It’s been a journey with many twists and turns as I decided between replacing my car or using rideshare services. In the end, I decided to get another car for two reasons:
I have an aging parent, and I want to be readily available for her; and
I know myself. What I mean is I have a tendency to be very frugal, and I can see myself overanalyzing each time I would plan to use a rideshare service and potentially talk myself out of doing things that would be beneficial just to save money.
In my last post, I did a cost-benefit analysis and determined I would save approximately $7,000 over the course of 10 years by not buying a car. Ironically, the car I ended up getting was about $7,000 less than what I had budgeted, so I ended up in a win-win situation with a new car and the flexibility it’ll provide.
There were some interesting synchronicities that led to this decision. A friend and fellow writer suggested I pull some tarot cards for guidance. As I began to lean towards purchasing a car, I decided that if I pulled The Chariot card that would be a sign that I should buy a car. Minutes after having that thought, I was watching a tarot reading on YouTube, and the reader pulled The Chariot card and said, “If you’re ready to purchase a new car, here it comes!” A couple hours later, I was reading a fiction book I recently borrowed from the library, and the main character was talking about her Toyota Corolla, which was the exact vehicle I wanted to get. I told the universe I could take a hint, and I got my money situated and contacted the local Toyota dealership.
This is where things seemingly went sideways but in the end led me to saving $7,000. Over the phone I was told they could order what I wanted if I wasn’t in a rush, which I wasn’t. I met with a salesman who was playing the typical games some car salespeople play. I knew exactly what I wanted and figured I just needed to play along while sticking to my plan and what I was willing to pay. Not only was he trying to push another model car on me that I didn’t want, but at one point he told me he couldn’t guarantee I’d get what I ordered without the $1,340 “convenience package” because that’s how the factory’s making all the cars these days, which I suspected was untrue. While I was there I also test drove a used Corolla since they didn’t have any new ones available.
The salesman said he preferred to communicate via text, so the following day I made a reasonable offer on a new Corolla that was due to arrive in a month or so. I received no response, which felt rude and unprofessional. A day after I sent my text, I was able to verify that what he told me was indeed a lie, and I was fuming. But at that point I had decided to look into purchasing a certified pre-owned Corolla since the used one I test drove was quite nice, and I’m a low mileage driver now that I’m retired.
The nearest dealer with certified Toyotas was about 25 miles away, and they had one in the exact model and color I wanted. My experience at the second dealership was vastly better. They offered me $500 more for my trade in, dropped a few hundred off the asking price, and were straightforward and polite in their dealings. A few days after placing a deposit on the vehicle, I was able to drive it home.
After sealing the deal on the certified Corolla, I texted the first salesman again to let him know I knew he lied to me, that another dealership was getting my business, and I would be telling everyone I knew about my experience. Funny, he responded to that text!
Comments
Post a Comment