This beauty is now mine. I'm not sure who is more excited- me or the kids. So how did this happen? Well earlier this week I was trying to figure out what college I'll transfer to. The choices are University of Houston or Sam Houston State University. Sam is in Huntsville which is far from here and even commuting to downtown Houston to attend U of H would be 45 minutes to an hour. Not to mention Ricky will also be commuting for college in the near future. I started thinking about us getting a little commuter car. I wanted something dependable and newer so we wouldn't have to worry about repairs. I was looking to spend $8,000- $10,000. I emailed our loan officer. When she got back with me, I was in shock. We have an A credit score and qualified for 1.99% interest and an amount that would allow us to get a safer car for the family. I tried to talk myself out of it, I sort of wanted Ricky to talk me out of it but after all the pros and cons, it made perfect sense for us to get a nice, SAFE car that our children can ride in. It helps that I am in love with what we got. On to the good part... If you don't know me really well, I am a great negotiator. Basically I won't pay a penny more for something when I get my number in my head. I drove through the dealership and when I was interested in a car, I got a salesman. I quickly told him I already had my financing and I wanted to drive certain car. This saves so much time by the way. Anyway, a few minutes later I was driving a brand spankin new Texas edition Tahoe. I loved it! I told the salesman I was going to lunch and to get me the bottom line on the truck and call me. I cannot stand that pointless back and forth. The manager walked out basically rolling out the red carpet and said they'd get right back with me and they did. They gave me said numbers and after I had lunch went back up there. I told them I had my number and there number was close but not it. I didn't tell them my number because I wanted to see how low they'd go. If you show them all your cards you will get screwed every single time when buying a car. Guess what? They came within $600 of my number! Of course me being me that wasn't good enough so I told them they were close and only then did I give my number. They tried to play the game they all play about how they'd lose money, yada yada but I didn't budge. Guess what? I got the truck for what I was willing to pay! We also were able to use Ricky's employer discount which was great.
On to the details. It's a beauty. The color is called Mocha and the interior is called Cashmere. I LOVE the Texas edition Chevrolet line. It has leather, back up camera, three rows of seats, and so many neat features. And that new car smell... it's been a while since I've had a brand new car. The most important thing about this car is all the safety features which is why we bought it. I'm coming out of a 2002 Suburban so a lot of things have changed. For one, my Suburban didn't have anchors for the car seats. This always worried us because they'd come loose. My new car has anchors. My new car also has side curtain airbags as where my old one didn't. The list goes on but those are two very important things for us. I hope I will get better gas mileage. I was paying $100 to fill up my Suburban and getting about 350 miles to a tank. Ricky thinks we will. We didn't trade in the Suburban. We've listed it for sale ourselves and hope to make a little money on it because it is a nice car and in good condition.
I believe we made the right choice. It was hard because I HATE debt. But we were also able to refinance Ricky's truck to 1.99% which dropped his payment considerably. Credit Unions are the way to go. I feel so blessed to have this vehicle and so spoiled. I'm thankful to Ricky and feel much safer with my babies in my vehicle. The drive to Florida this weekend is going to be a nice one!!
Krista
