Over the last year I have been wanting a new car. My senior year of high school I paid in cash for a used 1997 Nissan Pathfinder. At the time this was my dream car (I really wanted a 4Runner but this was the next best thing). Life was easy in 2005, all I did was write the guy a check he handed over the title and BAM! I was a car owner. With help from the rents for insurance, I was lucky enough to have no monthly payment.
Now, the Pathfinder is pushing 14 years old, and is going to need some work to continue to run. I have been working full-time for over a year and have saved a boatload of money, I'm ready to buy a new car (maybe not brand new but new to me). The problem is every option I want is either out of my price range or something about it does not make sense.
I have been researching Ford Escape's incessantly. So I finally test drove one yesterday that I thought would be a done deal, it was in my price range and had everything I wanted. And what do you know, of course the tires are making the most ridiculously loud noise. My dad finally chimes in and the sales guy's response was that he was "sure" a tire change would fix it. Well there is no way to know that that is the going to cure to this noise and I don't want to sign my life away in hope that all will be well. So no sale happening today.
To make the decision to purchase a car even more complicated, the sales guy basically goes on to say I could be paying close to a 10% interest rate on financing. I may have great credit, but I don't have a lot of history. In the grand scheme of it all, you are basically punished for not abusing your credit card and paying it off on time every month.
Now, I am back to the drawing board. Looking at every option and trying to figure out how I can afford exactly what I want. This is by far my largest purchase that I want to last a long time so I better be happy with it when the time comes to sign the contracts.
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