M.A.W.B. Squad

Negotiation Day

We began to prep for Negotiation Day when we got home Thursday night.  What we found was not very promising.

The Odyssey was redesigned for 2005.  In fact, it's the most popular redesign introduced this model year.  One of the features new for '05 is Variable Cylinder Management, (St. Kate's eyes glaze over), which basically means three cylinders turn off when you coast, giving the Odyssey up to 28 mpg highway, the best mileage in a minivan.

Wake up Kate!  It also has the highest horsepower engine in a minivan at 255, along with heated seats, two (!) glove boxes, in floor storage, power sliding doors and liftgate, moonroof, built in sun shades for the second row seats, 17 cup holders, parking sensors, 360 watt AM/FM/XM ready with 6 disc CD and subwoofer, and the feature I learned to love on my last van, (after first thinking it was hokey), steering wheel mounted stereo controls.  (Some of these may only be on the touring model.)

This meant that we wouldn't be saving the depreciation by buying a 2004.  (In fact, even though Chrysler, the market leader in minivans is throwing around money like crazy, Honda is so confident they have a gem there's no customer or dealer cash incentives being offered for the Odyssey.)

Ideally, I like to buy cars on or near the last day of the month.  Even better would be the last day of the month at the end of the model year.  Dealers are motivated to meet end of the month sales goals  and to clear their lots of last year's models.  We've managed to buy under dealer invoice in this situation.

You also have the advantage if you don't need a car right now and you can easily walk away from any deal you're offered.  Since my van was toast, and "one vehicle family with two teenagers in the country" is not a role we adapt to well, we had a time-line.  I needed to wrap this up and get back to the business of work, family, and world domination.  (See how I sacrifice for my people?)

I began to search Honda dealer inventories: Duluth, Eau Claire, St. Cloud, the cities.  More bad news.  Each dealer had one, or maybe two, Odyssey's on their lots equipped as we wanted them.

A hugely popular model, no incentives, limited supply, and a deadline.  It's only the first quarter and the opposing team has scored the only points in the game.  Where's my ammo?

Meanwhile the PiC has been researching customer satisfaction and finds there's even multiple websites for fans of the "Ody", like this one.

Friday morning the phone calls to all the Honda dealers began.  "We're going to buy an Odyssey or a Chrysler Town and Country today.  I see you have a Touring in stock.  Can you get back to me with your best price on this vehicle?"

I also call the Chrysler dealer and ask for their best price on an '05 Town and Country, (which I'd been excited about when they came out with the Stow and Go seats.)  Ouch!  They're practically giving these babies away.

The Town and Country is an excellent vehicle, and if you're in the market, this is definitely the time to buy.  Here's my problem.  I've owned two silver Town and Country vans.  Both were totalled.  I'm not a superstitious person, but it really felt like it was time for a change.  They're not going to make it easy on me though with these rock bottom prices.

Of course I also call Sergey, whom I may have woken up since it was his day off.  "Sergey!  You did the work buddy and I'd like to see you get this sale, but I need you to have the best price.  We'll choose between the Town and Country and the Odyssey today.  I've got calls into all the Honda dealers to see where they're at."  (By the way, used car internet prices can often be a grand below what they're marked on the lot.  Word to the wise.)

By late morning I know what the standard discount is off of the sticker price for the Odyssey from dealer feedback.  Time to call Sergey back.  "O.K. Sergey.  This is the standard discount.  This (lower) price is the figure we're willing to pay.   We expected to pay a premium for the Honda over the Town and Country, (higher resale value), but frankly this large of a gap is making it a hard decision."

Another thing to keep in mind when buying a vehicle.  How many profit opportunities are you giving the dealer?

Buy the car - Profit one
Trade in your car - Profit two
Buy the warranty - Profit three
Finance through the dealer - Profit four

Every separate transaction with the dealer is a chance for him to make a profit.  You always have a choice to buy any of these services from another provider.  Usually, the experts will tell you to negotiate each transaction separately, keeping your options open.  (For instance, you're always going to get more by selling your own used vehicle at retail rather than trading it in.)

In this case I told Sergey I would be giving him two separate profit opportunities, the purchase of the vehicle, and the purchase of a warranty.  (Many will tell you it's not worth it, but with all the electronics on board, I want to be able to take it in at no cost if something goes wrong.  The standard warranty is only going to cover me somewhat over a year.)  Of course, I'd priced both dealer and third party warranties in my calls to dealers that morning, and I told Sergey what I was willing to pay for one.

They accepted our price.  We considered going to take one more look at the Town and Country, for about 10 minutes.  Then we called Sergey back and picked up the Odyssey on Friday afternoon.

Frankly, this was not my finest hour as far as negotiation goes.  I fell into the "let's get this over with" trap.   I'm disappointed in myself.  I should have tried to cut deeper.  There wasn't enough whining from the dealership.  (I did get some measure of satisfaction by laughing when they suggested we should pay for the ashtrays.)

Picture in extended entry in case you're interested.

Make and Model Day

Thursday was the day to decide what make and model we wanted to purchase to replace the van.

