warranties for just about any car out there regardless of age. They provide quick, easy to understand quoted on warranties, and what these warranties include. They even followed up with me by phone explaining in great detail what is covered, what is not covered, what is recommended, and why. This company is heads and shoulder above anyone else in the industry.

So, how did I get to this point? As many of you know, I love cars. I receive three car publications (magazines for the normal people) each month, and I read them from cover to cover. Other the last two years I have been looking at cars, observing the market, and figuring out what is a good deal out there.

Anna, after doing our taxes, gave me the okay to buy a new car. My gay, purple, Dodge Neon has about 145,000 miles on it. It is a great car, but we really need something with a bit more space, and a few less miles on it. So what happens? The moment I start to really consider buying a car, a deal I cannot pass up shows up, a 2003 Volkswagen Passat Wagon. No, it is not just any Passat, it is the top of the line, eight cylinder, 270 horsepower model with just 60,000 miles on it. It has every option available for this car. Retail new: $40,000, retail, retail used: $24,000, selling now for: $12,000. It is an amazing deal. Obviously it is something I need to take a look at.

So, yeah, I am a bit concerned. How could it be such a good deal? I am not sure. I read Carfax report, and it looks like it was involved in a minor fender-bender a few years ago, but that was it. The fender-bender did not cause the airbags to go off, nor did it cause enough damage to require a police investigation.
I continue the research. There are a few W8’s out there for sale right now. Why there are so cheap is a still a mystery to me.

Anna and I decide to go to the deal. We called the salesman up I have been talking for a couple days to confirm the test-drive, and he tells me the car is being test-driven right now. Anna and I are already on our way. We are a bit bummed, but there were other cars we wanted to drive anyway. In the back of our minds we are thinking that this is a sales ploy to instill a sense of urgency onto the customer to buy the car. However, when we get to the dealership, we find out that what the salesman said was legitimate. There was a couple there wanting to buy the same car Anna and I wanted!

We end up stalling for an hour or so test driving other cars. The Volkswagen GTI with a VR6 engine in is a ton of fun to drive by the way. It wasn’t quite the car Anna and I need right now, but it was a hell-of-a-lot of fun to drive!

After hanging out for an hour we finally get our chance to drive the Passat. Let me tell you, it was amazing. Better than I thought possible. It was quieter going 80 mph than my Neon going 20 mph. It has all the upgrades we want (power seats with two driver memory, heated seats, multi-disc CD player, moonroof, and it is a wagon). We feel in love with it in less than five minutes of driving.

We decided we wanted to buy it. We walk in, and tell the salesperson, “SOLD”! He sits us down, and disappears. He was dealing with the another couple at the same time. Fine, but then he sends over this other guy. Nice looking guy. New at his job. He proceeds to tell us how high-tech of a car we are getting. All of this I already knew because of my research, but he felt it was needed to tell us it all again. Finally, he tells us that the engine in that car cost $27,000 and has been discontinued by Volkswagen. Not to worry though, they have us covered. For a small fee of just $4500 they will provide us with a bumper-to-bumper warranty. They $12,000 car becomes a $16,500 car. We start to feel doubt. We start to feel uncomfortable, so we backed out. After being more than willing to buy the car; we leave the dealership sans new car.

This, however, is a miracle in disguise. It gave Anna and I a chance to research and understand all that is going on. I found the above websites, and found that not only was I being other priced on the warranty, but I was also being quoted for an inferior warranty. We also had the chance to look around just to verify that the purchase we were making was the best we could find (and yes, it is the best deal out there right now for us). By taking the extra time Anna and I have saved $2000 on the warranty, but we also were give the peace of mind that this is the right car for us (not that we own the car yet). We were also locked into a loan that is 2% lower than the loans quoted to us by the dealer. In the end, we saved a bunch, and are much more excited about the purchase we are about to make.
A little God story for you. Before I went to bed the day before the test drive, I asked God to give me an escape if something about the car purchased didn’t feel comfortable. He answered that prayer. Anna and I were ready to buy a car without doing all the proper researcher, but do to our desire to see a friend in Burnsville, and Anna need for food, we were able to leave the dealership before making a big mistake. Thank you, God.