That New Car Smell

I have a new car-ar! Woo hoo! (Do you hear the sing-song quality to that taunt?)

Paid off the Mazda 6 last week, but rather than reveling in the No Car Payment feeling for a while, I decided to upgrade to an SUV. I know ... crazy of me with these $4 gas prices, but I really wanted more room and I was just so tired of my car.

So I used my free time during Kiddle's nap yesterday to crunch, crunch, crunch the numbers using a Consumer Reports bottom line report and got lots of coaching from my dad. Mr. P was able to come home around 3:00 (he's the money guy) and we headed out to the dealer.

By 7:00 I had a spankin' new Mazda CX-9. Platinum silver. Totally loaded: rear-seat entertainment system, rear-view camera, GPS and intelligent key system (which means I don't have to actually put a key in the ignition to start it or use my remote to unlock it). Mr. P was pretty impressed with my negotiating skills. When the finance guy showed me the invoice, said he just wanted to make $300-400 above the dealer price, and I said, "Well, I'd like to give you less than the dealer invoice" with a straight face, Mr. P almost fell out of his chair.

So thanks dear Dad for all your advice! I love my new car! (Of course, I'm headed off to Oklahoma for two weeks in a few days, so not much time to enjoy the newness. Oh well.)

I have a new car-ar!