Bye Bye little Mazda, Hello Pilot!

We finally did it! We got a new car. We found an outstanding deal on a 2006 Pilot EXL in Gastonia, NC at the McKenney-Salinas Honda dealership there. It was a great experience. They actually texted Jason with the lowest price they could offer before we even left home. That really is the "No Haggle" pricing they promote in their ads!

We stopped at Crown Honda in Greensboro before making the trip to Gastonia to see if we could get a Pilot closer to home. They had JUST gotten in a 06 Pilot EXL with navigation and a back up camera. They really liked their Pilot though, because they refused to come down any on the $3,000+ difference in price between the two. It was all the things you imagine when you think of buying a car...the high pressure sales manager, back and forth (on their part-we held firm to the price we needed them to come down to in order to make it a deal), and even the car salesman running out of the dealership waving his hands at us as we pulled out of the parking lot.

Then, there was McKenney-Salinas and our salesman, Luis. We they paged Luis, he knew we were close, so he figured it was us. He came to where we were with the Pilot, parked it outside with the AC running (BIG brownie points), got a copy of our license, and told us to bring it back when we were done with our test drive. Whoa! That was the first time any dealership let us leave WITHOUT the salesman with us. We knew what we were looking for, so it didn't take long for us to know this was a good car. We came back and started negotiating. He said that they were offering the car to us at cost, and couldn't come down on the cost. Jason had done the research and KNEW that they were selling it to us at cost or very close, and about $4500 below Kelly Blue Book Value. (My hubby was so prepared-he had Mapquest directions to all the dealerships, and Kelly Blue Book estimates on all the vehicles we were going to look at AND our Mazda. It was very cute!) I did get them to throw in the all-weather floor mats ($300 value), and we had a deal!

Then, there was the trade in of my OLD Mazda. We negotiated the price of the Pilot without even mentioning our trade (we had planned this and it went just as we had hoped). We held our breath until we found out what they would give us for the trade. (Remember, this is the car that would NOT pass inspection, the check engine light wouldn't go off, the radio didn't work, had a terrible rattle, a belt made a terrible squeeking noise, the list goes on and on. We had definitely gotten our money's worth out of this car!) We nearly jumped out of our seats when they told us what they would give us for it, and we had a deal. WHOO HOO! A new car AND we didn't have to worry about what to do with our old car!!!

We waited patiently while they detailed the Pilot, and we cleaned out my old Mazda. (Funny story-Luis told the guy in the detail department that he had a lady buying the Pilot that was about to give birth and needed to get back to Greensboro before it was too late, and we were miraculously moved to the front of the line!) It was kinda sad to be saying goodbye to the Mazda since we bought this car about two weeks after we got married. But it was a good sad feeling, not a bad sad. After about 10 minutes in the business office, we were on the road back home. From the time we got there to the time we left, it was about 2 1/2 hours. We actually spent more time driving there and back than we did buying the car!

What did I learn from all this? 1)Don't let desperate car salesmen keep your license (the guy in Greensboro gave Jason his license back but not mine and we didn't realize it until we were half way to Gastonia--but that is another story all together). I will just drive up in my new Pilot that I didn't buy from them to get it back. :) 2)Do your research before you go to the dealership. It saves time and gives you the peace of mind that you really are getting a good deal, not just what they HOPE you think is a good deal. 3)Do business with people who treat you right from the start.