It was a great car. Really was. I loved that car. But... it had nearly 100K miles. Several things were going wrong with it all at once. A belt (we think) was about to explode and sounded awful, the brakes were bad, the shocks needed replacing, and maybe worst of all....our key was about to break off in the ignition. Our first key had already broke, so we knew it was a matter of time. The key was about to just snap off from the key faab (the part that opened the doors - the keyless entry?). Anyway, had that happened...it would've cost about $300 to replace. And we would've been without a key. And, we would've been lucky if it hadn't have happened while in the ignition. That woulda sucked. I just knew it was a matter of time...
So with all things combined, we set out to buy a new car. I was ok with not new, as long as it was low low mileage (a demo maybe?) and still under warranty and all that jazz. I knew I wanted a Toyota Highlander. Why you ask? Well.... here it is in a nutshell. The main gripe I had with my old car (the Honda) was that it was impossible to get in the 3rd row with carseats in the 2nd row. So I knew I wanted bucket seats in the 2nd row to have that walk through capability. With a Toyota Highlander, it got even better. The 2nd row has the ability to have 3 different console options in the 2nd row. Option 1 - nothing in the middle, standard bucket seats. Option 2 - a console in the middle for kids to have cup holders, storage, whatever. Option 3 - an insert that goes in and creates a bench seat for even more seating if you need it. And best part - you don't choose when you buy - each one comes with the car and those different consoles store within the car. Its really quite nifty.
Of course, lots of other cool things...that are pretty cool with any new car in the SUV family, but that's what sold me on the Toyota Highlander vs all the others in the SUV/crossover family.
So we set out to haggle. Ugh. We knew someone there at the local Toyota place (and also their customer service is pretty outstanding) and started looking and dealing. Found one I wanted. New. Totally new. Hmmmm..... we drove it. We liked it. He didn't come down too much and wouldn't give much for my car. So we left. We emailed, he called, not budging much. We looked around at some used (but they were too used or didn't have certain things that were important to me). We even went and looked at different vehicles - Dodge, Chevy, Nissan, etc. But, come to find out...I still really liked the Highlander the best. Even if the others were cheaper and more do-able. If I was forking over thousands for a new car, I didn't want to settle for something just because it was a tad bit cheaper. Ya know?
But the numbers weren't working for us. I knew how much I could spend monthly with my sub pay (yep, that's how we figured it) and I knew how much we could finance based on that. And it wasn't happening. So. Remember the day we went to a rained out softball tournament? Well, we made valuable use out of our rain delay time and went to CarMax while there. Walking in the door, 30 minutes later we had an offer on our car that was $1500 more than what local Toyota was giving us. Not only that - but did you know CarMax sells new cars? Of course, not the one in our state. And there's transfer fees that add up and all that..... but they do it. And they were selling a brand new highlander (with features I wanted) for $3,000 less than what Toyota was selling. A-ha!
Sooooo.... we got back into town. Later on that week or the next (can't remember, it runs together) we got back in touch with our local guy, provided him with CarMax's offer and what they were selling the new ones for and he had to match their offer. I told him, bottom line, I was off the next day and if they couldn't do what an out of town dealer could do, I would drive down and buy it there, as much as I prefer to buy local. I had actually done that before in the past. Bought a Mazda....after the dealer here wouldn't go low enough, drove to Houston, bought the car there. However, they didn't have THE exact one I wanted, so they came back to MY town, drove the car I had looked at there to Houston and sold it to me there. That was pretty cool. Losers. So I told Toyota I would do the same thing if need be.
Wouldn't you know...the next couple days, I was there signing papers. :)
And here's my new car!!!!
Pretty isn't it? Its 'blizzard pearl' outside (not white...they do have a white, and this is a tad different) and black on the inside 2013 Toyota Highlander Limited (leather, navigation, the whole nine yards). They tinted the windows before I got it and added the remote start (awesome!)
Had 41 miles on it when we picked it up. :)
The girls had NO IDEA we were getting a new car. So it was super fun to surprise them after school picking them up. I kept saying, I couldn't find my car...do you see it anywhere? casually walking to the new one. Then we stopped. They were confused. Brooke looked at my hand and saw the different keys (or lack there off - its push button start). And it clicked. When we got in, this was her reaction at the push button start (wooooow!!!)
And weeks after, the girls are comfortable I think with the new car. They are so worn out after school everyday, this was 7 minutes after picking them up from school one day. Poor kiddos! Ha!
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