I am a negotiator when it comes to buying anything new. Even the simplest things I will spend hours or days price comparing, reading reviews and looking at each item. Who does this??? I do! I do it because I work hard for my money and I want to get what I pay for. I am not an impulse shopper. I have had my mind made up, gone to the store to buy the item only to walk away empty handed....craziness!

I have been shopping cars for the past 3 years. Each year I decide it's not the right time or conditions to buy a new car. This year has been different for a few reasons... 1) My Honda has given me a good amount of trouble this year and I have put about 2,000 in that car and yet again I have something else that needs to be fixed (ugh) 2) I have noticed that the 0% financing is not being offered as much as the past few years (guess the banks want to start making more money) 3) pricing...believe it or not car prices have actually increased each year. I know this because I have 3 years worth of quotes saved on my computer!

I always start my search this time of year. It really is the best time to buy a car. Dealers have the new year models coming in and they need to get this years cars off the lot as soon as possible. Yes, you could wait a little longer and maybe get a little extra off but them you usually only have the most equipped models to choose from which cost a lot more money!!!

So to show my insane way of trying to purchase something I will take you on my little journey so far :) We know we want an SUV. So we start looking at prices. I really wanted something with a 3rd row but with all of those having a 30,000 price tag I decided those were out of my price range. So my search starts with the Honda CRV and Toyota Rav 4. I am not a Toyota fan at all! Both quotes on these models that had what I wanted was around 24,000 out the door. I find out the CRV is redesigned for 2012 and I hate the wheel on the back of the Rav 4, I don't want to make a car payment for 5 years for either one of these!!!

I take my chances and get some quotes on the bigger SUV's with 3rd rows and I was pretty surprised to find it wasn't much difference in pricing. Actually I was VERY surprised because I rather pay the extra money for the bigger SUV. So now we are on Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Chevy Traverse, Ford Flex, and Mazda CX-9.

and here's the story...

Highlander fell out fast because they didn't want to budge on pricing. Seriously it's a car not gold!

Ford Flex... I loved this car! My Husband said it looked like a hurst and he wouldn't ride in it :( I was really sad to take that one off my list but Mark's opinion counts too!

Honda Pilot an interesting story... The dealer begged us to come look the same weekend we had the hurricane (poring rain and windy) we went and I got ugly!!! The guy didn't even pull the car under their awning we walked out in the poring rain only for him not to have the key to get in the car. He then proceeded to leave us out there to go get the key. He comes back and said they had just got the car in and they didn't have the key because it had to go to service department first. So basically we stood in the poring rain and got soaking wet for NO REASON!!! I did see the inside of the car and I hated it (I am very picky about the inside of car). The salesman proceeded to try to sell me a car after we came back in soaked from head to toe. I had to get a little ugly...and then I walked out :) Mark said I embarrassed him LOL!

Chevy Traverse...I am not a fan of the outside of this SUV, the back of it just don't fit the rest of the body. The inside is nice and meets my picky standards. I also thought the dealers would be extremely motivated to sell this car. I picked out two dealerships that had over 20 of the 2011 models. The 2012's are already on the lot and that should equal a good deal. Not the case at all. All the SUV's I picked had around the same MSRP. The quotes from both dealerships were 2,000 higher than the Pilot and the CX-9. I tried to get them to come down to the pricing the other two were at but they didn't seem interested. Bye Bye Traverse you have the ugliest body style I ever seen!!!

Then you have the Mazda CX-9...this car has won me over all around. The body style is visually appealing and the inside is beautiful! Mark also approved on the look of this one :) You get the most for your money with this car. Alot of the standard equipment on this car is optional on the other models. So for the same price you get a lot of extras.

So after 2 months of pricing and looking I finally went to drive the Mazda yesterday. I really loved it :) I drives like a car. I sat in all 3 rows and we test drove the car for about 15 miles down all different kinds of roads. I was really surprised how well this car drove to be a SUV with 3 rows. Now we have to make a decision...

So I have priced the Mazda at 6 dealerships within a 150 mile radius of us. The dealership I have been dealing with has the lowest price by 3,000....crazy huh? I don't think I can negotiate this price any lower. I know I am getting a great deal on this car but I still want them to take off some more money (go figure) I have checked what people are paying and I would be getting it a LOT cheaper!!! I feel like we need to run to buy this car, but I struggle with the 5 years of payments and additional insurance cost. Oh man....what to do? I really think this is the year to buy a car, but making a decision that affects you for 5 years is tough!!!

I have done all my research on this car. I have went to every forum to see if I could find complaints or things customers didn't like after buying the car. I have read a ton of customer reviews and car reports. I can't find anything bad. It seems like the people who have them love the CX-9...can a car really be this great?

So we shall see what happens. Either I am going to bring the car home or wait it out. Problem is if I wait it out too long someone could buy the car and then I will have lost out. I will keep you posted on my struggle!!!