I finally caved.

About a week ago I thought “Shoot me now. I’m starting to think about a minivan. Just barely, but it’s there.”

I understand the love and convenience…I’ve just NEVER wanted one. Not that I really care what anyone thinks, but I didn’t want to drive a “mom” car. I like my cars a bit sporty-ish. And I’m not good with long cars. 

But I’m tired of being packed in like sardines when we take trips. This last trip was a test because it was a smaller car than we had for the last road trip—and we didn’t have the dog (there was just NO way she’d have fit with us this time). And it doesn’t help that I don’t really love my new car.  But, overall, the Mazda is just too small for us. We are both big, tall people and both have to crouch and duck to even get IN the car, we both constantly smack our heads on the lift gate (things we didn’t really consider when buying it), and it just feels really cramped inside. And with the kids getting bigger it’s harder for them to get in and out, too (I know kids are agile, but it’s really pathetic the contortions that Owen needs to take to get in and out of the car). And the doors open wider than any of our previous cars… Basically, we don’t love the Mazda and need something else, so we’re moving up to the minivan.

We test drove two (Honda and Toyota) before we got the Acadia and I didn’t love either. But, I reasoned, if we’re going to do it, I want it done before July when we trek to Michigan. But I despise car shopping/buying and don’t want to go through the hassle again so soon (less than a year since we got the Mazda). Ugh. 

As one of my friends commented:

I will never love a minivan (nor will I trust a person who claims to 😉 ) but it’s by far the most practical vehicle at this stage in our lives. Just add it to the list of sacrifices we make as parents!

So I had to bring it up with Tom. After he gave me a sufficient amount of grief of all kinds, we researched a bit…found a loaded 2012 Toyota…and Tom went to test drive it today. (I was going to go but Katie was still sick.) He was able to bring it home for me to drive and it wasn’t bad. We decided to see what kind of a deal they could give us, so Tom went back to deal. He was texting me updates and I was Googling and sending him info and basically, my blood was boiling—they added about $4k in stupid fees. Really?! And they wouldn’t budge on ANY of them!

Base $30,988
PDI (“Pre-Delivery Inspection”—it’s Toyota Certified) $1495
Trim package (which we didn’t ask for—they just automatically add it to all used vehicles!) $475
Processing fee $499

Total delivered price: $34,874

They won’t take off any of the addons so we walked. Buh bye. And then I started researching more and found some at another local dealer so Tom made an appointment for tomorrow morning. Fingers are crossed.

 

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