i finally bought it!

well, i finally did it. after a lot of "thinking about it" i finally moved forward and bought a new car. when i think back on the whole process, it's kinda funny (kinda sad) how i really do "think" about things a long time before i actually "do" something about it. but for those that i don't see or talk to very often, it seems like it's an impulsive thing.

the truth is....i actually take a long time to make decisions like this, but when given the right motivation (i.e. God pushes me or i get fed up with "thinking" about it) i can go out and "get it done"!

so i've been actually thinking about buying an impreza since the beginning of 2010. i got kinda serious when i finally test drove it back in early sept, but then i sat back and thought about it again for another month and a half! then finally when the rain started and fall really began to set in, i realized that i better get a new car or at least some new tires b/c i began feeling really unsafe driving my jetta. in fact, i would often pray as i drove my jetta b/c i was afraid a tire would blow or i would skid out of control. and THAT was the motivation i needed to get going.


the thing that really kept me from getting a new car was b/c i was dreading the whole process. i hate dealing with pushy sales people and feeling like i'm getting ripped off. but this time, i took the advice of a friend and looked at the edmunds.com site. this site allows you to find the invoice price and compare it to the MSRP and to what others are paying in your area. it was a really great site to see the breakdown and markup of everything. and then on the last page they have a way where you can choose local dealerships you can contact by sending them the car specs you're looking at. so that's what i did!

it was the best decision i made! i submitted it one night and the next day i had emails from every dealership (i also had a lot of phone calls but knew not to answer any number i didn't recognize). i responded back to each place and made sure they knew what i was looking for and they all sent me back quotes for what they could get me. some were better and clearer than others. and in the end i just went with the dealer that gave me the lowest price and the best breakdown of costs. i was skeptical through it all...thinking that this guy was just telling me what i wanted to hear in order to get me to come in, but i moved forward anyways trusting that God was hearing my prayers for a smooth and easy process. i called the guy up to finalize the numbers and process and to my pleasant surprise, he broke down the whole cost and all of my calculations matched his. in fact, he told me the final number i could write a check for and bring in!

when i went in, i was still nervous that there was going to be a "bait and switch"...that the car wasn't going to be what i expected or that they were going to give me the "hard sell" on the extra warranty and other options....but surprisingly none of that happened. sure they gave me the brochures for all those things, but didn't really try to sell me on it. the only slight uncomfortable part of my visit there was when the finance lady had issues with printing out my docs and had to keep ripping up ones there were mistakes on...and a funny part where her total came out to $3 more than my check and i offered to give her my $2 and some quarters before she decided it wasn't worth it and changed her invoice.

anyways, it's done with and it's over and i'm very grateful for the answered prayers throughout this process. praise God for his provision...even in these somewhat trivial matters! and that was my car buying experience....hope i don't have to do it again for at least another 10 years!