I Hate Car Shopping

I hate to shop for cars.

My youngest needs a car.  I have saved for years to buy him a new one when he graduated.  Does he need a new car?  No, he needs a car.  I decided to buy him a new one for my peace of mind.  I want him to have a car that is safe, reliable, and not going to cause me any undo headaches down the road. 

Now it is hard to buy a car for a child that does not like to drive, and the only the he knows cars is how to identify a truck, a van, a sedan, and a SUV.  He does know he does not want a truck, SUV, or a van.  He wants a car with 4 doors.

I sat down with him on Thursday night and had him look at KIA, Honda, and Ford.  I wanted him to be an informed consumer.  We looked at safety ratings and reviews.  

Yesterday, we went out and he drove a KIA Forte, Ford Focus, and Honda Civic.  He decided he wanted the Civic mainly because it has a digital speedometer.  

I called Mina "The Negotiator" and asked if she could go back to the dealership with us to talk pricing.  Mina is the person you want with you when you are getting ready to spend the money.  I am proud of the job I did getting the price I did on my van, but I hated it.  Mina had offered in the past and I knew I wanted her there.  

I called the salesman to tell he we were on our way back.  We arrived to find the car detailed and waiting.  He even put a temporary tag on it while we watched.  Then we went inside for the fun stuff.  Only it wasn't fun.  Let's just say that they would not budge, and I would not give.  I offered cash, and I offered to finance, whatever would give me the deal I wanted.  I wasn't even being unreasonable, but they wouldn't move over $700 off the first time, and then $500.00.  That wasn't enough.  

They then said they had some 2011 pre-owned low mileage on the lot.  We went to look at those. They had stickers on them $3-4,000 more than the new ones.  That was enough.  After talking about it we decided to leave.  As the salesman was walking us off the lot I made one more offer.  He wouldn't even take it in.  

Today we go go a new dealership.  I hope we come home with a car.  

I am not being unreasonable in my offer.  So hopefully my "Negotiator" will work her magic.

Youngest Graduated - May 13, 2011

My youngest son graduated on May 13, 2011.  He now has a high school diploma and around 60 hours of college credit.  He has a scholarship to college, and will be studying computer engineering (at least to start). 

I am very proud of him. 

Yes, I am Alive and Well

Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I have had time to really sit and post on this blog.  

I would like to thank all of you that read this blog regularly that have reached out to check on me.  I received several emails and FB messages asking if something was wrong.  

Nothing is really wrong. Just busy, and then tired.  

I am still trying to recover full range of motion in my arm.  It is not going as well as I had hoped, and now my next set of PT visits has been denied, so I will have to go through another appeal.  The Dr. also mentioned that he might need to go back in and "loosen" things up.  Not too excited about that idea.

I also had to get through the youngest's graduation, and I have been very upset over some observations of my oldest's relationship that makes me feel like I failed as a parent.  

Mostly though, I have just been busy.  

I will try to do better so I don't worry my friends that keep up with me through this blog. 

Accomplishments #120 thru #147

Yes, I have accomplished something every day, but all of it minor stuff until day #140 where I had my youngest help me totally redo some of the items in my kitchen.  I took out my large baker's rack, put away some of my pottery collection, and changed the position of my large rectangular table in my kitchen.  It was a lot of change.  So much so, that Loni kept saying "That's a lot of change in one day Mama."