Quest for the Best

This weekend wasn't as much a "weekend" as it was an exhausting charade of perfecting my poker face.

Car buying is hard. 

Car shopping is fun. But car buying is hard.

Although not as hard as nose picking on the down-low.

I grew up with a car-loving father, and my daddy and I have spent many days bonding in a car lot. I love horse power and the clean lines of a beautiful, shiny new car. There's a chance that I know more about cars than a lot of dudes. But car buying? That's a completely different ballgame.

We have spent a while hunting for an SUV that fits our needs and budget. Most important features that we desire include leather seats, a backup camera (since some of us like to back over the neighbors' mailbox), and an entertainment system in the back for the kids (Seems excessive to you? Well you try taking a six hour car ride with two toddlers. Then we'll talk :)). 

We narrowed our sights down mostly to Pathfinders, GMC Acadias, and Toyota Highlanders, among others. We set out on our quest early Saturday morning--like 5 am early--because we planned to drive to Tallahassee and then possibly Jacksonville, and we needed to plan for enough time at each place plus the driving time. Meanwhile, my amazing Nana came to watch the kiddos while we car shopped. Can you imagine taking toddlers car shopping? I'd rather pull my toenails out with a pair of pliers. 

We test drove a car in Tallahassee and liked it but ultimately decided to keep shopping on in Jacksonville. So later that afternoon we test drove more cars there. 

While car shopping I prepared myself to assume the role of Critical Shrew Bitch who excels in nit-picking the hell out of the vehicle in question. Alex does the negotiating; I do the bitching. I'm cool with that. My daddy coached me to not let the dealer see you act overenthusiastic. You can't say too much. Anything you say and do can be used against you in the court of price negotiation. You have to act like you aren't that interested. You don't need that car. You don't even like that car. See a cool feature? Turn your nose up at it. Heated and cooling seats? Hmmmm...yeah, but but there's that light scratch in the leather.

Car buying is an art form, really.

I learned a few other things while car buying this weekend, mostly about myself. First off, I apparently don't have a job. 

Slick Rick: So what do you do, young lady?

Me: I'm a domestic engineer.

Slick Rick: Oh, wow! That's cool. So where do you work?

Me: [long pause] Um...dom-es-tic-ally...like, at home.

Slick Rick:[blank stare]

Me: I'm a housewife

Slick Rick: OH! I get it. [long pause]

And they also have to ask about your finances. The computer would not accept that my income is approximately $0, so I had to amend my annual salary to say that I get paid in "love." Whatever. I'm rich as hell in that respect. 

Anyhow, we had finally decided on a vehicle and were literally about to sign the dotted line when we spotted something on the CarFax that raised a red flag for us. They assured us that the problem was an inherent problem in all of the vehicles of that model and that it had been fixed, but we weren't fully convinced. Something just felt off. So I axed the deal when I, Critical Shrew Bitch, exclaimed that "I'm just not comfortable with this," and we walked away. We felt defeated, since we had driven five hours, shopped for three hours, and spent another three hours negotiating only to walk out with nothing. It's one thing to buy a car casually, and it's another thing to have to buy a car out of necessity with a deadline. 

We were about to turn around and head for home, and then Alex asked me to do one more online search. I almost didn't, since I'd searched the same search for days. But I cast my net a little wider and found a car meeting all our criteria near Orlando. We called, and it was still available, and the dealership was open for a few more hours. It was meant to be. So we drove two more hours South and test drove the car, and we fell in love. 

What car is it, you ask? Okay, I'll tell you. 

A Buick Enclave. That's right, a Buick. Apparently Buicks are no longer reserved for old ladies in a Le Sabre. This baby has swagger. It's a lovely SUV that has everything we wanted, including a third row, captain's chairs in the middle row (giving easy access to the third row), a DVD player, rear A/C with separate controls, and all the features you'd want for the driver.  It is consistently rated in the very top of the mid-size SUVs, it's sharp looking, and it just felt right when we got in it. And the best part was that the dealership was a Car Max type of place, so there was no haggling.

And finally, after spending eighteen hours hunting, we drove away with our new car. Upon returning home, we installed our new car seats and took the beasties for a ride. They were in heaven in their roomy space and loved the DVD feature. But best of all is that I feel so safe in it and am blessed to have a car like this to protect my irreplaceable, precious cargo.  

That, my friends, is priceless.