Car shopping sucks.
I don’t like shopping. Period. I absolutely hate it. What is something I hate even more? I hate car shopping. I hate car salesmen. I hate the pressure to buy immediately. I hate haggling. I hate test driving. I hate the upselling. I hate the whole experience. That is for new cars and used ones too.
I must be getting old or something, but I’m amazed that you can buy a car online. Of course, here in Australia you can buy cars with credit cards. I think you might be able to buy a house with one too, but I’m probably lying about that.
We’ve been a one-car household for a long time because we both work at the same place. Our work hours are a little weird though. He starts about 1.5-2 hours after me, so I usually take the car. It’s not so bad when it’s not freezing cold or boiling hot. (We work about a 15 minute walk away.) He’s increasingly been complaining about having to walk, so I adjusted my work hours so that we don’t intersect our work hours. He complains that I’m not around very much then. When I move them back to the usual times I used to work, he complains. It’s a no-win situation, so he’s been nagging me to buy another car.
I went online and pre-ordered a car. This is what I’m in the process of buying:
It’s a 2021 Toyota Corolla SX. I’ve ordered a dark gray colour. That’s great. I thought it would be a common colour. While chatting with the dealership yesterday, they didn’t bother telling me that it wouldn’t be ready until October 2021 until I talked to the finance guy. I think it was the premium paint job I wanted. I don’t like white cars. It is a dirt magnet and I hate washing cars. (There’s a lot I hate about cars. Have you noticed?) I told my husband about that and of course, it was argument fuel. They had the lower model available, but I don’t want that one.
I figure, if you’re going to pay for a new car, you should at least get something close enough to what you want. I wanted the model with the nice audio system, but had to purchase a lot of stuff that I didn’t really want or need. I am not that kind of person who cares about electrical seats and seat warmers. Sure it’s nice, but it’s absolutely not essential.
I have the contract here, signed and dated, but haven’t sent it back because I want to see if they can get me another colour (except white) sooner. We will see how that goes.
This car purchase on top of everything else has really added to my anxiety, so I’m not doing much on the web now. Kinda stressed. Perpetually tired. Overworked. I just need to win the lottery or something. This is also my first personal new car purchase in Australia. It’s so much easier than in the USA. Haha.