New Car Buying, Part I

I hate shopping for new cars. It juxtaposes two of my most passionate emotions: the thrill of driving a new car off the lot, and the unbelievable frustration of buying one. I started at a local Ford dealership because my friend M. from work has a "buddy" there and I thought I'd take the opportunity to see what they had to offer.

The only one I was really interested in was the Escape Hybrid. There was only one at the dealership and it was on the showroom floor, so I didn't test drive it. I did have M's friend run some numbers for me and they were unbelievably high. Did you know these things cost over $30,000? Ouch. I have no friggin idea how a payment on a Ford Escape can be $150 more a month than a Volvo S60. It probably has something to do with the fact that I look like a sucker.

I also called the Volvo dealer to see what they could do on an XC 90 SUV. For whatever reason, I feel like if I buy another Volvo I'll get a better deal. The sales guy called me back and asked me what I was looking for and that he'd "work up some figures" for tomorrow. I have absolutely no expectation of him calling me back with a payment anywhere close to what I'm looking for, but I thought I'd give it a shot. This is undoubtedly my first choice.

This weekend Volvo is having a special event where they donate $50 for cancer research for every test drive, so I'm going to head out to the dealership to give one a whirl. The LAST time I test drove a Volvo it was in my garage the next day. Uh oh...