Good Cop, Bad Pregnant Woman, Pt 1

Hello, this is my first blog post (Bree usually speaks for both of us because I can be long winded). Friday evening, I decided to look at some cars. Bree and I have been talking about replacing Georgina (167k miles on her) with a new family vehicle. The first vehicle I drove was a 2008 Dodge Caliber. I really liked the way it drove. It was an all wheel drive vehicle with a CVT transmission (doesn’t shift gears or use transmission fluid like normal transmissions). The next vehicle was a 2009 Dodge Avenger—a very nice car,smooth ride, and a solid feel to the interior—similar to my Gallant. However, I realized I preferred the hatchback of the Dodge Caliber. Therefore, I asked the dealer if he had any Pontiac Vibes—he did. The only thing I liked about the Vibe was the AC blew very hard (not as cold as I’d prefer) and the vents could be adjusted so that the air hit you directly in the face. The vehicle also had a thermostat, which told me that it was 109 degrees outside, which explained why the A/C’s in the cars I was driving didn’t seem to be pumping out 45 degree air. Anyway, I didn’t like the way the Vibe drove, so I crossed that model off my list of potentials. It had small tires and felt bumpy and cheap. Then again, it was a 2006 model and had 66,000 miles—so it could have just been that particular car. Next, I drove a 2009 Dodge Caliber SE—I liked the 2008 model better because it was an R/T trim, which had AWD and the CVT transmission. Finally, I drove the 2009 Dodge Charger because they had a special. The charger usually sells for $25,000 and they had this one priced at $18,000. However, I found out that only this specific car was selling for 18k and it was blue. I did not want a blue vehicle.

Next, I talked to the dealer about the 2008 Dodge Caliber.It was not a certified pre-owned vehicle, so it only had the remainder of the factory warranty (about 7,000 miles left). The dealer said I could pay about $500 to have it certified, which would raise the warranty to 6 years/ 80,000miles. I told him I had a pregnant wife at home that couldn’t be here with me because she is sick, but I’d like her to try out the vehicle, so he let me take it home. The drive home was nice and I quickly realized that this vehicle really suited me.

Bree drove the vehicle to KFC, we picked up some chicken,and she drove us home. I had to get the car back to the dealer in an hour because they closed at 8 PM. Bree liked the vehicle but it was priced more than we wanted to pay. However, I checked the blue book value of the vehicle and saw that the dealer had it priced about $900 below blue book value. We also did some research and found out that the dealer had been holding this vehicle for over 70 days. However, their already discounted price was too high for us to make a snap decision that night, so we decided that unless they gave us an amazing deal, we would not make a decision that night.

I got back to the dealer and asked the salesman what was the best price he could offer. He explained that they only had about $9.00 wiggle room because they already had it priced to sell. I told him that we liked the vehicle but it was out of our price range for a used vehicle and we felt that they should offer to pay for the certification of the vehicle so we could get the warranty coverage. He said he couldn’t do that, so I thanked him and I headed to my car.

The End.