Meet Sparky

This is Sparky.  The newest member of the fam. Finally after what feels like way too many months of car shopping we found a car that fit in with the fam.  This was the best car buying experience I've ever had.  I spent more than anticipated however, everything I was finding in my budget was junk and I didn't trust I wouldn't be throwing more money at it in the future.  This car was very reasonable and I know it will make it many more years than what I had been looking at.  I will say it is overwhelming to car shop as a female.  I always feel like a. I have no idea what to look for and b. The person will totally know this and take advantage of me.  I hate Craigslist but browsed it for a few month's.  I also hate dealer's who are shady.  

When I bought my car I had pretty good luck but still did the negotiating thing.  This time around one of the first things I learned was a local dealer...the big one...puts cars online that are too good to be true to lure you in.  I had contacted them asking about a Ford Focus but it was sold suddenly but they were willing to get me in to look at cars well over twice my budget.  The next day my coworker called and the same Ford Focus that was "sold" was there and they couldn't wait to show him!  Until I called back that is and was told "oh it's being sold as we speak."  I said "that's so weird because I was told it was sold yesterday."  I'm not up for those games.  Ironically my coworker had been looking at a very expensive truck and that experience made him think twice.  He has decided no new truck.  

So onto the good dealer!  Reluctantly I contacted the Subaru dealer when I saw this car.  The first thing I noticed was my phone didn't ring within 5 minutes of my email.  I received an email back a few hours later saying thanks for inquiring and they would get back with me soon.  I thought "well that's different...normally my phone rings right away as the shark starts to circle his prey."  So that was a Wednesday and I had requested to test drive on Saturday.  Funny enough not hearing back from them pushed me to go ahead and walk in Wednesday night.  I pulled into the lot to see a guy sitting outside and thought "here we go."  

That guy didn't approach me at all.  A very smiley, cute salesman walked out and greeted me.  I was waiting on the guy outside to try to beat him to it but didn't try.  So I mentioned that I had emailed and the salesman said "Did Richard already explain how we do things here?"  (Richard is the owner)  I said no I got an email back that I assumed was generic.  We went for a test drive while he explained his job is to take us for the test drive and get my info but beyond that if I'm interested I go talk to Richard. Okay... I immediately liked him.  I said I wanted to know how reliable Chevy's could be and he explained he worked in the mechanics area before moving into sales.  He said he was a Chevy guy and he would leave it at that based on the car I drove in the lot.  That had me laughing. He asked me why I didn't want to wait until Saturday to come in and I said "well with the other dealer here cars seem to mysteriously sell overnight.  Twice."  

So there was no question the car was a good fit.  I went back and talked to Richard.  Prepared for the haggling to begin I sat back and waited.  He said "You know the price listed and you know that price is never what you pay. Tell me what you want to pay and I'll shake your hand if I can accept that"  Uh ok...I threw out the number I had in mind...and I like to think I'm pretty reasonable.  He replied "No. I can't do that.  But I can do that less 250 dollars."  "Huh?  Am I being punked?  Did you just counter my offer with a LOWER offer?"  He said he wanted me to get a fair deal and he could see the kid practically bouncing out of her chair with excitement.  This was unlike any dealer I've ever experienced.  

Fast forward to the next day and SF Bank giving me a STUPID high loan rate.  I called the dealer finance guy and said I know my credit and I'm not going thru SF Bank.  And the virtual credit union now would take over a week to even get approved.  So we agreed I would go in Saturday and the finance guy said he could easily beat that rate.  So we went back Saturday and as we waited for all the paperwork the dealer sent us off across the street to have lunch on their account.  They gave me a rate almost as low as the credit union and said SF Bank was nuts.  Agreed.  Then the finance guy proceeds to go thru the entire car buying process with only the kid and informed her if she ever buys a car from another dealer don't ever buy the extra crap they try to sell you.  He said he's supposed to try too but he doesn't.  He put her on the loan to help her establish credit but turns out she already has a pretty great score thanks to being a user on my credit card.  He then hands her a very nice emergency road kit and hands one over to me too and then grabs the keys and we were off!  We had some trouble with opening the hatch later that day and the owner made sure the service department didn't charge me anything when I took it in.  (The finance guy did tell me to stop him if he stepped on my toes and I said please lecture away!  Wish more dealers were honest like that.) 

This is the only time I wrote a thank you card to a car dealer for providing such a great experience.  I was just amazed at how great they treated us.  If all car dealers ran like that car buying would be a lot more fun.  No doubt I won't hesitate to go back to them for any future purchase!