Dealer dance covers all the bases

Posted by on Jan 25, 2012 in 12th Article | 0 comments ‘I’m not a car guy,’ baseball fan admits, but lands great deal by doing homework Matthew Ives knows how Dice-K of the Boston Red Sox throws a gyro ball, but don’t ask him to explain the difference between a turbo intercooler and an air conditioning condenser. As a baseball fanatic, self-employed communications consultant and single dad of two, Ives never found the time to read a Chilton’s auto repair manual from cover to cover – which makes him no different from 99.8 per cent of the buying public. “Shamefully, I suppose I’m just not a car guy,” he shrugs. Until recently, Ives, 44, invested about as much time and forethought into buying a car as most people spend shopping for toothpaste. “I bought my first car, a 1985 Honda CRX, second-hand from my boss’s boyfriend because I had just started a job and it was contingent on me having one,” Ives recalls wolfenstein for free. Having never driven a manual-transmission car, Ives took matters into his own hand and rented a five-speed Ford Fiesta on his first business trip, learning to manipulate a stick and clutch on the chaotic streets of Lisbon, Portugal. His first new car was a Honda Civic coupe, which he purchased one afternoon after having done zero homework. “It was a miserable car and I purchased it without any knowledge of the process. Looking back, I know I was completely ripped off. I paid what the dealer wanted me to pay.” After that experience, he bought a 1998 Chrysler Sebring convertible from his friend’s father over the phone. A dealer’s demonstrator, it was delivered to his home and – despite Ives’ chronic disinterest in car shopping – turned out to be his best purchase to date download digital ikea family map. But he vowed the next time would be different. With the recent completion of his Haliburton cottage, Ives realized he needed a four-wheel-drive sport utility if he wanted to use the property year-round. “I had to bite the bullet and get an SUV, instead of stressing out about how I was going to get to this place I had spent so much money on.” With two kids and a small dog, a five-seater initially made sense. Until he gave it some more thought and began to see advantages in something bigger. “When you’re shopping in the $30,000 to $40,000 range, you have options available...
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