I needed to replace my beloved 1991 Toyota Corolla wagon, which I bought used in 1999. It still ran great and pretty much everything worked, but the rust had gotten out of hand. My mechanic has bent over backwards to get it to pass inspection the last couple of years, despite the holes in the wheel wells. Last year he told me that he didn't think it would pass next time, because the rust was attacking the seat belt mounts.
I didn't do anything until the spring of this year, but I knew the time had come to start looking for a replacement. If Toyota still made a Corolla wagon, that would obviously have been my first choice. But they don't. I naturally considered a RAV4, but was shocked to discover that it was automatic only. I thought about some other small SUVs such as the Nissan Rogue and the Honda CR-V, but they are also only available with automatic transmissions. I was also thinking about a Subaru Outback, but my mechanic wasn't very impressed with them.
I had only ever bought used cars in the past, so I expected to do that again this time. But since my last car purchase was 15 years ago, I had built up my savings account to the point where a new car was a possibility. I wasn't looking forward to the search, though. I figured that I would have to spend time looking at a number of different cars and figure out what I wanted.
On Friday, June 27, I left work and after stopping at the bank, I went to a gas station and filled the tank on my Toyota. I also bought an issue of Consumer Reports that rated new cars, and one of those "car trader" magazines. It was time to get serious and get busy.
I looked at the magazines over the weekend and noted that the Mazda 5 got very high ratings from Consumer Reports. On Sunday I looked at the Mazda website and found a dealer in my area. They had 10 on the lot and one of them had a manual transmission. It had a sticker price of $20,990 and it was on sale for $18,102. I decided to go take a look at it after work on Monday.
I went to the dealership and while I was in the showroom, I first looked at a CX-5. I thought it was better looking than the 5 and also got better gas mileage. But I needed a cargo bed that was flush with the rear bumper so it can be loaded with ramps, and the CX-5 had about a two-inch "lip" at the hatch opening, which disqualified it. I then looked at the 5 and measured the cargo opening. It looked good. I went for a test drive and liked it. I remembered a friend telling me that the best time to buy is at the end of the quarter, because dealers are anxious to clear out inventory. The date was June 30.
I went back to the dealership and signed the papers right then and there. The next day I went to the bank, got a cashier's check, took it to the dealer, and drove home.
The Mazda 5 was the first and only car I looked at. It was the first new car I've ever bought and it was the first time I've ever bought from a dealer. My previous purchases were always used cars from their owners.
I was expecting a long and arduous search, and it was over as soon as it began. I'm still kind of amazed how everything fell into place like that. From reading this thread, I can see that some people were able to get a lower price than I did, but not by much, so I'm pretty satisfied overall.
