DRUMROLL PLEASEgirl in the curious city

First ride!

in

my new...

Kia Rio 5!

After the test drive last week, BDF and I went straight into negotiations when we went back in. To tell you the truth, I planned to write a little list of advice on negotiations, but I was basically useless. BDF did all the work, and I zoned out whenever he talked to me about strategy and numbers... so sorry. No words of wisdom on the numbers side, but I can provide a few general tips:

• Be prepared to leave without a car. It's the best move you have. If they know you're desperate for a car, they know they've got you.
• Know the numbers that you will be happy with. I don't know how we came up with them, but BDF had them down, so when the numbers offered came in close to ours, we knew we had a deal.
• The car came with a dealer-installed alarm system. We were either given the option of paying extra per month to pay that alarm system off OR coming back in 3 days later to uninstall the alarm system. So, you are basically paying to not have to come back in and to avoid the inconvenience. A con at every corner! First it was $20? a month added to the lease. Then it fell to $10. We held out saying that we'll come back in, because I didn't want to pay more. Then at the last moment, it was dropped to an extra $6 or $8 - can't remember which. In retrospect, they were willing to go that low all along, and we were unknowingly negotiating a lower price for the alarm.

And what exactly does one wear to a car negotiation?

Work clothes, I guess.
Bye!