I hate car shopping. Well, let me rephrase that. I like the shopping. I hate the “ok, let’s figure out how much we’re going to pay for this car” thing. The haggling... the intimidation... I just don't like it. But my old gray Galant was getting ready to give it up. The car has served me well these 9 years but it was time. I think the thing I hated the most is I haven't had a car payment in 4 years. And I didn't take my dad's advice and sock the $$ to save for another car (and I admit I really should have listened to him on that one :~)
So, I decided that I would start looking Saturday. I had done some research and found a couple cars at a dealership that I had heard great things about. So off I go. I settled on a Kia Rondo (www.kia.com) Long story short… very nice people… but they didn’t want to come down anymore and I wouldn’t go up anymore. At some point during the finance guy and me haggling, the salesman removed my tags under the assumption that I would be leaving old gray behind for a newer car. I need some advice because they were throwing so many scenarios and numbers at me that my head was swimming. So I told them I had errands to run and they told me about my tags, so they “let” me take the car I was looking at for my errands. (Yes, I know what they were doing… and they worked it very well :~) After talking with my dad for what had to have been way longer than an hour (but he was in his sweet spot, sitting at his computer and calculator, helping me think things through and making me an offer that I never saw coming that suffice to say was an absolute GOD-thing). So I went back and haggled some more. Impasse. Neither of us were budging. So, I said I was leaving. The finance manager told the sales guy to put my tags back on. He was so dejected looking. Then out he goes in the rain at night to put my tags back on. I felt horrible. I was probably causing him to not be able to feed his family or something. How awful am I?
So I walk out to my car, get in, and start crying. It had been a long day. Then I called my friend Cbell. Her job as my friend took on a whole new role. She became my coach and cheerleader. She recommended I drive across to the Kia dealership and tell them I was this close to buying a car and they would have my business if they could meet me on terms. Then as I’m walking in I get a text from her that, well, basically told me to get confident, walk in the room, and own every person there.
So in I walk. For those that don’t know, at this time, there was a Baltimore vs Tennessee football game on. So guess what?!! I got a girl salesman. Everybody else was watching the game. She couldn’t have been 5 feet tall and all of 25 maybe. As she approached me, I remember saying to myself, “I can totally do this. I will own this little girl by the end of the night.” So we end up looking at the new Rondos which were completely out of my price range. Then we go back to the used cars. Found one that was pretty much exactly like the one I looked at before. So off we go for a test drive. Except. We are no more than 3 feet out of the parking lot and one of the back tired starts making an ungodly noise. It didn’t feel like it, but it sounded like the tire was going to fall off. So I promptly turn around. Heather (the cute little sales girl that I am going to own by the end of this transaction) goes straight in to talk to her manager about “the noise”. They both come back and say regardless of what it is or cost, they will fix whatever it. He lays a piece of paper down and walks off. She hands it to me and points to the “out-the-door” price. Too much. Told her I didn’t want to pay that much and was not comfortable even thinking about buying something that sounded that horrible. Fix it and I’ll come back to test drive it… maybe. She scoots off to talk to her manager again and comes back with what can only be called an-absolute-God-ordained-deal… although her words were, “my manager has come up with a great deal for you”. This is the point where the sky should have opened up, a light beam appeared, and angels began to sing. They offered me a brand new (38 miles) 2008 car for the SAME price they wanted to sell the 2007 car that had a horrible noise in it for. Yes, you read that right. SAME PRICE! I just stared at her. “So. Um. What’s the catch??” No catch. We test drove it. I loved it. Angels continued to sing. And God began to giggle with me. I kept expecting someone to walk up and say that there had been a mistake… that they needed to add another $5000 on the price. They basically took $9,500 of the asking price of this car. I’ve not stopped giggling since.
Oh and on top of that, at some point in the course of the evening, Heather notices my Israel ring with Hebrew on it. I tell her the story behind it… and she tells me she’s a Messianic Jew. Of course she is.
And so that’s how I got my God-car… and God and I have been giggling since Saturday night at 9:12 when I drove off the lot in it!
P.S. Thanks Cb for being my friend and pumping me up. Thanks Pops for just being a Dad that I can call for anything and end up being lavished on above anything I could dream of. And thanks, Abba, for spoiling me with this car. I’m sure I’ll be giggling for years to come about this one.
