A long, long time ago, in a state far away, we purchased a little white Hyundai Accent for Hubby. It was a stick shift, had power nothing, and no A/C (despite the fact that I tried to talk him into the A/C). It barely had a radio. In fact, it didn't even have a clock of any kind.
He got it solely to get back and forth from work. And occasionally go wherever else he might need to when the family vehicle was occupied.
He made it through about a whole lot of summers with that little car. Sometime along in there we got a 2006 Sportage. And paid it off. Still he insisted it was fine. He didn't need a new one yet.
Then we moved to Oklahoma.
South Carolina summers are hot and humid. Oklahoma summers are just plain hot! The temperatures get higher here and the hottest part of the season is longer.
Plus, there are no trees to break it up or give you any shade.
And, so, after spending the two summers after moving here (which also happened to be two of the worst summers; so saith Oklahomans anyway) running about in it, he was done finally.
And admitted it -- a key part.
So after much research, we headed out yesterday morning and came home at noon with this...
It is used but, thanks to other happenings I'll tell you of later, it is also completely paid for.
I must say that you would think once you agree on a price that things would go much faster if all you have to do is sign over a title and write a check.
Not so. I think those people keep you there as long as they can in hopes of squeezing a little more out of you.
Approximately 15 years ago, though, Hubby was about to get out of the army and we went to look at a vehicle. They wanted (REAL BAD) to sell it to us but Hubby was sure I would only accept a van and it was a car. At the same time, I refused to pay more than a specific (very low) price because I knew we were leaving a steady paycheck with no failsafe as yet and I figured Hubby didn't want to add anything more anyway.
So, there we both sat, shaking our heads 'no' because we thought we knew what the other wanted. As we watched and kept saying no, the salesman, desperate to make a deal, knocked off thousands. Literally. Then raised our trade-in by thousands. Literally.
They left us alone a few minutes for a frustrated pow-wow about what else they could throw at us. After talking a minute, we both realized that we were more than good with the deal they had offered so we took it.
I had to clean out the car we arrived in. With help. That's how sure we were that it wasn't going to be what we wanted.
That created a monster. Hubby is adamant about what he will pay. He walks in, gives him his (well researched) bottom line, and makes sure they know he has no problem with hearing a "no."
His behavior is encouraged because he gets what he wants. It's happened with pretty much every vehicle we've bought since.
And it was no different this time. He told them, "I will pay this much cash. I don't care how the numbers add up. Take it off the truck or add to the trade-in but this is what I will pay." Oh, and "I'm okay with hearing 'no' if you can't do it."
And they did. Again.
So next summer and the remainder of this one will be a little more tolerable for poor Hubby.
And now I have a way to haul that garage sale/thrift store furniture steal I find. My personal favorite part. :)
By the way, don't you love the Razorback red? The kids and I have been calling it the hog-mobile. hee hee
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