10. I LOVED our sales rep at Carmax.
9. Driving 20 miles to look at a car can result in some fun entertainment.
8. Test driving a car is way easier if they take all of the dealership stickers off of the windows so that us short people can see where we are driving.
7. Seriously. Look at every possible things that could be wrong on a used car. Really. Then look again. Little things.
6. Bring spare shoes! Because when you are jumping ditches to look at a car in a lot that has closed for the evening, you might miss, and get a shoe full of mud. But there is no sense in going home when you are 20 miles away… just because of a little mud!
5. Bring a book. I really forgot just how long the car buying process takes. Even when we were already financed through someone else, and didn’t need the dealer to do it for us.
4. Have cooler, will travel. Bring drinks. $1.50 for a soda gets to be expensive. And it is even worse when you don’t carry cash!
3. Eat before you go. We were cranky when we finally got out.
2. Have a full list of all things that need to be repaired when you go in for warranty work. But be realistic. It is a used car, and you will not achieve perfection.
1. Buy closer to home. After the service department tore off our mirror at the car wash, Hubs is going to have to drive around with a mirror Zip Tied to the door. Then we will have to drive back to Carmax to get the new mirror put back on. Total miles on our 2 vehicles after the repairs? Here is the math.
It is a 20.6 mile trip. For the sake of easy math, we are just going to go with 20.
Van to Carmax- 20 miles
Hummer to Carmax- 20 miles
Van home (so I can go to work)- 20 miles
Van to Carmax (to pick up Hummer)- 20 miles
Van home – 20 miles
Hummer home – 20 miles.
120 miles between two vehicles today. And we are going to have to do it all again when the new mirror comes in.!
240 miles. Great. I am going to need an oil change before this venture is over!
Brady Life 