Car Buying Woes

Buying a car is completely awful! In fact, why does the whole car industry make me feel I am getting screwed every time I lease, buy, or fix a car? There should be some sort of test you have to take to be a car salesman - one that includes how to shake a hand, how to not lie, any sort of ethics course would be great!

The best luck I have had with an honest salesman, and lately I have dealt with three… is that the one with the least experience was the most honest – yet not the most knowledgeable. There is a delicate balance between them knowing too much that they can screw you over and not knowing enough to maybe get you a better price.

There is also that whole pesky APR % on your loan. Sure, a used car is cheaper to start, but over the life of your payments, you may end up paying more in the end if you could have gotten a super good rate on buying a new car, not to mention that you have a newer car in the end as well.

I am not claiming to be an expert in this, definitely NOT an expert, but I would say from my recent experience I have learned a few things and have charted my course of action; I will be comparing both a new and used car that I like in terms of payments and total cost, I cannot get out of my lease no matter what they say (without paying for it, literally) until my lease term is up, and I can afford to be picky on my next car because I am buying it and keeping it for a long time (the only true way to get value out of your car)!

Above is a picture of the car that I most have my eye on – the Honda CR-V. I test-drove the Toyota Rav4 and found it to not look as good in my opinion and it seemingly didn’t have the interior room that the CR-V has even though it handled pretty well. I also drove the Nissan Rogue which I thought was quite nice, but I couldn’t get the bad reviews I read online out of my mind (calling it rudimentary design) and the one I drove was top of the line and out of my price range anyways. Plus, I just love me a Honda! I can’t wait to get back into the Honda family after driving a Toyota Camry for 4 years. I drove a Civic for 11 years prior and regret the switch I made. I will not make that mistake again!