Buying a Car With My Salesman/Husband...

...Definitely had it's ups and downs.

Friday night, Ryan and I sold my 2002 Jetta to a nice Turkish family. This happened quicker than we were expecting and left us less time to find a new car before Ryan's work travel plans would take him and his car away from me, leaving me transportation-less. Feeling a bit pressed for time, Ryan and I set out, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Saturday morning to find me a new ride.

So long, Jetta... You were a pain in the rear but did your job (for the most part)! 

Our first stop brought us to a small dealership just down the road, where we wanted to check out a 2003 Jeep Liberty. The dealer handed us the keys to go for a test drive and the car wouldn't start. Ya'll, in case you didn't know, when you're going to test drive a car, it's NOT a good sign when said car will not turn on. The dealer jumped the car, and we took it for a quick drive, but just weren't feeling it and were quickly on our way again.

Pretty (dead) car. 

 As we were driving to our next destination, we passed a dealership with a bright red 2005 Grand Cherokee, begging us to turn around and stop in. We spent a couple minutes talking with the dealer there and then decided we should probably take this car for a test drive as  well. We got in the car, started driving, and quickly realized that there was something majorly wrong with this one, as well. Clearly, luck was on our side and we were off to a GREAT start. (NOT) Turns out, the car needed to be taken directly to the mechanic because the automatic transmission was not functioning at all.

After this, Ryan and I stopped at about 10-15 more dealerships over the course of the weekend, test driving car after car, ultimately finding something not quite right with each one. We loved a 2005 Grand Cherokee but it was just too expensive. We liked a 2007 Liberty until we saw on the Carfax report that it had been in a car accident. We fell in love with a 2004 Grand Cherokee until we popped the hood and noticed it was completely covered in rust and would need to be replaced (a mini-meltdown ensued at this point). None of these cars were going to do it for us and the weekend was over.

Smiling on the outside, completely frustrated on the inside! 

Today, as soon as I finished up at work, we drove back over to a dealership that owned both the 2007 Liberty and 2005 Grand Cherokee we liked. After looking them over again, we decided which one we wanted to get. It was just a matter of price negotiation at this point. Fortunately (and unfortunately) for me, my husband is an EXPERT salesperson. He is impossible to read in this kind of situation and just does not give up until he's as close as he's going to get to the price he wants. The unfortunate part for me is that I CAN'T READ HIM either in these situations, causing me to panic that he's just going to walk away from this car I LOVE! After over an hour of negotiating, we finally shook hands on a deal and signed the paperwork for my new GRAND CHEROKEE!! I'm SO excited and can't wait for it to be all mine tomorrow (The title is housed at a third-party location and has to be overnighted to us).

After a stressful weekend, we are coming away with a new car and the realization that:
1. I have the patience of a preschooler.
2. My negotiating skills are non-existent.
3. My husband is a champ at driving the price of a car down!

And without further ado, I introduce to you... my new whip!

Gimme, Gimme! 

Alright, now that this experience has officially been documented (and hopefully doesn't need to be repeated for a LONG, LONG time) I'm off to finish up my FOUR papers due before we head out to Vermont for the weekend with our favorites, the Kehners!!

Have a great night, ya'll!