Out with the old...

...and in with the new

So roughly 40,000 miles (or at least seven years) of car shopping officially ended today with the purchase of a new Dodge Dakota.

I have to say I am very pleased with the truck, and also very pleased with the deal. Usually I think that with a purchase like this the most important thing is that after you're finished you feel like you got what you wanted and you didn't get taken.

In this particular case not only do we meet those two criteria, but I think we also got a great truck at a great price, and that we bargained successfully (after the fact, M said she felt a little bit like my Aunt Lois - and that is high haggling praise be sure). It turns out we did some good dealer research and found a good incentive, and we did some good internet research and found a particularly good truck - one they likely would not have shown us left to their own devices.

We started out well within what consumer reports says to pay, got them to sweeten the deal more than twice, and then got a free bed liner, a steam clean for the seats, and a lower interest rate than they initially quoted - and all without paying the maximum we would have spent.

The best part was that at lunch we picked a deal we would not exceed today no matter what they offered. I'm glad we did, because the second time they came back it was with a number I might have agreed to, but being that it was outside the rule we didn't angst over it there. We just said we'd have to think about it and that got them to come the rest of the way. If we hadn't put that hard number in our heads before we got there I think we would have paid their price on the second offer.

All of which in the end might amount to a hill of beans, and they certainly don't make a sale that doesn't work for them. But I know we didn't pay as much as we could have had we been less aggressive, and I'm happy with that.

It turns out the hardest part of the whole process was getting the plates off my old truck. In the end I think that took longer than the financing. They were so corroded it took three of us to get them removed.

So come on by and say hello. I'll give you a spin in my new ride.