Negotiation begins at home, which in this case meant: no make-up, no hair-do, no jewelry, (other than my wedding and mother's ring), and blue jeans.  Show up in heels, hauling a briefcase, and the salesman is likely to think, "They have money, and I want some of it!"

Most of the excursion consisted of me jumping out of the truck to peek in the window of a possible candidate, followed by this conversation:

Me:  Guess what, honey?
PiC:  Let me guess.  It has a console?
Me:  Yes, dear!  A big honking console!

At which point I would hop back in the truck.  Then we'd take off again in search of the perfect ride.

You know how the sales people will follow you in the lot?  The PiC wanted to park at the far end, wait for one to make the trek out there in the cold, and take off while laughing maniacally.  Do I get points for talking him out of it?

Chevy, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Acura, Isuzu, Kia, Cadillac, Lexus, Chrysler, GMC, Toyota, Saturn.  We left no brand name stone unturned.

We thought we had a candiate in the Buick Terraza, until we saw one inside the showroom.  "Where are the ashtrays?", I ask.  "Not available.", says the salesman.  Of course.  I can see how the hot brand Buick can afford to ignore an estimated 46 million Americans smokers as potential customers right out of the gate.  Brilliant.  Still wanting to give them a chance, I sat in the middle seats. Ai-yai-yai!  No leg room.  This discovery was soon followed by the revelation that the designers really hadn't planned a good way for any adult to get into the third row of seats.  Needless to say, the Terraza was crossed off the list as a candidate.

Buick and Honda shared a lot in this location.  We've never owned a vehicle not made by one of the Big Three, but we were determined to leave no stone unturned, so we cruised the Honda side and discovered the Odyssey.

It's a minvan, but the styling front and back has an SUV feel to it.  That, the fact that we could use a warm up by this time, and at least there was a space in front of the console, qualified it for a look inside the showroom.

While we were kicking the tires, someone nicely sent over a sales associate, Sergey, from Ukraine, a young guy. (Bet that accent works for him, I think in that "I'm a married dispassionate observer" kind of way.)

Me:  Ashtrays?
Sergey: stumbles on reply
Me:  You don't know do you?
Sergey:  No.  I have no idea.  But, I'll go find out for you.

Smart guy, that Sergey.  He returns with the information that they can be ordered and the grilling begins in earnest.  What models? AWD? How do you work the middle seats? The back? More than one engine available? Etc. Etc.  We decide on a test drive.

When we hit the freeway, I kick it down to find out what's under the hood.  (Disclosure:  My driving style has been politely described as "aggressive.")

Sergey:  (sounding a little nervous now)  You like to drive fast?
Me:  Yes.  If I'm going to buy it, I want to know what it can do.  I drive a lot of two lane and need the power to pass.

I didn't have a lot of interest in the navigation system, since I usually know where I'm going, until I found out you can ask it questions like, "Find gas station."

Sergey:  Ask it something.
PiC:  Ask it to "Find gun shop"!
Me: Honey, we're going to scare this guy to death.
PiC:  We're from the country, you know.

Overall, Sergey took our quirkiness pretty well.  We headed to Red Lobster with a make and model candidate. Friday was scheduled for Negotiation Day.

She Totalled It

First an update on the Girl.  It turns out she did get a bump in the middle of her forehead.  (She thinks maybe the sun visor hit her in the head.)  She was a little achy by last night.  Still, she's going to be fine.

The insurance adjuster just called and she did total the van, so there's car shopping in my future. (Ah! The thrill of the deal.  I so love the role of the demanding customer, sending the salesman back to the boss with final demands when he thought he had the deal sown up, which probably explains our large evil rating at M.A.W.B.)

I've owned nothing but minivans since the kids were small.  I'm not sure I want another one.  But, I have no idea what I'd get instead.  I've sat in a lot of different vehicles that might be OK, but most have these huge consoles between the seats.  Where's a budding female dictator supposed to put her purse within reach?  Believe it or not, a place to put my purse where I can get to it and it's not flopping around next to the accelerator is a deal killer for me.  (Ha!  If woman ran the world.) 

I suggested to the PiC that I would get a job at one of the big three automakers.  The only duty I would perform would be to attend different engineering meetings and interject at an appropriate time, "Where's she supposed to put her purse? Huh?  Tell me where, big boy?"

Another problem.  If I'm getting a new vehicle, I want something nice.  I spend a fair amount of time in that driver's seat.  Yet, I have a new driver who just totalled my ride.  These things do not go well together, in my opinion.

Aren't you excited?  The news is totally off my radar screen, and you dear reader, have car shopping blogging in your future.  It will be a true test of your loyalty.  Those who persevere will be handsomely rewarded.

Prayer Request

Aelfheld's Mom had a seizure in her office on Monday and is in ICU in New Orleans.  It sounds like they've ruled out a stroke, but haven't discovered the reason for the seizure.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Dad, I Crashed!

She's O.K. and that's all that matters.  Thank you, Lord.

The phone call came at 8:15 this morning.  "Dad, I crashed!"  It's amazing how quickly you can get out of the house.

She's O.K. and that's all that matters.  Thank you, Lord.

My Girl, my van, icy conditions, a curve, and the trees lining the road in an unplanned meeting.

