I feel a little obligated to write about the new car I bought last weekend. I'm not sure I have much to say about it (not that it's not exciting), it feels a bit surreal yet completely normal at the same time. Although my lease is coming up and I'd been thinking about replacing the RX for the past couple of weeks, it still felt like an impulse purchase.
I've always been a same-day car buyer. In fact, until this experience, I'd never walked out of a car dealership without a new car, granted I walked in with the intent of buying a car. This time, I waited until the second day. :) I suppose I get this from my dad. One of his infamous negotiating tactics was the whole I'm-leaving-unless-you-give-me-this-deal.
So before this weekend, I had the Mercedes ML350 and the all-new RX350 on the top of my list for replacements. (Adding the "all-new" is a bad work habit) So to avoid making an immediate car purchase, I decided to go to BMW as my first stop. As I approached the X5 to check it out, I was immediately repelled by the sheer size of the car. If my RX was a soccer mom car, this is a soccer mom of 4 kids car. I didn't even bother sitting inside or test driving, but I was intrigued by the diesel version and even more excited to hear there was a 335 version of the diesel.
I proceeded to test drive the 335d and the 335i for comparison. I loved it. It may have to do with the fact that the salesperson encouraged me to gun it after a 4-way stop sign and to take a sharp turn without braking. It might have been the donuts he had me try in an empty parking lot. I was sold. But, Max wanted to check out Mercedes before any decision was made so I headed next door to House of Imports.
We tried out the E550 coupe and the C63 AMG. Both were characteristically Mercedes and although I loved the C63, I didn't think it was in my price range. The next day, we headed back to a different BMW dealership to check out the competition. Max loved the 335 diesel but they only had a black on black in stock. I refuse to do black on black. After much pleading, Max convinced me to take the new Z4 for a spin. I tried both the 30 and 35 versions and I loved it. So much so that I was pretty convinced that this was the right time to buy a roadster. But, of course, there wasn't a color combination that I liked (seemed to happen a lot at McKenna BMW) so we headed back to Shelly BMW in Buena Park.
{Wow, this story is longer than I thought I could write}
So back at Shelly BMW I fell in love with a space gray Z4 sdrive35i. Unfortunately it was also fully loaded so after pricing it out, I felt more and more like it was the impractical choice. Back to the 335 diesel with the $4500 ECO credit. Only then we found out that it had a premium APR to offset the incentive. What to do? "If you want to stick to your price range, take a look at the regular 335i," he says, "we can do much better deals on the regular 3-series."
"But I don't WANT a regular 3-series," I think, as I begrudgingly walk through the lot.
Then at the very end of the row we find him*. A 335i sedan with the M sport package in manual. Hmmm... could be fun.
After a bumpy test drive (hey, it's been 10 years since I've driven stick!) I decide this is the one. We went into the negotiating room one more time and when my hunger couldn't take it in anymore I settled on a deal and drove it home.
*Is this car really a male? Max thinks so but I'm going to wait until a name calls out to me before I decide gender.
I've always been a same-day car buyer. In fact, until this experience, I'd never walked out of a car dealership without a new car, granted I walked in with the intent of buying a car. This time, I waited until the second day. :) I suppose I get this from my dad. One of his infamous negotiating tactics was the whole I'm-leaving-unless-you-give-me-this-deal.
So before this weekend, I had the Mercedes ML350 and the all-new RX350 on the top of my list for replacements. (Adding the "all-new" is a bad work habit) So to avoid making an immediate car purchase, I decided to go to BMW as my first stop. As I approached the X5 to check it out, I was immediately repelled by the sheer size of the car. If my RX was a soccer mom car, this is a soccer mom of 4 kids car. I didn't even bother sitting inside or test driving, but I was intrigued by the diesel version and even more excited to hear there was a 335 version of the diesel.
I proceeded to test drive the 335d and the 335i for comparison. I loved it. It may have to do with the fact that the salesperson encouraged me to gun it after a 4-way stop sign and to take a sharp turn without braking. It might have been the donuts he had me try in an empty parking lot. I was sold. But, Max wanted to check out Mercedes before any decision was made so I headed next door to House of Imports.
We tried out the E550 coupe and the C63 AMG. Both were characteristically Mercedes and although I loved the C63, I didn't think it was in my price range. The next day, we headed back to a different BMW dealership to check out the competition. Max loved the 335 diesel but they only had a black on black in stock. I refuse to do black on black. After much pleading, Max convinced me to take the new Z4 for a spin. I tried both the 30 and 35 versions and I loved it. So much so that I was pretty convinced that this was the right time to buy a roadster. But, of course, there wasn't a color combination that I liked (seemed to happen a lot at McKenna BMW) so we headed back to Shelly BMW in Buena Park.
{Wow, this story is longer than I thought I could write}
So back at Shelly BMW I fell in love with a space gray Z4 sdrive35i. Unfortunately it was also fully loaded so after pricing it out, I felt more and more like it was the impractical choice. Back to the 335 diesel with the $4500 ECO credit. Only then we found out that it had a premium APR to offset the incentive. What to do? "If you want to stick to your price range, take a look at the regular 335i," he says, "we can do much better deals on the regular 3-series."
"But I don't WANT a regular 3-series," I think, as I begrudgingly walk through the lot.
Then at the very end of the row we find him*. A 335i sedan with the M sport package in manual. Hmmm... could be fun.
After a bumpy test drive (hey, it's been 10 years since I've driven stick!) I decide this is the one. We went into the negotiating room one more time and when my hunger couldn't take it in anymore I settled on a deal and drove it home.
*Is this car really a male? Max thinks so but I'm going to wait until a name calls out to me before I decide gender.
