Car Shopping Frustrations
Well, that was sad. Just called the Lincoln-Mercury dealership to tell them I wouldn't be getting the car. 2005 Ford Five Hundred...All Wheel Drive, Silver Frost Metallic with Black Leather seats and wood trim (on the interior), 6 cd-changer, MP3, fog lights, power sunroof, dual climate control...had everything. 'Bout 8000-some odd miles on it. $19880. $30,000 car.
Then again, I'm impressed I could even consider buying a car like that. For the last year or two I wasn't even able to justify buying myself a cd or dvd, and here I was, about to spend $20,000 on a car. With all the penny pinching I've been doing, for me to even go into the initial stages of buying that car was surprising.
Beautiful car. Amazingly smooth ride. I could actually see out the back window (as opposed to the Milan). Intriguing turn signal sound. You can sit up higher and see rather well. Closer to the size of my car, unlike the Milan. And (this is the shocking part) it has...MORE room than the Grand Marquis. The trunk is beyond ginormous, and the back seat and front passenger seat fold down.
Then the more logical side of me took over. (That and I talked to my grandpa about it...he tends to be more conservative.) I don't even like sun/moon roofs. Do I need a 6 cd changer? I'm only going to listen to one at a time anyway. Black leather would get rather warm though the car would cool it off real quick and leather would be easier to clean spills off of than cloth. Do I really want to pay $340-$389/month in car payments?
Part of me wants to say that this is good deal and I should take it. I've run the figures on my budge/expenses, and I could afford it (I allowed for a $3000 down payment, though the monthly payments were figured with $2000 down, and $500/month car payments, which is higher than I'd actually have). I can pay it off early without a penalty. I am going to have to get some form of car in the next few months, as mine probably won't last through the winter. Neither Tony nor my car is in good shape, which is bad. It'd be a little different if at least one was. I really, really do like the Five Hundred (or Mercury's equivalent, the Montego) - it's probably the smoothest ride I've had in a car, great acceleration, I can see out of it and sit up higher, the car feels solid, etc. If I can, when I do get a car, I'll get a Five Hundred.
Actually, Ford is having a Labor Day Weekend sale - $0 down, 0% APR (for 72 months) for their 2006 cars, including the Five Hundred. On a new car, I could get a discount through ABB (or possibly because my grandpa works for Ford), though it'd probably only be between $1500 and $3000. But that's this coming weekend.
I dunno, maybe I'm just feeling cautious - the most I've ever spent on one item was my computer - about $2500, four years ago. Heck, my first (and thus far only) car was $1500. Add that to the fact that I've not bought anything but essentials for the past year or two... I've gotten really good at talking myself out of things. I have a gift card to FYE, and another one that's just a Mastercard giftcard (so I can use it wherever)...haven't been able to bring myself to use them. I can find a bunch of different cd's or dvd's I'd like to have, but I end up talking myself out of it and putting them back. It's almost sad, in a way. I remember when I first started college and would expand my dvd collection by 1 or 2 dvds each week.
On the other hand, I've been paying all expenses for Tony and I (other than a couple minor ones) for the past month or month and a half. Tony just started work on Friday - won't get his first paycheck til Sept. 10. I don't want to have to be worried about making the car payment. Especially until Tony starts paying me back (which should be sometime this month or next at the latest). There's a good number of things Tony and I could use, but we've not gotten because we want to be sure we can pay our bills (no problems thus far) and I'm trying to save up for a car (plus I'm generally rather cautious with money anyway). We have done some fun things though - we usually eat out once a week (and I go out to lunch with a coworker about once a week, sometimes with Chris too), have been to a couple movies, etc. I wouldn't want to have to give that up just to be able to make a car payment.
Now that I've driven a Five Hundred, I dunno how I'd be able to consider/happy with another car. Any car just feels like a rough ride after that one....and I really liked being up higher - allowed me to see better. Kinda like one of those 'once you've tried this, you'll never go back'.
