This is SUPER long so bear with me!

So our adventure today (and yesterday for that matter) involved trying to find a car. We long ago decided that the single dumbest decision we've ever made involved selling our tried and true '99 Honda Accord. Now that we have the diesel to pull the trailer, it was kind of pointless to have both the Yukon and the diesel guzzling gas for our family. I drive 60 miles a day (Tucker to and from preschool and then into St George for work once Yates gets home). It was eating our shorts in gas. We finally got rid of the Yukon and are now down to one car payment, but are looking for a reliable used car in the $10,000 price range, hopefully 2006 or newer.

So yesterday we set out, after having done some research on used car inventory, for a few different dealerships in our area to "have a look". All shall remain nameless.
Day 1:
Dealership #1: Very little used car inventory available to browse and even fewer with our pretty strict criteria. We did find one vehicle in the price range, year and miles that we were looking for, but decided we definitely wanted to keep looking around since it was a little small in the backseat and pretty soon we'll have 2 carseats and a booster back there. Besides, everyone knows you don't swing at the first pitch a.k.a. don't buy the first thing you see from the first place you've been!
Dealership #2: Quite a variety of used car inventory available and in a LOT of different price ranges. It helped that a guy that I used to work with at South Central Communications left us to go work here, so at least I felt more comfortable working with someone that I knew fairly well. He was UBER-HELPFUL and waited on us hand & foot literally trying to find something they had that would work for us. We left because the 2 cars that we really liked weren't in our price range and we wouldn't be able to make the payment work for us.
Dealership #3: We weren't sure about going to this one and, once we did, were even MORE unsure about buying a car from them! I stayed in the truck with the kids, because by this time they were sick and tired of car shopping. Yates went out and talked to one of the salespeople and looked at a couple cars, but nothing really fit our criteria.

We left everywhere and went to Cafe Rio for some yummy goodness and headed home. When we got home we all laid down for a nap and had just barely settled in when I got a call from my friend at Dealership #2 saying that one of the 2 cars we had really liked was tagged wrong and actually would work great in our price range. We got some more information from him and then headed over to make ourselves a car purchase. We had not driven the car earlier because initially it wasn't going to work for us, so before we got too involved we took it for a test spin. The outside of the car was in good condition, but once we got inside it was a different story. It was a base model, so basic things were to be expected. However, the carpet was stained in quite a few spots and there were bare spots rubbed off on the panel and once we drove it we could hear/feel a loose something or other (like a strut) in the back passenger area. Our test drive didn't sell us in the least on the car!! We got back and let my friend know that we weren't comfortable buying it and he wanted us to test drive a different car...we agreed. It was a WORLD of difference from car #1 and was close to the price we needed it to be. We loved it and got back and started trying to make numbers work. It was pretty late in the evening by this time and kids were cranky because of the no-nap situation and numbers were coming really close, but not close enough for comfort. We decided it was day #1 and we were NOT in a rush and told my friend we appreciated everything he had done and headed home without the car.

Day #2
I had done A LOT of research on the 2 models after waking up this morning that we were leaning toward and looking around anywhere from Salt Lake to Vegas for some fitting our criteria. I found 8 potential winners and 3 that were actually right here in St George. We talked it over and decided to head over to check them out. 2 of the 3 cars were actually at Dealership #3 from yesterday and as nervous as we were about the actual dealership, we wanted to at least check out these 2 cars. I had called them beforehand to make sure that the 2 stock #'s (cars) that I'd found online were still IN STOCK so we wouldn't be wasting a trip and they assured us they were. On our way over, we called the salesperson who had helped us yesterday and asked to have the cars ready to test drive. We get there and they have some amazing salespeople out smoking and as soon as they see us pull in take a few critical last minute puffs and put their cigarettes out and beeline over to our truck. They had greeted us before we had even gotten the kids out of the car to go inside. We asked for the salesperson who had helped us hand them our list of the 2 cars (with THEIR stock #'s) and they tell us that car #1 is no longer in stock, but that we can go drive car #2. A little frustrating to say the least since I HAD called to confirm that before we even left.

We drive car #2 and it really IS nice. It's a 2007 and has low miles and has plenty of room in the back, but is listed on the lot for almost $5,000 MORE than the internet price so we were nervous about trying to knock them down from that anyway figuring there wasn't a lot more room to fudge. It wasn't our first pick anyway...the car that was NO LONGER IN STOCK actually fit PERFECTLY into our criteria (2006, low miles and was $10,100). We get back and notice that it's getting late in the afternoon and Yates is supposed to be checked on to work at 1:45 pm. We figure we're just going to go in and see if we can even get the numbers where they need to be. The salesperson starts right into filling out an application to start the financing. We get a little nervous at this point because we don't even know if the numbers are going to work and are NOT going to just take the car. We're assured that it's just to find out where we stand to get a better idea of interest rate to try and get the numbers to work first. We tell them we don't have long and have to leave by 1:00 pm to get Yates home and ready for work on time. They say that we'll be fine and they'll put a rush on it. One of the sales managers comes over to talk to us about 10 min later (about 12:55) and wants us to initial these papers saying that IF they can get the numbers where we need them that we'll take delivery of the car that day. We say no. Seriously HEAVY HEAVY pressure tactics ensued!! We said we had to go and that we weren't going to feel pressured into something and Yates had to work and he asked us to wait for 5-10 minutes and he'd be back to see if he could get down where we needed him too. At 1:20 Yates walks out to put the kids in the truck and leaves me with our salesperson. A different sales manager comes out with a whole bunch of numbers scribbled all over and another spot to initial saying we'll take delivery of the car TODAY. I'm by myself and he starts in on WHY this isn't going to work for us. (DUH, first of all my husband has to go to work. We told you this 45 minutes ago. We do NOT have the ability to make it work today.) He starts in on a lesson in Amortization 101 and what CAN happen if we pay extra on our car payment. I'm frustrated and smart off with, "I was an accounting major...I understand amortization." That obviously didn't please him, because then he got smart back with me and started throwing that statement back at me. For example: "As an accounting major, do you know how much depreciation the average car does in a year." "As an accounting major, why do these numbers not make sense." You get the drift. I tell him I've checked out of the situation and I have to go. He says, "didn't your husband leave you here?" Uh NO, he's out in the car waiting. He keeps hammering. Finally around 1:35 Yates opens the front door and whistles and the salesperson and manager give me an "oh, crap" look and I just walk away. Yates was SO MAD!! Needless to say, we will NOT be buying a car from this place NO MATTER WHAT VEHICLES AND HOW PERFECTLY THEY FIT INTO OUR SITUATION!!! They are the epitomy of the stereotypical high-pressure car dealership. We decided to almost go back and buy the car from my friend at Dealership #2 even though it was slightly above where we wanted it to be just to be done with the whole thing. We've simmered a little since then and will continue to be patient and keep looking (albeit, NOT at any located at Dealership #3)!!!!!!!!11