She's O.K. and that's all that matters.  Thank you, Lord.

Towing.  Damage front and rear.  I'm guessing the insurance company will total it rather than pay to have it fixed.

She's O.K. and that's all that matters.  Thank you, Lord.

Maybe it would be better to buy used rather than new.

She's O.K. and that's all that matters.  Thank you, Lord.

Going to the Chapel....

The Whippersnapper recently became a made man and this Saturday he's scheduled to become a married man.  Best Wishes!  I assume the Whippersnapperette has consented to be Married to the M.O.B.?  (He's also been working on banners for M.O.B. sites.)

THANKS FOR NOT DRIVING BY

One of my favorite mommyblogs, Chez Miscarriage, has been talking about mothering drive-bys. A drive-by happens when someone says something nasty to a mom about her mothering.:

It would be nice if mothers treated one another with the same sort of warm, wry camaraderie one finds among infertility veterans. It would be nice to see the affection, the acceptance, the recognition that everyone has to walk their own road.

Well, too bad.

Hundreds of commenters left their stories of nastiness, one even managing to do a drive-by herself in the course of sanctimoniously declaring her anti-drive-by sentiments:

I too am amazed at some of the things people say to moms; but I'm equally amazed at some of the stupid, dangerous and self-centered things moms do to their kids. 
PS Hot chocolate has caffeine.

As someone who drank a glass of wine and a cup of cappuccino every day while pregnant with my first child (it was my 2nd trimester and I was in Italy--and my cousin assured me: "it will make your child so happy!") , I feel grateful that I seem to have missed out on most of the drive-by phenomenon. In fact, many of my friends went out of their way to prevent me from driving-by myself. My thanks to:

• The friends who invited my little family to our first dinner away from home. When my newborn screamed nonstop at the top of her lungs, they comforted me: "That's nothing.When our oldest was a baby screaming his head off in the middle of the night there was a knock on the door. Somebody had called the police."
• The girlfriend who told me after the birth of my second child: "you're allowed guilt-free video watching for the older sibling for an entire year! It's called the sanity waiver."

I'm sure there are more. Were you the recipient of similar kindnesses? Do tell.

MOTHERING BLATHER

Lots of fun commentary in the blogosphere about the mad Judith Warner, author of a new book, Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety. Lileks sniffs "[m]en come off poorly in the piece, mostly as absent confused dullards hanging around the margins of their family’s lives, irritating their spouses by their mulish refusal to read minds and anticipate what needs to be done." Or, I might add, their refusal to let us know that they've just opened the very last cannister of coffee or hung the last roll of toilet paper (they're so proud of actually hanging that roll rather than just perching it on the tank like they usually do). It is mulish, I tell you!

But my favorite are the IM scripts posted at Chez Miscarriage. Example exchange:

HillaryClinton: i'm not sure what all the fuss is about

HillaryClinton: you can be a hands-on parent and also be the president of an industrial superpower
HillaryClinton: it's not that big a deal

GefilteFish: am i going to be a part of your 2008 platform?
GefilteFish: yes or no?

HillaryClinton: we've been through this before
HillaryClinton: i'm just not sure how you'll play in the red states

GefilteFish: how can you create family-friendly workplace policies without gefilte fish?
GefilteFish: that's my question, gantseh macher

HillaryClinton: why don't we convene a panel to discuss the issue?

GefilteFish: fine, but i'm not coming if creamed herring is included

Terri Schiavo: Can Blogs Help Save a Life?

Naturally I've heard about the fight in Florida between the parents of Terri Schiavo and her husband, Michael Schiavo.  In a situation like this, it's often hard to know who's telling the truth: the husband who says she's in a vegetative state, or the parents who say she responds to them?

I went to the site Terri's Fight and watched the videos of her.

Oh Baby, Baby, It's A Wild World

Today the Girl and I went to the city and I let her go off alone in my car with a stranger....to take her test for her driver's license.  I was left by my lonesome, in the coldness of a government facility, cut off from providing any support.  I couldn't hang out in the back seat, "What controls this intersection?  Who has the right of way in this situation?  Did you look over your right shoulder?"

Every parent knows there will be times in their lives that the kids have to venture out into the cold cruel world on their own.  But, it doesn't make it any easier for the left-wondering-in-the-lobby adult. 

She came back with a question on her face, soon transformed into a smile when the instructor said she had passed.  (She was cautioned to slow down.  She promptly and deftly transferred the blame onto the bad genes I had passed on to her at conception. What gratitude!)

I remember that time in my life well.  Freedom!

Thank God she's not nearly the rebel I was at that age.  Seriously, it's proof of God's grace that he hasn't seen fit to pay me back for the nightmares I gave my parents.  Ask them.  They have the "encouragement to parents of rebel children" speech down pat.

Of course, she's off somewhere now.  Out of my reach.  Savoring that next morsel of freedom from parental control.  Meanwhile, somewhere in the back of my mind, I hear screams.  "I want my baby back!"

Update 9:15 PM:  Yeah!  Home safely and with no dents! My van has returned!  Oh, the Girl?  She made it home in one piece too, after cruising at least two counties of course.  I am NOT not ready for this.