Entry bubble Shopping For A New Hot Rod

By: Sam | November 07, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

Breaking up is hard to do.  And after 10 years, I’m about to call it quits with Charlie, my car.  Though we’ve had some good times and unforgettable road trips, it’s time that we go our separate ways.

But deciding on my new ride has been harder than I thought it would be.  Do I want a coupe or sedan? Or how about a hybrid?  Should it be automatic or manual?  And what about the engine size?  The choices are endless.  To help me narrow my search, I checked out Consumer Reports and Edmunds.com.

These two sites gave me a wealth of information from price and owner satisfaction to ratings and reviews for both new and used cars.  They also helped me prioritize what features were important to me:  reliability, safety, and fuel economy.

I’ve also started to compile a “wish list” of other features that I would like.  These include trunk space, leather interior, moonroof, alloy wheels, and of course, an MP3 player plug-in.  A girl must be able to jam out to her entire John Mayer discography while driving.

After all this shopping around, I think I have finally found a couple of different cars that meet my needs.  And so now I’m ready for the fun part…test driving.  The Better Business Bureau has put together this great test drive checklist that will help me be a little less clueless at the dealership.

I’ll have another post (hopefully soon) about my car buying and financing experience.  Meanwhile, I’ll be reading up on how to maintain control over the sales process starting with this post from The Consumerist.  And I’ll be also be deciding whether Charlie gets donated or traded-in.  Does anyone have some helpful advice they would like to share?

 

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