Buying a Car

A used one. New is out of our budget.

But what I'm really out of--or was by the end of Saturday--is used car salesmen. I apologize to those who break the mold, but those with whom we dealt deserved every bit of their reputation.

Especially the last one. He tried all sorts of tricks. Well, guess what, my husband got the highest grade in his negotiations class in law school, and I'm not so bad at it myself. Between the two of us, we're a formidable team, and my mother-in-law, who was helping us, is no mouse either. We had this guy on the defensive. Oh, I'll give you a few hundred off for those little dents onthe body. Then he slaps on this ridiculous servicing fee.

We walked out and out and out, then went to IHOP for some good wholesome food. I love pancakes and will eat them at any time.

Anyway, I digress.

I think selling used cars for inflated prices was easier in the old days. Now we have the Internet. We have cars.com, which hooks in with Yahoo Auto. We have vehics and Craig's List.We can side by side compare. Hmm, this dealer is selling this 2003 Dodge Carivan for X and this one is selling the same model for Y. Why is there a $1,500.00 price difference? No, you don't know until you look, but it makes one wonder who is trying to get away with something.

Any advice welcome. We will be back on the war path--I mean shopping spree--later this week.