“No way will I ever be able to afford it.”
And then I started making enough income to pay off every cent of my credit card debt. I had a lot. It will all be gone by this time in April.
“No way will I be able to get them to sell me this car for under $40,000.”
I’m…we’ll say very persuasive and a good negotiator and I had a Very Good Education that taught me how to be a master manipulator (by the way, I'm on an active crusade to de-load that word because it’s flung at people as if it’s a character flaw and we all do it. Every single one of us. Soapbox for another time.). As in, I used my favorite counseling skill and when they were doing the hard sell on sticker price, I told them my price and just…sat in silence. Want to see someone squirm in general, especially when they’re trying hard to tell you something? Just sit. Wait them out. Then, when they were trying to give me The Package (you know, how they do) at the end, they were all, “here are these amenities. See how pretty they are? See how pretty this car is? If you opt in it’ll be an extra $200 per month.”
Nope! And also, that door-in-the-face technique is BLATANT and must be super effective.
“Ok. Let me play with some numbers.”
Ok. And I just sat in silence while the person simultaneously squirmed and punched in numbers on their keyboard, not saying a word. It’s hilarious how uncomfortable people are with silence.
“Oh my god. I can give you that whole package and your payment will go up $8 per month. How did that happen? I have no idea how that happened.”
That’s right. Eight dollars a month down from two hundred on a warranty THAT EVEN COVERS MY TIRES for the next seven years, and unlimited miles.
Also, I know how that happened. I’m not someone who can be fleeced and I knew that $8 per month was still a little high but I took it anyway. That’s how.
“People are going to think I’m entitled and privileged.”
First, I am. Full ownership. I had the privilege enough to walk into a car dealership and drive off in a Mercedes GLA 250 and had the hubris to negotiate exactly what I wanted. Have I have historically Thought Things about people who drive luxury cars? Yes. Not for a long while, but I had a definite phase in my very early life. A definite one.
“This car is too much.”
For some godforsaken reason, it doesn’t stick with me how much I drive. I drive to Boston at least three times a month, often more. I drive up to Plymouth once a week. I drive to all of my different offices on a regular basis. I looked at leasing, but unless I wanted to have my monthly payment go up by NINE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER MONTH, it was out of the question. I bought The Blueberry new, and I will never do that again, even though they totally gave me more for it than I owed. A lot more. And it had 65,000 miles on it. Not bad overall, but I also bought it about 10 months before COVID hit. Before that, I put, on average, 40,000 miles a year on my cars. (My top number was 55,000 one year. Yeah, I was in grad school and commuting 110 miles a day round trip five days a week.)
So, I have this beautiful new-to-me car in my driveway now. The only thing left is to get over my fear of being judged (both by myself and others), which will come with time, I hope. I don’t feel bad about buying it, but I know I’ll feel awesome about it when I can stop justifying why I bought it and rest in the idea that it was a smart decision.
And adjust to the learning curve, because there’s a very large one with this car and also I can use it like Siri and say “hey Mercedes, I’m cold” AND IT WILL HEAT UP MY SEAT. AND THE SEATS AUTO ADJUST TO HELP ME GET IN AND OUT EASILY AND ALSO WHILE I’M DRIVING SO THAT I DON’T FALL ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL. (That’s never been a problem for me, but it’s nice to have that safety in there.)
Do I know how to turn it on and off and put it in the correct gear? Kind of. I’m learning. It took me three tries to shut it off last night because screw key fobs, but I’ll get there. Also my car has an app now. I fully expect to get in my car and be all, “what is all of this shit?” When I get in because that’s how I do, but I’ll get there.
