I am in love! And so proud of myself. It's the first time in 62 years I have purchased a car all on my own! Mostly via internet, e-mail and text message. As you may remember, I started the process comparing Dodge Caravan (based on my past fabulous experience), Toyota and Honda. I even read many, many reviews by people who review cars for a living (ugh). Since I'm hoping this is the LAST car I will need to buy, Honda won out. Two of my siblings have had Toyota's and one had a Honda. Honda had the best safety ratings, the largest gas tank and will seat 8 little old ladies.
Honu the Honda (it means turtle in Hawaiian) is a dream to drive. No more expensive high test fuel. The tank holds an extra gallon compared to the other two. It automatically switches to "eco" mode when traveling at 40 miles an hour on flat land by turning off some cylinders. The back row of seats fold into the floor for lots of cargo (or big dog) space. The middle row currently has a toddler seat, an infant seat and a very involved Mom seat. I get the diaper bag, purses, extra sweatshirts and snacks next to me.
I did have to compromise .... couldn't get a dark cherry red and the model one degree higher had a waiting list (remote car start, everything controled by buttons ON the steering wheel, heated steering wheel, entertainment center ... all stuff I can barely live without).
Finally, the salesman had to drive 30 miles to pick me up and take me to the dealership to sign. Which was an awful way to end the whole experience. I have purchase two homes all via internet ... why not a car!? Then they wanted to raise the price $500!! The sales guy was aghast that I would not want this fabulous deal all for a mere $500 difference. To which I replied the exact same thing to him! Needless to say, I won although I had to take out a car loan for a minimum of four months. Hey! At 0.9% interest, I'm just going to pay it monthly for three years!
Being a Costco member helped me out with even better pricing!
P.S. I have scratched BOTH sides of the van, on the automatic open doors. Because I parked too close to the wooden post in my car port! I'm going to drive it a month and then take it in to have all my errors erased. And I am not parking in my carport space. I'll take my chances with the elements of weather!
I really love the color of your need car. When you talked about the cargo area I wish I had one, too. That will come in handy. Good for you, setting the whole deal up by yourself!
ReplyDeleteWay to go! I love the fact that you can fold the back seats into the floor.
ReplyDeleteAny mementos inside to personalize this beauty? Or is your grandson going to do this all by himself?
We bought a Honda CRV about a month ago. We love it. My daughter-in-law wants an Odyssey. They have three kids.
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