I'd think I should be more financially stable in a few more months (and able to come up with a bigger down payment, thus lowering the monthly payment). That would help with getting a new/newer car. Then again, how do I know that they'll even have any 2006's left? I don't think I can bring myself to have a red, white, or black one (maybe dark red, but meh...already had white, thank you...I don't think this one needs explained), with my luck, that's all they'd have.
Arg, so frustrating....
Then again, I'm impressed I could even consider buying a car like that. For the last year or two I wasn't even able to justify buying myself a cd or dvd, and here I was, about to spend $20,000 on a car. With all the penny pinching I've been doing, for me to even go into the initial stages of buying that car was surprising.
Beautiful car. Amazingly smooth ride. I could actually see out the back window (as opposed to the Milan). Intriguing turn signal sound. You can sit up higher and see rather well. Closer to the size of my car, unlike the Milan. And (this is the shocking part) it has...MORE room than the Grand Marquis. The trunk is beyond ginormous, and the back seat and front passenger seat fold down.
Then the more logical side of me took over. (That and I talked to my grandpa about it...he tends to be more conservative.) I don't even like sun/moon roofs. Do I need a 6 cd changer? I'm only going to listen to one at a time anyway. Black leather would get rather warm though the car would cool it off real quick and leather would be easier to clean spills off of than cloth. Do I really want to pay $340-$389/month in car payments?
Part of me wants to say that this is good deal and I should take it. I've run the figures on my budge/expenses, and I could afford it (I allowed for a $3000 down payment, though the monthly payments were figured with $2000 down, and $500/month car payments, which is higher than I'd actually have). I can pay it off early without a penalty. I am going to have to get some form of car in the next few months, as mine probably won't last through the winter. Neither Tony nor my car is in good shape, which is bad. It'd be a little different if at least one was. I really, really do like the Five Hundred (or Mercury's equivalent, the Montego) - it's probably the smoothest ride I've had in a car, great acceleration, I can see out of it and sit up higher, the car feels solid, etc. If I can, when I do get a car, I'll get a Five Hundred.
Actually, Ford is having a Labor Day Weekend sale - $0 down, 0% APR (for 72 months) for their 2006 cars, including the Five Hundred. On a new car, I could get a discount through ABB (or possibly because my grandpa works for Ford), though it'd probably only be between $1500 and $3000. But that's this coming weekend.
I dunno, maybe I'm just feeling cautious - the most I've ever spent on one item was my computer - about $2500, four years ago. Heck, my first (and thus far only) car was $1500. Add that to the fact that I've not bought anything but essentials for the past year or two... I've gotten really good at talking myself out of things. I have a gift card to FYE, and another one that's just a Mastercard giftcard (so I can use it wherever)...haven't been able to bring myself to use them. I can find a bunch of different cd's or dvd's I'd like to have, but I end up talking myself out of it and putting them back. It's almost sad, in a way. I remember when I first started college and would expand my dvd collection by 1 or 2 dvds each week.
On the other hand, I've been paying all expenses for Tony and I (other than a couple minor ones) for the past month or month and a half. Tony just started work on Friday - won't get his first paycheck til Sept. 10. I don't want to have to be worried about making the car payment. Especially until Tony starts paying me back (which should be sometime this month or next at the latest). There's a good number of things Tony and I could use, but we've not gotten because we want to be sure we can pay our bills (no problems thus far) and I'm trying to save up for a car (plus I'm generally rather cautious with money anyway). We have done some fun things though - we usually eat out once a week (and I go out to lunch with a coworker about once a week, sometimes with Chris too), have been to a couple movies, etc. I wouldn't want to have to give that up just to be able to make a car payment.
Now that I've driven a Five Hundred, I dunno how I'd be able to consider/happy with another car. Any car just feels like a rough ride after that one....and I really liked being up higher - allowed me to see better. Kinda like one of those 'once you've tried this, you'll never go back'.
I'd think I should be more financially stable in a few more months (and able to come up with a bigger down payment, thus lowering the monthly payment). That would help with getting a new/newer car. Then again, how do I know that they'll even have any 2006's left? I don't think I can bring myself to have a red, white, or black one (maybe dark red, but meh...already had white, thank you...I don't think this one needs explained), with my luck, that's all they'd have.
Arg, so frustrating....