Car Shopping

LONG POST!
As many of you know from the mass phone calls I made yesterday, I went to St. Louis to take a look at the M Coupe. I couldn't get anyone to make the trip with me, and was serious about buying the car if I liked it, so I took my truck and towed my car hauler so I would have a way of getting it home. Result: 14mpg... great.

The trip down went fine, with the exception that I forgot to bring directions to the dealership, and had to be walked through it over the phone. The place was dealership was located right on the edge of the ghetto, and I had to pass through the ghetto to get there. It was REALLY rough. I was lucky I didn't get turned around, because with a truck and trailer, I wasn't sure if I would make it out.

When I arrived they had the car waiting for me outside, but the dealer was busy. So I took a look at the car from the outside, and once I was satisfied with that, walked around the lot and admired the other cars (2000 black Audi S4, 01 Audi TT HO, 01(?) Merc SL 500, etc). I finally got a chance to get behind the wheel and took it for a spin. The car is a rocket. I cannot imagine what it would be like with 320 hp. It handled very very well, and didn't show any squeaks, rattles or other nuisances while I was driving.

The dealer went back inside to talk with the finance guy, and I looked over the car some more. That was when I realized the car had a few problems. The grill had two holes in it on either side, almost as if someone had kicked it. Also, when I looked in the truck, I found that the jack, can of fix-a-flat, hazard triangle, and whatever else goes back there besides the tool kit was missing. I imagine I can pick these items up at the dealership or on eBay, but its still a nuisance.

The dealer returned and took me to his desk to fill out paperwork and all that fun stuff. They had already filled out a lot of the paperwork, in anticipation of me purchasing the vehicle. The first thing that I noticed was that they had the price already in place, which was $17950, as seen on their webpage. Before I went down to take a look at the car, I had googled for the VIN number, and found the car listed for less. The dealer was rather shocked when I showed this to him, so he took the new-found information back to the numbers man.

After much time walking around, waiting, etc, he came back and said that there is no way they can give me the car for that price, but are trying to get in touch with the owner to explain the situation. I took him back to the car and pointed out the flaws in the car, and the things I would have to replace (jack, grill, etc) which deserved a discounted price. More time passed, I think it was at this point that I called Dan to ask if a 3 Series jack would work, as they had several on the lot. It didn't, btw, same style jack, but a few inches larger, so it wouldn't fit in the cubby .

More time past, more attempting to get ahold of the owner, and then he was reached. He agreed to honor the price that I found on the internet, but would not be able to do it that day, as they needed a new insurance packet (or something like that) and wouldn't be able to get it until a weekday. I liked the car, but had to come home empty handed, which was unexpected. They did offer to ship me the car so that I wouldn't have to come back, and my understanding was they will pay for it. If they come back and try to charge me for the shipping, and its a significant amount, I will tell them to knock the price off and I will go back and get it.

Lastly, I asked them what rate they were able to finance me at. They quoted me the rate which I qualified for, but then said that because I was buying the car out of state, the rate they were going to charge me was 3.4% more than my qualifying rate. Bullocks! Thus, Monday I am going to talk to my bank to get the rate I deserve.

If that wasn't a hell of a trip, there is more. When I left MO and was heading NE on 55/70, I missed the on-ramp to 70 E. By a LOT. I ended up in Bloomington, IL, about 120 miles south of Chicago, and then headed SE to Indy. This added about an hour and a half onto my trip. I really wasn't mad about it though, I thought it was too funny. Especially the fact that Illinois is so much farm land I could drive 100 miles in the wrong direction before realizing that this wasn't the way I came. At lease I didn't end up in Springfield, MO. Anyway, I got home, going to talk to the bank, probably gonna get the car.

So yeah, the blue interior really didn't bother me.