Saturday we didn't have any basketball games. An entire day stretched ahead of us to...buy a van. Finally? Maybe?
We already know exactly what we want but it's never simple. If I were a person that enjoyed haggling, I may feel better about the whole car buying process but I'm not and it's a slow form of torture.
A very slow form.
Adam is in the no pun intended driver's seat and he's methodical and unemotional and careful in his shopping. I'm the exact opposite and so Adam told me not to talk.
He meant it in the nicest possible way and it didn't even offend. I admire the way he's unswayed by sales ploys. I admire the way he listens thoroughly and sees through tricks. I know we'd pay twice as much if I were in charge because I get too impatient and start to feel sorry for salespeople.
While shopping, I'd hang out for awhile and check out the features of the vans and I picked the color I wanted. Then I kept my mouth shut. Then I left. Mark and I played cards at one dealership while Adam talked the talk. At another dealership, I had been involved with the talking for a little while until it was too mind numbing and tedious. Our salesman in an effort to win us over(?) was chatting about his son and fishing and how friendly people in the Northwest were. We. Don't. Care. How much for the van? I escaped to sit in our old van where Emma and I played a rousing version of "Pluck the Chicken". You don't know how to play? You're missing out.
Then they wanted to take our old van for a spin for value assessment for a trade-in and Emma and I retreated to the customer lounge that featured an enormous TV tuned to an outdoor channel. Maybe it's The Outdoor Channel. Who knows.
It was taking forever.
I watched a fat kid clad entirely from head to toe in camouflage shoot and kill his first deer.
I decided my life was hitting a new low.
We finally left and like last time we went van shopping, we didn't come home with a new van but we went and got ice cream cones.
(Which does remove the sting a little bit if I'm being honest.)
1 comment:
Sounds like Adam shops for a car just like dad did. He was so calm and asked questions that I didn't even think to ask. When I bought the Vibe, he asked how long it had been on the lot then asked to see some piece of paper that showed how much it was costing them to keep it on the lot each month. The guy wouldn't budge on the last $1000 I didn't want to pay. So we stood up and Dad said, "We'll go buy it in Mt. Vernon, they have lower taxes." Turns out that last $1000 was expendable to them :)
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