NEW CAR!!

Sunday we traded in our Honda Pilot for a Honda CR-V. It's AWESOME!

We were planning on trading in our Pilot in a year or two for a CR-V, but decided now might be a better time with a trip to Reno coming up, a trip to the beach later this summer, and who knows what other trips, and gas prices going up. The Pilot is a wonderful vehicle but with the CR-V we'll get 5-10 more miles per gallon.

It's a beautiful black car with beige interior. It's got pretty much every bell and whistle except navigation; navi was like $1500 more and we already have one we can mount in the window that works very well. Heated seats, dual climate controls, XM radio (free for 45 or 90 days, not sure if we'll keep it), a sun roof (WOOHOO!!!), and a bunch of other cool stuff. Unlike the Pilot, it doesn't have a DVD player in it. So we bought a set that hangs on the back of the headrests, one for each kid. You can play one DVD and watch it on both, both can play their own DVD's, and one can be playing a DVD while the other is playing a game. This means for our trip to Reno, Maddie can watch what she wants and Riley can be playing his Playstation 2.

The best part of this was the experience of purchasing the car. It was FANTASTIC!!! By FAR the best experience we've ever had getting a car!

Late last year when I learned what the 2009 Honda Fit would look like and decided I wanted one of those instead of the 2008 model, I contacted the internet sales person at Hillsboro Honda (formerly St. Johns Honda). I told her I was only interested in the 2009 and wanted to get my name on top of the list since I knew they'd be a hot item. Since then I've exchanged numerous emails with Pattie Brown and we went out to meet her once at some special event they were having.

This last Friday we started exchanging emails about the CR-V, figuring out what we wanted, how much we wanted our payments to be, etc. Sunday morning she said she had two cars like that and we were on our way. She was just the greatest. Very friendly, made us very comfortable, no pressure, definitely NOT your typical car sales person. I mean this person is someone you'd invite to a party, not someone you'd want to run away from as fast as you can and then take a shower to get rid of the slime.

There was one funny thing. The finance guys first estimate was $1.24 OVER what we wanted. Now $1.24 is not that much money and we certainly could have afforded that, but that's one of those things that makes you feel like someone is trying to make a point, that THEY are in control, not you. She saw that, turned around and told him, "Come on. Let's not be silly about this. $1.24 over is just crazy. Get rid of that." And he did. When she took the job she said if she couldn't be honest and no pressure she wouldn't do it. They all laughed at her and thought she'd be gone in a month. Last year she was the top sales person in the entire company. That's ALL Larry Miller dealerships across several states! Gee, what do you know, honesty and no pressure works. Go figure!

It took us a total of four hours, but it didn't seem that long because she made us so relaxed and comfortable. So if you're in the market for a Honda, click this link and you won't be sorry. You'll get the best deal you can and even if things don't work out, you'll love the experience and come back again.

Oh, and the kids were amazing! They played together nicely, the dealership had some things for them to do, and they really were wonderful. One of the cars in the showroom had a ton of balloons in it. Pattie let them toss all the balloons out of the car, then they put them all back in. Maddie was leaning out the window and Riley would hand them to her. The last 30 minutes was toughest and Maddie crashed in the car about two minutes after we left. But we couldn't have asked for them to be any better.

Ah, that new car smell....