My New Scion XB - Best IPod Accessory Ever!

I hate having drama in my life. Junking my beloved Rav and going through the car buying process has been a real roller coaster ride.

That's the teaser for the grand finale of my car disaster miniseries:

The dealership came back with a $10K+ estimate to replace the engine in the RAV. At this point, the Walmart claims lady went from nice to ... well, less than nice. She found out from the dealership that I thought this was more than the RAV was worth and hoped to trade it in. So she tried to low ball me with $4200 which was the pay off on the RAV. I rejected this without even thinking about it.

I had done my research and was pleasantly surprised to find that the blue book value for my RAV in "good condition" (which it had been pre-Walmart) was between 9-12K! So anyway she came back with "the highest I can go is $5500". I told her I needed to think about it and would call her the next day.

I obsessed a while and even looked for some lawyers but started to dread the hassle and legal fees. I came to the conclusion that it just wouldn't be worth a few extra Ks. She sure seemed happy and relieved when I took the offer. In hindsight, I should have asked for arbitration and seen if I couldn't get the offer up a little. I console myself with the fact that I originally thought the Rav would only be worth about $6K anyway.

So that part of the story ends with a paid off loan for the RAV and $1300 toward a new car...

Back to the dealership to see about the possibility of trade-in. Steve saw how stressed I was already and offered to act as my representative. (Sadly, it seems most salesmen and mechanics still treat woman like dopes.) So he went to try and make a deal. When he came back he said, "It's a good thing you didn't go!"

First, they told him that the advertised "deals" on the website were put there by Toyota and not really what they had available. We had done the research and I decided that a BASIC Scion XB would meet my needs and desires. But the salesman said their policy was not to sell a car with less than 2 options.

Secondly, they didn't want to give a value on the RAV until after we committed to buying one of their models! The service manager tried to tell him that it would be better to pay for the RAV repairs and then trade it in for one of their new cars. What a load of horse$#!+.

Time to consider plan B. I started calling salvage yards. The best offer I could get for the RAV remains was $350. This is where my Mom intervened and called my sister's significant other. (If I had been in my right mind, I might of thought of them first.) Anyway, Jay called and said absolutely he'd be willing to come up to JAX and pick up the RAV. Happy to give me $500 on top of that! He knew he could "pop" in a new engine, get it detailed and sold for a nice, fat profit.

I'm thrilled with this outcome. Better my family benefits than the dealership! Plus, I like the idea that the RAV gets a better fate than the scrap yard - at least, for a few more years.

Of course, this still left me without a car...

As part of our research, Steve and I had visited Coggins Toyota Dealership for a no-pressure test drive. A young (20yrs) salesman named Azer helped us out and we had an immediate positive response to him. His family emigrated from Bosnia when he was still a child. Considering what he and his family must have gone through, he is totally upbeat and fun to be around. He speaks fluent, Bosnian, German and English. I never would have known he wasn't born and raised here all his life, if Steve hadn't asked about his background.

Soapbox Note: Steve has a friend who teaches in a local high school. He says the latest generation is "spoiled rotten, soft as cotton". It's always a surprising contrast to see how grateful immigrants are for the opportunities America provides. In spite of hardships, they are happy to work hard in pursuit of the American dream. Personally, I'm happy to have all the immigrants we can get! (Stepping down from the soapbox now.)

So after the disappointing experience we had with the first (Pierson Toyota) dealership, we decided to go back to Azer with a printout of the "deals" offered on their (Coggins) website. Azer told us we were the first people he had worked with to do this. After conferring with the manager, he said they absolutely could get us what we wanted for the advertised price. Then he went out and found me a better price on a model that included the stereo upgrades! Yeah, Azer!!

He did make an apologetic pitch for a reduced price on one of their lot models. (Manager insisted.) He gladly accepted our refusal and went on with the business of getting us the model we wanted.

We took delivery of "Boom-Boom" (I told Steve the stereo upgrade made it a "rolling boombox") on July 31st. For some reason, dealerships are busier on the last day of the month so the paperwork process took us longer than we had hoped. While we waited, Azer took us out for a drive in the new car and we did a complete inspection together. The finance guy was older and not as much fun as Azer (go figure). He, too, made the obligatory offers for service contracts, etc., but graciously accepted our refusals and worked well with the USAA rep on my preapproved auto loan.

Do I even need to say how easy USAA made the loan process?

So now we come to the final scene of the miniseries. Steve and I are driving Boom-Boom down to Satellite Beach, discussing strategies to "break-in" the new engine and get the best sound out of the stereo system. Steve turns to me and says, "I should have sent you to Walmart for that oil change a lot sooner."