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I write this in the dealership of Bob Tyler Toyota on my phone. My husband and I have been here for almost 4 hours but, when we are done, we will have two newer cars!
“Last night when I came home from work, I just had this feeling like I was getting a new car. I wondered if I should clean it out but remembered that I wasn’t going to drive myself.”
Originally, my mom and I were going to look at cars which would’ve been nice so I could’ve told pushy sales people that I had to “discuss it with my husband.” However, my mom called me early this morning to tell me that she was very sick and couldn’t go. Begrudgingly, my husband cancelled his plans and we headed to the first dealership on our list with plans to go to many more.
Mind you, I had done research, lots of research. We looked at the Mazda CX-5 and CX-9 a few months ago but weren’t 1000 percent sure that’s what we wanted, so we waited until after the holidays and after my company’s annual bonus. In addition, I looked up the most fuel-efficient vehicles and the safest vehicles from 2015-2019, per year (not combined). I compared all lists and also looked at the aesthetics. Who doesn’t want a pretty car, right?
From the very beginning, our experience with our salesman Juan was stellar.
I told Juan at Bob Tyler Toyota that I needed an SUV that was “a little bigger,” had extra storage, room for kids (thinking of the future), had a backup camera, and (if possible) was fuel efficient or more than most SUVs. Now, I have 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe. It only has about 35k miles, and I got a great deal on it.
So, then my husband wondered if maybe we should trade in his car.
He really wanted something sporty like a Charger but decided to go with something a little more practical. He got a 2017 Ford Fusion. It’s a just sporty enough for him, has great gas mileage, and has a lot of
According to our tax returns, our income would make us middle class, so how can we afford both? More importantly, how can your family?
1. Make sure that all credit cards and lines of credit are not maxed or close to max. Ideally, you want to utilize only about 30% of the credit that you have. When they say “we have increased your limit,” be grateful because that adjusts your credit limit utilization but you must avoid using any extra credit.
2. Consolidate loans and credit cards with higher interest rates to one payment or, at least,
3. Bring something to the table. Have a down payment. Every little bit helps. We put down $3,000 for my new car and traded in his car for his new car. Now, keep in mind that the cars do not trade in as much at a dealership as they do privately. But do you want to deal with the hassle of selling your car privately?
4. Evaluate your finances. Determine how much you spend and on what. And based on that, if you can make any adjustments to pay for your new car (or two). You can easily cut out things like eating out or buying entertainment tickets. You can save money with coupons. There are several apps that you can use to monitor your finances but you can input your financial information into an Excel spreadsheet.
5. Find a way to bring in another source of income. Whether it’s passive income from book sales or blogging, overtime, or side gigs.
6. If you know six months to two years out that you’ll be buying a vehicle, you can get a CD or Certificate with a higher interest rate that allows you to make deposits at any time. Then, you can make a larger deposit into it and recurring transfers into until you’re ready to buy a vehicle. You can use the Certificate/CD as your down payment or a combination of a down payment and your first few payments
Update: By the time we were finished, it was over 8 hours! Make sure you eat breakfast and don’t forget to bring a protein shake and a snack or two because the day you get your new vehicle is going to take a while.
