Wayne and I finally decided which car to buy. It required that we go back to both dealerships and take a closer look at the vehicles we were considering. We even brought the infant car seat with us and tried it out. It turns out that this was time well spent since it helped us clearly decide which car was going to work best for us a family.
As Wayne took a second test drive of the RAV4, this time with me in the back seat (where I’m likely to sit to be near the baby), I realized that I was feeling a bit cramped, claustrophobic, and doubting many of my initial reasons for wanting the RAV4. Of course Wayne was thrilled to hear that I decided we should go with his first choice, and off we went to negotiate on a new Honda Element.
Several hours and lots of dollars later, we drove home with a shiny green Element. We are extremely glad that we did our homework and made use of the Consumer Reports buying guides, since it eliminated much of the annoying haggling and anxiety. We’re also glad that we could do this as a team, which really helped us to stay focused. Buying a car is a really big deal, and we feel we did a terrific job. And even more exciting than a new car is knowing that we will soon be bringing our beautiful baby home from the hospital in it.
Stay tuned for a future blog entry in which we share our thoughts about car dealerships: the good, the bad, and the shocking.