I’ll never forget the first car that I brought that was just for me. I’ll never forget it was 2006 and hubby had just enlisted back into the military. Since he was prior military he was able to come home some weekends since we were only four hours away from his AIT.
One particular weekend he rented a Jeep Liberty and I winded up driving it through out that weekend. I fell in love with the small SUV and that following weekend my husband and I went to the dealership to see about getting one. There really wasn’t much to the entire process. We picked out the color (Duke Blue) , had an easy approval process and felt no pressure to be pushed into gimmicky sales tactics.
Eventually I traded that Jeep in for my Ford Expedition and well you all know what happened with that. Six years after I had brought that Jeep Liberty our lifetstyle and situation had changed and I needed a car quickly. For some reason during my last car buying experience I felt rushed by myself and by the car dealership . I felt like they were using my accident and the financial situation it had temporarily put me in to their advantage. As for myself I hated the idea of waiting and being forced to share a car with hubby so that’s how I winded up with a Ford again.
If I could do the most recent car buyng experience all over again, I would have taken more time and realized it wouldn’t have killed me to do just a bit more research. I also would have stepped out my comfort zone and went to another car dealership and not the same one just because we had dealt with them before.
What was your best or worst car buying experience?
DISCLOSURE: I WAS SELECTED FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE TWIN COMMUNITY THROUGH A PROGRAM WITH CLEVER GIRLS COLLECTIVE. I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY COMPENSATION FOR WRITING THIS POST, OR PAYMENT IN EXCHANGE FOR PARTICIPATING. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN ARE MINE, AND DO NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE TOYOTA.
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Army Wife 101
Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market. She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries.
Krystel is the mom of two and an Army Wife. In addition to Army Wife 101 she is the Co-Founder of SoFluential.com a digital media agency that connects brands with the military market.
She has appeared on MSNBC ,FOX LA and formerly was a weekly contributor to HLN's "Raising America". She has written for various outlets including Sheknows and Lifetime and is a big fan of cupcakes and french fries. 5 Comments on The Car Buying Process Can Suck Sometimes!
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I really hate trying to buy around military posts. I feel like they try to take advantage of soldiers and their families.
However, my last car buying experience was terrible. While I like my mini-van, I felt like they bullied me into buying it before it even made it to the lot (was shipped from another place even though it was listed on the site as being on their lot) and the salesmen really screwed us over when it came to the paperwork. If we ever buy another car while he is in the military, I will certainly not try to do it around Fort Bragg.
Kasey you sound like us. So far all of our cars except the SUV have come from the Fayetteville Fort Bragg area. Yes they certainly take advantage of the military here.
We live and bought our cars in the Southern Pines area of Ft. Bragg and both times we had to buy a car (I too was in a bad accident on the way home from post) were wonderful experiences. We dealt with Nissan the first time and Ford the second time. Both of our sales people were very laid back and non-pushy. We were able to get the price we wanted right away and have had amazing customer service since. I don’t know if it is the small town we live in, or just that we lucked out with sales people, but they made a very stressful situation fun and exciting! It was such a nice change from our pushy sales people we have had to deal with in the past!
Ugh! I despise buying a car. I pretty much leave that entire process to my husband since he has no problems with telling those serpents (the car salesmen) that they’re smoking crack.
The last time we bought a car they tried to slap us with 18% interest and hubby told them to stick it where the sun don’t shine, lol! Then they digressed and gave him 3.9%. He’s my hero :P
For the last two times I have had to purchase cars, I have walked into the dealership with cash. It was enlightening and empowering! I plan to squeeze a few more years out of my 2005 Odyssey…no way would I buy a new car with the poor state of Belgian roads…and then plan to take my time in finding something new and improved. I always follow the golden rule though, NEVER buy the first model of a vehicle! Carmakers use that model to get the kinks out, and all you’ll be buying is a car with hidden troubles and design flaws. I see it every time!