I bought a car!

I haven’t been through the car buying purchase since I was in high school when my Dad was buying me a car for the first time. Lots has obviously changed in the last 18 years since I did that.

The amount of transparency and information out there about the car buying process is night and day. Largely gone are the days of dealers using information asymmetry to rip off all their buyers. Although, it is clear that there are just a lot of people who don’t bother do the research and unfortunately succumb to their tricks.

I ended up buying the car that we initially were going to buy, the Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. It was my first choice a few weeks ago due to the gas mileage, resale value, and reliability. I really enjoyed the first test drive and it felt like I was driving a full electric car despite being a hybrid.

Most important for me was getting a good deal though so Sophia and I had to shop around a bit more. We pondered leasing a more expensive luxury car such as an Audi Q5, Volvo VC60, or a Lexus RX350. We test drove them all and they were all great cars. I ran the numbers and had my mind set on a number that we were willing to pay extra for over the course of 3 years.

Unfortunately, the dealerships we worked with couldn’t get to the number we were looking for. We got them down the majority of the way, but they couldn’t get that last piece so we walked. I’m proud that Sophia and I set our limit and stuck to it.

Things came full circle for us as we went from Rav4 Hybrid to Rav4 gas to leasing a luxury SUV and finally back to the Rav4 Hybrid. For us, the splurge on the hybrid plus higher trim with better features was our smart splurge. Yes, we’re paying the cost of that, but the resale value of these cars is so high that we’d be able to recover most of it.

As for dealerships, most that we dealt with were great and straight forward. There were definitely a few bad apples though. Some dealerships definitely tried to withhold information especially on the leases. One dealership we worked with in particular was using a lot of bait and switch tactics to get me to come in. It was awful.

We ended up going with the first dealership we went to at San Francisco Toyota. They were by far the best we dealt with. From the first test drive to the closing process, it was a great experience and I’m glad that we worked with them. It wasn’t rocket science. Be trustworthy and helpful. It’s no surprise we stuck with the dealership that gave us the most unbiased information and was very transparent about pricing.

I’m glad the process is over. Sophia and I may need to plan a few more road trips this next year.