Do you know the jingle – maybe only my Victorian readers
will, for others let me paint a quick picture – Car City is highly advertised
as the best place to go and grab yourself a new car. Thousands of cars, best
deal blah blah blah. (If you really need to hear the jingle, they have it on the website for you.)
With 'Woe is Cars' being the catch phrase around here lately
we got dragged over the other side of town with the promise of a play centre
for the kids and the best place to just buy another car and be done with it.
But when we left there two hours later I think all four of
us were crying.
Popps was beside herself when the grubby box of toys was
shown as the ‘playcentre’. Immy just wanted out of the pram and to climb into
every open car and Mr H and I couldn’t agree on whom the new car was even for.
Surely with the kids I need the best car to drive around, but then he decided
he is sick of driving the crap mobile about and wants the new one. The budget
started at a place where we wouldn’t need to get a car loan and finished at a
place where we would need a second mortgage.
Shocking car dealers all “telling us the truth” and
providing deals that we just cant walk away from (no, but I can run sunshine).
We left with no new car and no closer to getting a new car.
The Renault Scenic that I fell in love with will apparently be too expensive to
service and repair, the Holden Whatever Car that he wants is just so man car I
couldn’t sit in it. Popps wants a seven
seater so she can sit in the back away from everyone and Immy would prefer
either a pink or orange one.
Along the way Mr H decided that the car should also be able
to tow a caravan and carry a two seater kayak on the roof racks. I kindly and
very calmly reminded him, in my best soothing voice, that we do NOT have a
caravan and neither of us has a kayak or a canoe, so this is NOT to be included
in the car requirements.
I think he nearly spat at the Peugot 307 I started asking
about.
By the time we got home from woop woop, new car less, hungry
and no dinner being cooked we could barely communicate to each other.
A few weeks later and we still have not returned to a car
dealership.
To top it off, the next day I was still so traumatised by
the ordeal and when an extremely large gust of wind blew at the wrong time, it
swung our gate right into the ‘good’ car as I was driving in the drive
way. Mr H was not impressed, he seems to
think that a gate that is chained to the fence can not do this and my lack of
driving skills highlight the fact that he should be behind the wheel in the new
wheels.
The polite discussion continues.
Any tips on keeping your marriage in place while car buying
are much appreciated.
I am sorry I don't have any words of wisdom, as I am pretty sure my husband and I will have a divorce over the overflowing tupperware cupboard.....
ReplyDeleteCars are the biggest pain in the butt!!! your post made me giggle though.
Sounds almost as bad as renovating!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm divorced. And I kept the good car.. But now I want a seven seater, so each kid can have a row of seat to himself.
ReplyDeleteI know that place - having once shopped there myself. And I also remember having a domestic there... coincidence... possibly not!
ReplyDeleteWe now do the initial car shop online. Checking the reviews, the pros and cons of each model, the price range... then go armed with a decision already made. Saves a lot of stress in the dealership.
Good luck xx
You may want to talk to Kirrily about the Renault Scenic and the grief it caused her.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I'm not sure what words of wisdom I can offer.
Although, having recently secured my own new car while Hubby got the 4wd we already have, I think there was some olympian worthy negotiations on my part. Plus as I do most of the commuting I figured I needed the best car.
It took some doing, but I got there in the end.
Good luck. Oh and thanks for that ear worm. Damn you car city.
thats so funny as i can picture you there!! Im with poops the 7 seater i love the our car, ..all i say make sure it is an auto!!
ReplyDeleteI went to Car City for my new car, and it was a nightmare!! I knew exactly what I wanted and ended up with a choice of 2 - though my brother was trying to convince me to get something else entirely, in my price range but not what I wanted!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any words of wisdom, except next time don't go with the kids!
1. Don't take the kids!
ReplyDelete2. Research online and decide what you want - test drive it to make sure you are happy and then shop around online.
Never been to car city (but you got the jingle stuck in my head AGAIN!) but it's sounds scary!
MATE! Naomi's correct: grief is the only word to describe the $6K WORTH of ridiculous repairs and faults in 2011 alone, on a car that was once worth $37k and we just traded in not more than a fortnight ago for $1500..... and another $4,000 at least in repairs due to get it saleable for the dealer.
ReplyDeleteWe have been looking desperately to get out of the trap of the pit-sinking feeling of spending money on a car that is, by all accounts, a Lemon. With mechanics oh so quick to say "Gee.. I've never heard of *that* happening before". They said once too often and we decided it was best to cut our losses :(
So funny, L wanted a 7-seater too - we would've looked stupid! Just her and me in the Odyssey.
