Elisa and I have been car shopping. For 2 1/2 years we’ve been vehicle-less. Paying for a car and gas and the insurance does NOT sound fun. I tend to get motion sick and quite liked not feeling awful after every train ride while in Europe.

Our favorite car to test drive was a 1999 Lexus. It had a lot of miles on it, but it was a good value for the money and it also handled like a Lexus. After a few days we decided that a used Camry was a better deal, but the Lexus was a close second. Our plan was to give the dealer a low offer for the Lexus, and if we couldn’t talk him down enough, we’d go buy the Camry. On the way to the dealership, Elisa said that she wanted to just stay out of the negotiations while I handled it. That’s fine with me because I like to bargain. I think that anyone can get a good deal if they just decide beforehand what they think is a good price and what they think is a bad price.

Really quickly the dealer came within $300 of our offer. I was surprised that he was that desperate. 🙂 I was ready to accept his counter offer. Then Elisa brought up the fact that the key fob was having problems. It was perfect timing. She was even pantomiming someone trying to carry a baby in one arm and groceries in the other arm and still unlock a car door. So the dealer came down another $100. I was ready to accept that price too. Elisa said that it was an OK price, but she wanted 24 hours to think about it. The dealer kept trying to push us to take the car immediately, so I told him that a 24-hour wait was an investment that can pay back for a lifetime. Elisa said that she wouldn’t take the car sooner for anything more than our original offer. The dealer sighed and took $200 more off the price!

Elisa negotiates like a steel-toothed bulldog. I really didn’t feel like I was “negotiating” or “bargaining.” I just really didn’t feel comfortable jumping into a purchase that we hadn’t discussed beforehand. No matter how close to our offer it was– it wasn’t our offer. Her technique was perfect. We signed the papers that day and we got exactly the deal we wanted. We drove home really happy. I am thrilled with the car. I totally would have taken it the next day for their counter offer. Lucky us that I am so convincing. 😉