CAR DEALERSHIP=FUN TO BE HAD BY ALL

Recently we were ever so thrilled to be putting the 5th VTI transmission in the SUV we have owned a little less than 4 yrs, being that it needed some other work done to it we finally decided rather than continue to put a lot of $$$$$ to fix her we would just save the money and put it twards a new vehicle--one with a 'normal' transmission.

we figured this would be simple enough, we have a car that is worth $3,000 as a trade in (I asked the dealership which put the new transmission in to quote us how much it was worth) so we began searching for a $3,000 vehicle so we could do a flat out swap, we didn't need anything too fancy, we were looking for something similar to the car we were trading in.

What we didn't take into consideration was that nobody makes small engine SUVs that have no added bonuses. It is my guess that the reason we couldn't find vehicles like that is because anybody who is lucky enough to own one isn't going to let it go without a fight (heaven knows it took 5 transmission before we gave ours up).

But we are determined people and we figured we had just put the new transmission in so we figured we had a few months (before registration was up cause we needed 4 new tires to get it legal again) and so believe it or not I had no problem just walking when the salesman started suggesting vehicles with extremely high miles, older than my parents, or required more fuel than a 747. My favorite was being able to laugh in their face when they pulled out the financing papers and started asking us personal questions--oddly enough, we have purchased enough vehicles and we might not know our credit scores but we know enough about our credit to know there was no way we would even waste either his or our time applying cause not only would we not qualify we don't want the payments.

some hard core facts about financing:

you can't get a car loan for less than $7,500.

The length of a car loan is Dependant upon the year the car was made.

I have never seen a used car financed for 0% interest

even with good credit most people get a 4.5% or similar interest rate

people with bad credit get between 12.9-21% interest rate

most places don't finance a person that makes less than $9 a month

oddly enough I knew this all going into this which is why we were looking for a $3000 car for a flat out trade--seriously is that too much to ask?

I guess it was, because after visiting 20 something car dealerships, all of which said either:

'sorry we don't have anything for that price range on our lot'

'usually we have something like that but not right now, check back with us later'

'let us get your name and number and we will call you if something comes in'

we even got a few:

'are you joking?'

'even if we had something like that we won't take your trade'

'if they offered you that for your trade, run back to them before they take it back'

I think my favorite were the dealership where nobody even offered to help us, and at one dealership the guy laughed in our face and told us 'good luck with that'

and with that said, after traveling to timbucktoo and back again and visiting more dealerships in 2 months than I have in 26 yrs we took one last ditch effort and visited a little dealership in town, we hear it a lot on the radio and a few people we know even bought vehicles there, unfortunately the first time we went in they weren't able to help us but upon making a few phone calls and pulling a few strings we were able to get a little bit more money under our belts and upon returning not only did they offer us financing (which we turned down) the put us into a lovely 2007 Chevy Uplander with keys, with a DVD and CD player, leather seats, 7 seatbelts, onstar, and a toy box--and thanks to a little miscommunication, we got it for only $100 more than what they paid for it when it was traded in.

so do I feel like I sold out? No Way, we still got a rocking deal, a 4 yr extended warranty and with the push of a button the passenger side back door opens by itself letting our son jump out and run into the school without any help and we didn't without financing--I asked for a miracle and it was given to me

do I ever want to go car shopping again? NO WAY JOSE--hence why we went for a 7 passenger vehicle with the extended warranty, hopefully by the time it finally dies the final death I will have forgotten just how torturous it is to 'shop around' for cars, but until then, we are keeping our new Walle (the name we named him).

in the meantime--if by chance something does occur where we need a new vehicle between now and then I just pray to the Great Lord above whom I love that Andrew is still working at Crown Kia in Tyler, Texas cause he was AWESOME!!!!!!