Hello, Leon!
I am now the proud owner (read: lessee) of a brand new Toyota Camry. It only had four miles on it when I test drove it. I feel a little satisfaction knowing that there's no mystery with this car. I don't have to wonder what the previous owner did to make it run all messed up. If anything doesn't work right with the car? It's all under warranty. I was going to call it Otto, but I figure it would need to have a few more features of PURE AWESOME before the car would deserve an awesome name like that. So Leon it is. I'll post pictures of my new baby when I get the chance.
I had narrowed my choices down to a VW Rabbit or a Camry. Before driving the Camry, I had made up my mind that I wanted the Rabbit, but I promised my dad that I would test drive a few Toyotas before I made any decisions. So, I drove an xD first and hated it. The car itself is okay. Nice features, comfortable, functional. But the engine had no zip to it. I've been driving my zipless Focus for the past five years. It's time to not to have to worry "am I going to be able to speed up in time to get in front of this semi and merge onto the highway today?" So I was going to drive a Yaris. But my requirement for a new car was that it have four doors. And the four door Yaris is, well... If I wanted another Focus, I'd buy another Focus. I wanted something that looked different. So my dad had me try a Camry. The first one they gave me had the V6 engine and power everything, six-disc CD changer and moonroof. Man, it had just about everything that I wanted. And it was in Barcelona Red, which is the only red (that doesn't qualify as burgundy, crimson or some other darker variation of the colour) that I like right now. But it was a step up from what I could really afford, and I had my heart set on a green car. The only features it lacked were the ones that the Rabbit had that I really wanted: heated seats and the capability to tell me what song was actually playing on the radio. Things I can live without, but are really nice, eh?
Finally, they were able to bring up the actual car he wanted to sell me (they have something like three different lots to store cars on, and it took them a while to figure out that this car had just come off the truck, so it was being inspected in the shop, since the computer just says where it should be and not where it actually is) and I got behind the wheel and took it for a spin. I checked out some town driving and then I hit 35 for a few miles and then looped back. I looked over at my dad and said "I'm in love." It was no contest. I had to have that car. And with lease payments of under two-hundred bucks a month? As much as I had my heart set on owning a Rabbit? An extra seventy bucks a month (the difference between the payments) was really the biggest reason to lease the Camry instead of the Rabbit. I could have bought the Rabbit at that payment, too, but still. Seventy bucks a month. And my buy-out on the Camry will be a really good deal. Especially since I have the lowest lease option (12,000 miles/year) and won't even put that many miles on it. So I will actually get cash back on the vehicle should I decide to trade up, or to use toward the purchase of the car.
I've dealt with a few different dealers since I originally purchased my Focus, and absolutely every single one of them was the reason why I didn't trade in for a new car sooner. I refuse to do business with someone that I can immediately tell is playing me for a fool, or is a total sleaze. This guy at Toyota didn't treat me like I was a no-nothing college kid. Neither did the lady at Volkswagen. Either I got lucky, or people are starting to figure out how to do this salesman thing right. Either way, I am very happy with the experience at both dealerships and I'm glad I went the way that I did.
In short? I am excited. My baby is classy.
I had narrowed my choices down to a VW Rabbit or a Camry. Before driving the Camry, I had made up my mind that I wanted the Rabbit, but I promised my dad that I would test drive a few Toyotas before I made any decisions. So, I drove an xD first and hated it. The car itself is okay. Nice features, comfortable, functional. But the engine had no zip to it. I've been driving my zipless Focus for the past five years. It's time to not to have to worry "am I going to be able to speed up in time to get in front of this semi and merge onto the highway today?" So I was going to drive a Yaris. But my requirement for a new car was that it have four doors. And the four door Yaris is, well... If I wanted another Focus, I'd buy another Focus. I wanted something that looked different. So my dad had me try a Camry. The first one they gave me had the V6 engine and power everything, six-disc CD changer and moonroof. Man, it had just about everything that I wanted. And it was in Barcelona Red, which is the only red (that doesn't qualify as burgundy, crimson or some other darker variation of the colour) that I like right now. But it was a step up from what I could really afford, and I had my heart set on a green car. The only features it lacked were the ones that the Rabbit had that I really wanted: heated seats and the capability to tell me what song was actually playing on the radio. Things I can live without, but are really nice, eh?
Finally, they were able to bring up the actual car he wanted to sell me (they have something like three different lots to store cars on, and it took them a while to figure out that this car had just come off the truck, so it was being inspected in the shop, since the computer just says where it should be and not where it actually is) and I got behind the wheel and took it for a spin. I checked out some town driving and then I hit 35 for a few miles and then looped back. I looked over at my dad and said "I'm in love." It was no contest. I had to have that car. And with lease payments of under two-hundred bucks a month? As much as I had my heart set on owning a Rabbit? An extra seventy bucks a month (the difference between the payments) was really the biggest reason to lease the Camry instead of the Rabbit. I could have bought the Rabbit at that payment, too, but still. Seventy bucks a month. And my buy-out on the Camry will be a really good deal. Especially since I have the lowest lease option (12,000 miles/year) and won't even put that many miles on it. So I will actually get cash back on the vehicle should I decide to trade up, or to use toward the purchase of the car.
I've dealt with a few different dealers since I originally purchased my Focus, and absolutely every single one of them was the reason why I didn't trade in for a new car sooner. I refuse to do business with someone that I can immediately tell is playing me for a fool, or is a total sleaze. This guy at Toyota didn't treat me like I was a no-nothing college kid. Neither did the lady at Volkswagen. Either I got lucky, or people are starting to figure out how to do this salesman thing right. Either way, I am very happy with the experience at both dealerships and I'm glad I went the way that I did.
In short? I am excited. My baby is classy.