We've settled. We have looked high and low for a car in our budget. The Scenic (don't get me wrong) has spoiled me and literally had everything but bluetooth that I could've possibly wanted. It is still a very comfortable drive, which made test drives difficult cos none of them matched its smoothness. UNTIL I drove the new Suzuki SX4. I am in love! Haven't got the thing yet but it's a-comin'. Slightly above our preferred limit but it was still under $20,000 (just) and we negotiated hard (Steve is hardcore!). It's worth $26,000 onroad but they were willing to deal.
Do you need to know anything else? Sorry for the long vomit of a comment! I just understand your exhaustion with it and the failure to compromise on certain features, etc. Round and round the merry-go-round....... Good luck!
I absolutely HATE car shopping. We have just bought not one but two new cars. Lots of deep breathes on my behalf and in the end I let him make the decision on both of them because he was the one who was willing to do all the research and negotiations (plus he promised me a mini bathroom reno if I got a cheap new car) Good luck. Hope it all ends well x
ReplyDeleteWhen we bought our last newish car a couple of years ago, we knew what features the car was to have,the price range and who was to be driving it (in our case, whoever had the kids as their seats would be in it).
ReplyDeleteThen we kept looking in local car yards, Fowles auction group, and steered clear of Car City. It took a couple of months and eventually found what we were looking for.
Basically decide first what you want, and write it in concrete, to eliminate any scope creep which either person may wish to impose.
Good luck!
See now I would leave the kids at home with hubs and tell him I was going grocery shopping. Then go car shopping instead... picking up the couple of things we needed to get through till the next day on the way home. He can't say "no" if it's already said and done lol
ReplyDeletewe bought a car in nov last year. i didn't get what i wanted - a kia sportage - because HE said he felt really claustrophobic in it and the he had problems seeing out the rear window and the windscreen was too low, this is regardless of the fact that he would hardly be driving it!
ReplyDeletewe then went trawling car yards - something he HATES to do and yet he managed about 6 before he'd had enough. in the end we ended up at a car yard about an hour away from us on a whim and signed up there and then for a new mitsubishi lancer sx which was NOT on our radar at all!
it's zippy, it's ROOMY - even though it's only us two Guv is a big guy.
we actually don't argue when car buying but i think the key is to go in with an open mind - BOTH of you - and be willing to compromise.
good luck!!
Oh gawd, we had the exact same issue. We never did resolve it to a compromise status. Now the rule is, whoever has to drive it, gets to pick it. The budget is preset according to circumstances and the driver can shop accordingly.
ReplyDeleteWe had to set that rule around the time my doofus husband nearly bought a 2 seater when we needed a new family car to fit a babyseat.
Oh gawd, we had the exact same issue. We never did resolve it to a compromise status. Now the rule is, whoever has to drive it, gets to pick it. The budget is preset according to circumstances and the driver can shop accordingly.
ReplyDeleteWe had to set that rule around the time my doofus husband nearly bought a 2 seater when we needed a new family car to fit a babyseat.
Oh i feel for you, as much as i laugh at this post i know the feeling. I have learnt to not fight it, it makes me shitty at hell but my hair remains in tact.
ReplyDeleteAt least you don't have to move to the sliding door! It is very hard to be cool when you have a sliding door. I leave all car purchases to the Geege. I couldn't care less what vehicle I drive as long as it is eco-friendly (or the best it can be). Good luck! x
ReplyDeleteI hear you - been there, done that! amazingly found a car that ticked both of our lists, and would you believe, actually found a good deal at car city (but by then we knew what we wanted). There are also auctions of ex-government cars regularly.
ReplyDeleteBut I have to say that experience pales into insignificance now as we are looking for a bigger house ... I want a lively suburb, lots of things to do, festivals, parks, markets and yes, pubs and cafes. He wants to move to a country town that doesn't even have a swimming pool. I see the "D" word looming...
I have no words of wisdom but I just wanted to say that we have an all out argument nearly every time we enter a n electronics or furniture store, epecially if we are actually trying to choose something without having done much research first. I have been known to walk out of the shop & go home without him! Melissa seems as imminently sensible with her advice, as always. Good luck hun!
ReplyDeleteKind of with you Miss Cinders, lol. The only advice I can give is not to take any advice from me in the car shopping department. On a whim I started car shopping over one long weekend at Easter. Well & good you say. But the only car dealership open was Lexus. $100,000 later I was the proud owner of my new beautiful mid life crisis car. Oh the shame! But damn it was nice ;-)
ReplyDelete