This day turned into an adventure. Kathy rode along with me when I went to Topeka this morning to look for a new car. We got to the Subaru dealer and a guy met us at the door. He had the personality of a frog. Kathy asked about her lease and if she could return the car to this dealership. He said no but a person sitting near him said yes.
I then told him I wanted to see a new Forester Limited and a Forester Touring. They had none in stock to show me. I asked when they might be getting one and he turned me over to someone else. She looked it up and said maybe next week but….. Neither one of them seemed too interested in telling us about them so we left.
We got back almost to Emporia and I decided to go to Wichita to see what they had. I offered Kathy to take her home but she decided to ride along.
We got to the dealership in Wichita and a young man approached us. He quickly introduced us to a salesman and told the salesman he would pull up a Forester Limited for us to look at. The salesman had us wait a minute or two and then took us out to the car.
He did a good job of listening to me and not overselling the car. He was tempted to tell me way more than I wanted to know. He showed me the differences between what I have now and the new design of the Forester. I asked about the difference between the Limited and the Touring models and he didn’t think there was enough of a difference for the additional price point of the Touring model.
This salesman was a young man around 37 years old. He has five children ranging in age from 2 to 16. We had a fun conversation with him about the challenges of being a parent and how it changes as we age. He thanked us when we were done for being fun clients for him.
After a bit we went back inside and I asked him to give me some numbers. It looked like it was going to take a bit so we left and went to Chipotle for lunch. We came back and met with the first guy and I negotiated a price. I told him Topeka would take $2,000 off and asked if he would. He quickly said he would check with his manager but expected him to say yes. Maybe I should have asked for $3,000 off.
We agreed to the price and then the fun began. He said he needed to send someone over to confirm I had insurance. The guy showed up and tried to convince me to let him get me some offers for insurance. I have the five houses and now two cars and it felt too complicated to even go there. I politely declined his offer.
Then the first guy came back and offered me some sort of service package. I declined that as it is too far to bring the car to Wichita for things Dieker’s can do here.
We then got sent to the closer. He offered me an extended warranty package that only went to 60,000 miles. I declined and told him that was too short for that much money. He looked up another one for 100,000 miles for only $50 more and I accepted that one. I am never sure if these are good deals or not.
He had me sign 20 papers and then I wrote the check. It took them another 20 minutes to get the car ready for us.
I went back to the salesman and he hooked me up with Starlink for three years. He introduced me to the lady that can explain all the buttons and gadgets. She is to call me in a couple of weeks to see if I need to come back for Subaru School as I call it. We finally got done and got out of there. They didn’t tell me where the car was so we had to hunt it down. Luckily Kathy was with me so she drove my old car home and I drove the new one.
We stopped at the Towanda service area to fill the old car with gas and then came home. I was able to figure out most of the buttons and dials. Kathy asked me if it drove nice when I got home and I told her it started, it drove, and I am home. Honestly it drove like a car should.
The dogs had their legs crossed by the time we got home as we didn’t get home until around 5:00. I hadn’t intended to be gone all day. Kathy took them for a quick pee walk. Then each of us took one of the dogs so they could do their business. I took Sophia and she filled my doggie bag. Kathy isn’t back with Roxy yet.
Buying cars has really changed since 2020. Not sure if the dealership doesn’t have the popular Forester in stock as a way to drive up the prices or what is going on. The dealership in Wichita was to have gotten six of them this week but they got delayed until August 24. You no longer have options to choose from – all Limited models have the same options.
My old car will serve Kathy well and save her lots of dollars. She will turn in her car sometime soon. She may drive it back east when she goes in September and then fly home to KS. She has until the end of September to decide when to turn it in.
When we got home, I synced up my phone to the new car. I managed to do that with no issues. The car charger is a base and I just have to lay my car on it for it to charge. This car also has a navigation system which my old one did not. I like the redesign of the Forester. It was a new design for 2025. This car should serve me for the next ten years at least.
I have been gone all day so got nothing else done today. Tomorrow I have to go to Emporia for exercise in the afternoon. Wonder if I can just talk to the substitute trainer again or if I will actually do the exercises?
No plans for the weekend unless I go in to the Spirit Fair that is happening in Emporia Saturday. The temperature has finally cooled off a bit and it will be a nice weekend to get out and do something as it won’t be so hot.
Grateful I was able to find a new car today, grateful for a salesman that was fun, and grateful Kathy went along for the ride today.