The deed is done, the papers are signed. We got ourselves a new 2005 Nissan Xterra! (specs: 4WD + S trim package + Solar Yellow color). Not to be confused with happy face yellow. Photos here.
My car buying history has been 1 used + 4 new, since graduating from college in 1988. While people say that one can save a lot by buying used, I didn’t see the lots of savings on the listed price of used cars. Plus, I didn’t want to spend that much time checking out a used car to make sure everything was okay. With a new car, one has the reassurance that you’re the first driver (not counting a few test drives). As for comparison shopping and negotiating, we are not much for playing those games. I did do some online research, we did buy the Xterra at invoice price, and we’re happy with the special manufacturer’s financing and the customer rebate. No need to second-guess ourselves on whether we could have gotten a better deal if we did this or that. Now, time for a ride!
Never bought a new car, and I graduated college only a couple years after you. Never paid more than $10k for a car. These days a car can be tracked on the web before you buy it. My Caravan was a rental vehicle with a clean record before it showed up in the used car lot. My F-350 Crew Cab only had one previous owner who babied it. When I finished college I wondered why anyone would spend more than 15k on a vehicle, now I wonder why anyone would spend more than 10k. Of course, everyone’s different…