This is going to be harder than I thought…

Yesterday I went car shopping. The plan was to pick up something cheap and pay cash for it. I don’t want to finance right now because I’m only two years into my house mortgage and I’m still taking out school loans for my grad program. I stepped onto the lot with no preconceived ideas of what I wanted. I was going to be flexible and open to whatever was available. At least, that was the plan…

The first dealership we went to was closed, but we walked around and looked at the cars. There were blue ones, red ones, white ones, and silver ones. As I looked around I realized that my heart is set on a black one. I did see two cars that I would consider and we decided to come back when the lot was open.

The second lot seemed more high end. There were more cars than in the first lot and no red rust spots around the wheels. The dealer tried to keep a straight face when I told him my price range then went into the back to search through his inventory. He brought us around the back of the building to a little black Nissan. I took a quick look at it and immediately realized that I also want an SUV. I shook my head and said no thank you — I need something easier to get in and out of. On the trek back to our ride, we passed a couple of RAV4 s and I was very tempted to ask their prices. But I kept walking. The dealer must have asked me three times if I was sure I wouldn’t consider financing. I’m sure. God’s got the perfect car at the perfect price set aside for me. I just need to find it.

On the way to the third dealership, I mentally dug through my budget and realized that I could safely increase my price range. I started with my original price range, then said I could be flexible. He clicked around on his computer for a few minutes, then grabbed a set of keys and brought me to the black Jeep Grand Cherokee in the center of his lot. He started it up with the remote starter and talked about the built in navigation system. I was very excited, but as I crawled up into the driver seat, I realized that I want a compact SUV. I sat there for a second while my dad inspected the outside and my mom asked how many miles it had. Then I hopped out and told the dealer that it was just too big. I left him my name and number in case he found something that would meet my criteria.

So, to recap I am going pay cash for a cheaper vehicle that will get me through the rest of my doctoral program. I am going to be open and flexible on what that car will be. My only non-negotiables are that it needs to be a black compact SUV. How hard can it be?