Semi-success

No new van news to report. Sigh.

We test drove a couple of vans and while both drove well and had the features we wanted, we decided to make an offer on a certain foreign mini-van and not the American one. Unfortunately, we could not come to an agreement with the sales manager and wound up leaving empty handed. The poor salesman was really trying to make it work, but the sales manager just wouldn't budge. Let's just say that the nicest word I can use to describe that guy is "jerk."

It's a shame that we didn't fall in love with the American one because the sales manager gave us a really reasonable quote right off the bat (before we even test drove it). And did you know that owning your own business knocks $250 right off the price of this certain car maker's vehicles? Pretty nice. It had lots of extra bells and whistles that made it quite enticing (back-up camera, pedals that moved up and back for short people like me, automatic stow and go seating, etc). My biggest complaint was that the head rest hit me in a funny spot. I like to drive with my head back and with the headrest all the way down (since I'm short), I was quite uncomfortable. Like I said, what a shame.

Anyway, we're calling this a "semi-success" because we learned a lot from the jerk at the foreign car dealership. And I'm proud to say that I kept my cool despite the rudeness of that guy. I could feel my temper begin to rise, but I stayed calm and collected while dealing with him (Ryan and the salesman were off looking at something at the time). And, needless to say, we won't be returning to that dealership.

Due to holiday madness and our upcoming trip to NYC, car shopping will have to wait for a bit. We're going to do some more research (and maybe a couple of more test drives) and hopefully get back to it after Christmas. I will be very glad when it's all over!