car decision
Mar. 2nd, 2004 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cellioI finally found out why it's been so hard to find an Echo to test-drive. Apparently Toyota is phasing it out in favor of the Scion. So I drove a Scion tonight. So-so visibility, and its get-up-and-go got up and went. Yeah, it would be better with a manual, but I don't think it would be good. The cargo area is very shallow (though the car is a tall hatchback), and the car looks kind of wacky. Pass.
So I settled on the Golf. The manual I drove tonight was quite pleasant. I'm a little nervous about the anticipated maintenance record; if it turns out to be a problem maybe I'll trade it in on a hybrid when the warranty expires. But it's the most comfortable car I've driven, and it's a good car with the features I want, and while the gas mileage is disappointing, I haven't found anything better that (1) was actually available for purchase and (2) I found as comfortable. (The Focus was close on comfort, but the Golf is a little better.) So Golf it is. I made a deposit tonight, and he'll call me tomorrow to tell me when my car will be in.
Aside: while we were driving I commented that I'd gone looking for diesel sources with little luck, and I didn't want to bank too heavily on a mere two gas stations, particularly as hybrids might phase out fuel-efficient diesel engines in the next several years. The diesel version of the Golf is somewhat more expensive than the regular one. The dealer said nothing to attempt to change my mind, though I phrased things in a clear "but I could be wrong" way. Interesting.
I might have done something wrong in the haggling, because it was too easy to get (close to) my target price. The bottom line is a few hundred dollars over invoice and reflects a fair value for my trade-in, though, so I'm not complaining. If the dealer scored on an unadvertised incentive or something (that Edmunds didn't know about), that's ok.
Yay! New car soon!
So I settled on the Golf. The manual I drove tonight was quite pleasant. I'm a little nervous about the anticipated maintenance record; if it turns out to be a problem maybe I'll trade it in on a hybrid when the warranty expires. But it's the most comfortable car I've driven, and it's a good car with the features I want, and while the gas mileage is disappointing, I haven't found anything better that (1) was actually available for purchase and (2) I found as comfortable. (The Focus was close on comfort, but the Golf is a little better.) So Golf it is. I made a deposit tonight, and he'll call me tomorrow to tell me when my car will be in.
Aside: while we were driving I commented that I'd gone looking for diesel sources with little luck, and I didn't want to bank too heavily on a mere two gas stations, particularly as hybrids might phase out fuel-efficient diesel engines in the next several years. The diesel version of the Golf is somewhat more expensive than the regular one. The dealer said nothing to attempt to change my mind, though I phrased things in a clear "but I could be wrong" way. Interesting.
I might have done something wrong in the haggling, because it was too easy to get (close to) my target price. The bottom line is a few hundred dollars over invoice and reflects a fair value for my trade-in, though, so I'm not complaining. If the dealer scored on an unadvertised incentive or something (that Edmunds didn't know about), that's ok.
Yay! New car soon!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-03-03 06:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-03-03 07:20 am (UTC)I'm also not good at coy and subtle, so I didn't try. When it came time to talk price, I pulled out my printout and said "I believe your MSRP is X and your invoice is Y; do you agree?" and then we went from there. When we talked about trade-in, I gave him the figure from Kelly Blue Book.