Just went out and bought a car last night. Took all of an hour and a half, including driving over to my mom’s house, picking up take-out for dinner, and all the paperwork.
Helps that I have a history with the dealership - I’ve never bought a car from another dealership (though I have bought from individuals). Three of my cars have been from them (now, four, all used).
My commute chews cars up (100+ miles a day), and my current (former) car has put on over 90,000 in the last 3 years. Not bad for a $6500 car. Hoping for similar mileage return on this investment. Toyota Camry with slightly high mileage (16,000 a year), but they generally run a long time…
So, as long as my mechanic doesn’t find anything significant wrong with it, I’m off and running again. And it was almost hysterically easy. I called and told them what I needed, they had something that suited, I showed up and checked it out (kids and epeepunk and dinner in tow), we ate our dinner while working out the specifics, and I’ll be picking it up tonight.
It felt like a trip to the store. “Bye, honey, I’m off to get a car, do you want me to pick up takeout on the way home?”
(Now, everyone cross your fingers that there’s nothing major wrong with the vehicle… I definitely need a replacement car, and this one is just about right. Not too good to be true, just on the plus side of my range of expectations.)