I've never understood the pleasure some people get out of haggling.
I guess it's a weakness of mine. I prefer that the seller sticks a price on something, and I can compare the price to my desire to have the item and then decide whether to buy it or not. The whole offer/counteroffer paradigm bothers me, because it always leaves me feeling like I've been taken advantage of.
Doubtless this is because of some deep-seated insecurity about my ability to haggle, which in turn is fed by my inexperience at haggling; no practice leads to no ability which leads to insecurity which leads to no practice. Had I been born a carpet-seller's son in Beirut, my life would in almost all ways be less fortunate but by Allah I would know how to haggle.
Yes, we went car shopping this weekend.
My wife's Dodge Neon was stolen back in 2003. Since then our car has been my 1998 Ford F-150, which is a great car. It has a few characteristics I don't like, and it sucks down gas like a Republican sucks down taxpayer money, but it's a good car. What it is not, however, is a family car.
We're gonna have a kid, which means we need a back seat. And, given the current price of gasoline, we also would like a car with good gas mileage that I can commute to work in, since I have a long - nightmarishly long - commute and thus a very expensive commute in my full-size truck. So we're looking for a mid-size sedan, and the sooner the better.
On Sunday, we went to CarMax. They're a vast used-car franchise, and they don't haggle. Here's the price, if you'd like something cheaper I can show you a higher-mileage model over there. Although we are certainly considering a used car, the other great advantage to CarMax is that it let us see all sorts of different automobile brands at one location. We warmed the seats of Hondas, VWs, Nissans, Subarus, Acuras...
Hey. I drive a Ford truck. Don't give me shit about not buying American.
The other nice thing about this particular CarMax is that it also has a Toyota dealership. So we wandered over and had a look at the new Camrys as well. Frankly, we were almost sold right there. We like the styling, the ride, the interior space - an important category and one in which the Camry was a clear superior - in fact, we like almost everything. The only thing I actively disliked was the loose steering. Years of driving a truck have left me wanting nice tight steering. If I breathe on the wheel, the car should move just a touch. In the Camry I could wiggle the wheel around and the car didn't notice. Don't like that.
Anyway. A late model used Camry is in the neighborhood of seventeen grand, and a new one is eighteen. So if we go Toyota we'll get a new car.
Of course, the savvy consumer in us - or rather, the little voice that tells us we really ought to be savvy consumers, and here's a best guess at what a savvy consumer might do - wouldn't let us visit one place and buy a car, no matter that the car was almost precisely correct. So this week we're also going to drop by a Honda/Mazda dealership and look at the Accord and the Mazda 6. The used Accord we had a look at didn't thrill us, but we ought to drive one.
Hopefully, there won't be any haggling. I have to say, our experience with CarMax was almost unremittingly positive. The sales guy was attentive without being pushy, and we got to look at whichever cars we wanted to. If the Honda/Mazda dealership is the same, then I may have to revise my opinion of car buying.
But I don't think it will be. My haggle hackles are already rising.
- Sun Ra