Does Anyone Else Despise Car-Buying as Much as I Do?

Probably not.

We need a new vehicle.  Yes, we do.  One of our Ford Escapes has 200,000+ miles and some interior issues plus a little bit of outside rust.  The other Ford Escape is over 100,000 miles and getting that some outside rust around the wheel wells on the back tires (seems to be a trait of these years of Ford Escapes because we have seen several with similar issues).

The weekend of Quilt of Valor as we drove to Winamac for the presentation I was checking online for Toyota Camrys that might be available.  I checked a few that interested us, and soon a salesperson contacted me by email, introducing himself and offering to meet with us about the selected vehicles.

Well, you might remember what happened in the middle of June.  Gary had an infection in his right foot which necessitated the amputation of his little toe  After being hospitalized for 5 days, he was then under 'house arrest' as the wound vac worked hard to heal that area of his foot, home health care was visiting twice a week, and the only trips he made out of the house for over six weeks were to the Wound Clinic at St. E.

No time or energy for searching for a car.  No ability to test drive a vehicle.  No interest in purchasing anything new since the only focus was on healing and feeling better.

I must say that Trevor, the salesperson who contacted us, was persistent...and patient.  He sent emails approximately once a week.  He sent links to available Camrys, Civics, and SUVs that he thought might pique our interest.  He offered to drive to our house with possible cars and SUVs for us to view and test drive.  He finally admitted that he was concerned that we would search elsewhere and not give him a chance to show us what was available at his dealership.

So today we went to Bob Rohman close to Logan's SteakHouse on 26 and met Trevor, face to face.  He offered a golf cart so that Gary wouldn't have to walk everywhere while we looked at vehicles.  He was patient with showing us what was available on the lot.  When we found one that we liked, a Camry hybrid, he completed the necessary paperwork and slapped on a dealer's plate so we could test drive it.

All of that sounds relatively painless, but here is where the frustration on my part comes in.

The price on this vehicle?  With tax and any extra fees, over $24, 000.   This is for a used car.  A 2017  model with 22,000 miles.

When Gary asked about a lower price for cash, he said this was it.  No lower, no haggling.  No changes.

Gary also asked about a trade-in and he offered us $700 for the older Escape with more miles, sight unseen. 

He said that people tend to shy away from a vehicle with that many  miles and that would be the best he could do.

They pay us $700 for our car which runs well, but it getting older and has some mileage on it.  They want us to pay them over $24,000 for a new to us vehicle that is over 2 years old and does have low mileage.  $24,000.  That is a lot of money.

After discussing this, we decided three things.

One is that even though we like the car and the color and the hybrid aspect which means good gas mileage....we are not buying it.  The cost is more than we want to spend.

Second is that even though we enjoyed driving and riding in a Camry a couple of years ago as a rental on a trip to Niagara Falls and through Canada and home through Michigan, the vehicle sits low to the ground and that might cause an issue as our knees become weaker.

Third is that while we did give Trevor a chance and appreciate his willingness to work with us, we have had great luck and service with Dobson Ford in Winamac.  Steve has always found good vehicles to us and has been fair with the prices.  On Friday when we head north for the afternoon, Gary is going to call Spencer and see what he might have to offer us.  No Camry or something similar.  More along the lines of a Ford Explorer or a smaller SUV.

Even though the process was painless today...I still felt my stomach tie up in knots as we looked at vehicles and talked about money. 

I want to drive a nice vehicle.  I want it to look good.  Dependability is a must.  But I don't like looking for one that fits what we need and want, then haggling about the price.  No.  I don't.  And just saying 'don't like' is not strong enough.  I despise the process.  Just despise it!

I know...let's go on a vacation and think about it in a couple of weeks!  That sounds good to me!