We've been shopping for minivans since Monday. Peter has literally been driving himself nuts. He is much more particular than I which is not a bad thing...but he drove himself nuts.
option 1: spend more money and get a lower milage car that will last longer
option 2: spend less money and get a higher milage car that will not last as long
and of course, there are all the issues of model, low end, high end, cloth, leather, etc. I just want a minivan so I'd take anything. Peter likes himself some features. Neither of us cared about a DVD player- as in whether it's there or not my kids won't know what it's for. Peter liked the idea of dual air conditioning- he has his temperature, I have mine. I told him we solved that problem by always having a blanket in the car for me. Navigation was a big whoppie twang because I have the iphone which has the same thing. Neither of us felt strongly about cloth or leather seats. Peter doesn't like the rims on the lowest model. Rims? What rims? Civy has awesome rims apparently and I didn't even know until someone told me after I bought it. I also really liked the Toyota Sienna. I considered the Odyssey and Sienna to be nearly the same car. Somewhere along the way I turned Peter into a Honda man and he couldn't stand the Sienna. Go me! Kind of...
So, all week we've had dealers calling us and asking us if we'd decided, continuing to try and sell us and occasionally lowering the price. Let me just tell you right now, I love playing hard ball. We've had the RSM dealer calling us since Monday. Not only is the sales guy calling us but the manager as well. Each time they get closer...but have yet to reach the number I set out on the table Monday. Well, the call just came in. He agreed to my number. He is verifying with the manager and I am waiting for the call back. I'm not positive, but we might of just bought a car. Mind you, Peter was running out the door for work when he called so we were trying to decide if we still wanted the car even at our ideal price without feeling pressure from the clock or the sales guy. Tough, but we did it. I continued to drop the price a little more as Peter is dying in the background over my conversation. I love this game.
And so I wait. Peter is at work and the phone should ring soon. Maybe we did it, maybe we didn't. The whole mantra of the week has been "We don't need this van or any other van" and we've walked away from many a deal. We knew if God wanted it to happen, it would, in his timing, on his terms. We're just in the game.