Well, its been a very good Memorial Day Weekend thus far. We have been considering for some time getting a new vehicle. Heading into this weekend, we owned a 1997 Expedition (with 165K miles), a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado (with 75K miles) and a 2004 Volvo S60 (with 45K miles). Both the Expedition and Silverado were paid off, but we still owed a fair amount (couple years or so) on the Volvo. However, new cars tend to be my weak spot. Its hard for me to go more than two years without a new car. Once again, I had the itch. However, it was supposed to be Suzanne’s turn for a new car. I had gotten the last three.
She wanted another SUV with a third row seat for those 1 or 2 times a year she needs it. I really dont understand that philosophy but wasnt going to talk her out of it. We did a bunch of research and she finally decided on the Volvo XC90. I dont think the battle was very close. We went on Friday and drove it a bit and it was obvious that she was in love.
However, she was also feeling guilty, though she didnt need to be, that I wasnt getting a new car. Before we bought the Volvo, she wanted to go see if there was any way to get me one too. First stop was the local Mercedes Benz dealer. Every time I buy I car, I go there, but never pull the trigger. Between basically being a tight wad, its really hard for me to spend a ton of money on a Mercedes (or any other car) cause I dont stick with cars that long.
Before I knew it, I was walking out the door a proud owner of a brand spanking new Mercedes Benz E350 – in the very classic and stylish Iridium Silver color. In order to swing two cars, we decided to trade in all three vehicles that we currently owned. I cannot express enough how much I will miss my Chevy Silverado, but the Mercedes is worth it. After working with the Mercedes folks for about 5 hours, I cannot say enough how nice it is to be a part of the Mercedes family. The car shopping/buying experience has never been this nice and rewarding.
There was one minor detail left to take care of. Since we had traded in all three current vehicles for the Mercedes, we now needed to close the deal on a new car for Suzanne. The Mercedes folks brought over a pre-owned Volvo XC90 from one of their other dealerships for us to look at on Saturday. A very nice car for a very nice price. However, I never have been able to buy a pre-owned car before and that didnt change today. We went back to the Volvo dealer and negotiated a deal for a new XC90. The Mercedes folks “made” us drive their vehicle over to the Volvo dealer so we could make a detailed comparison. They new very well, that might actually work in the Volvo dealerships favor, but they wanted me to end up with what we wanted. When we went back to the Mercedes dealership, it was amazing how many of the folks there came up to us and congratulated us on our new Volvo purchase. Sure they just got a chunk of change on my E350, but it was really, really nice to work with those guys and I may be off my rocker, but I think they really didnt care (dont carry it too far) that I didnt buy the pre-owned Volvo.
I will try to get a few pictures snapped tomorrow and upload them for yall to see.
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