I'm looking for a more reliable car since I'm moving to Birmingham. This week is the annual Credit Union Car Sale, so naturally now would be a good time to start checking out cars, right? Except that I've never been car shopping before (I bought my Firebird from Casey when we split; before then it was family cars for this girl). Car shopping makes me nervous: edgy salesmen, steep prices, etc. etc. You know how it is, I'm sure. Add in the fact that I'm too nice and don't know how to stand my ground and say no, and before you know it I've signed my life over to a $50,000 car.
I was talking to Angela yesterday and she offered to go with me to look for cars. So today Angela and I went to check out the car sale, and OMG! I want that Hyundai Elantra! And that Honda Crosstour! Oooooh, what about that used BMW?! A used BMW could be in my price range, right? Wrong. I lied to every salesman that came up to me, telling them that I was waiting for my all-knowing, car savvy father before I made a decision. Right before I left I did actually entertain a salesman from Hyundai. He asked me, "What are the top three features you're looking for in a car?"
Angela laughed. I hesitated....
"Well, to be honest--and it's quite funny you asked that--I want: 1.) an air conditioner, 2.) a cd player, and 3.) automatic windows."
"Don't forget about the sunroof," Angela said.
"Oh yeah, and a sunroof!" I laughed.
He wasn't wearing sunglasses. I could see him trying to hold back his laughter. I'm sure I probably made that guy's Facebook status update, if not becoming the laughing stock of the day for his co-workers.
Car shopping is so intimidating! Someone help me! Pretty please?
Well, most cars are gonna have those three these days, so keep moving down the list :)
ReplyDeletePersonally, when I test drive a car, I'm looking for two things: acceleration and braking. I need a car that can get me ahead of the traffic when I pull out or out of a tight spot if I need it to, so acceleration. In the brakes I'm looking for responsiveness, or at least I think I'll call it that. Have you ever had a car where the brakes took a bit of space to actually activate, and then they caught all of a sudden? That's a big "no" in my book; I can't stand brakes like that. I prefer brakes that I can barely tap and feel a slight response, but not so much that barely a tap will stop my car either.
Beyond those two, a third aspect would be a car that's tolerable enough to look at. If you're driving something you don't think is good-looking, you'll be self-conscious of it, to be sure, and constantly wanting a new car in the back of your mind. So make sure what you get is "pretty" enough to keep your mind at ease. And while that sounds shallow, especially seeing as how the most important part to you will be the interior and you'll hardly ever see the exterior, I'm pretty sure it'd bug the stew out of you if you were driving something you didn't necessarily like. (And honestly, don't we have enough stress as it is?)
So there we are:
Acceleration
Braking
Looks
Take it for what it's worth; I'm just one opinion :)