Exceptional Experience

Out to Pasture?
For those of you who've followed my travels the past several years, you know I've had problems and repairs on the GTP. To be expected I guess, for an 11 year old car.

Even though I have LOVED the GTP since it came on the market and it gave me many good years of service, I became increasingly uneasy as to its reliability. So rather than put additional money into it, I decided to look for a different car.


Choices, Choices
I’ll admit it. I’ve been spoiled with my GTP. Fast. Heated Drivers Seat. Power everything. Roomy. Gorgeous Red. Sunroof. Leather seats. Auto Headlights/Fog Lights. Steering Wheel Controls. Heads-Up Display. Rear Window Defrost. Remote Locks. Ahhh, yes!

A couple years ago, the Chrysler 300 caught my eye. I thought they were pretty sharp-looking cars. At that time, I wasn’t ready to purchase so I tucked it away in the back of my mind. Then I saw a Buick Lucerne. Another nice car.


Temptation
Last week the local “advertiser” newspaper had an ad for used cars on the front – one of which was a Chrysler 300 that caught my eye. I found their prices were quite high for the model/options they had available. Seeing the ad was enough to spark my interest to do more research about the models, options, and prices for the 300. I test drove a couple. Solid-feeling, comfortable ride. More research about dealer values, trade-in value for the GTP, bank financing, and insurance rates. I am so freakin very thorough when I’m thinking about making a major purchase!

I found plenty of 300 RWD on the market. Living in the land of extreme snow winter wonderland, I need to have FWD or AWD. Especially with my driveway. Ya’ll remember it, right? So, the search was on to find AWD (no option for FWD on the 300). Again comparing prices and options, I narrowed it down to a 300 Limited AWD listed at $2.5K less than Kelly and NADA retail. The dealership was an hour and a half away. I emailed the dealership and asked an obscene a bunch of questions. The salesman emailed me back almost immediately after each set of questions, and sent a carfax on my request. Duh. I later found out that a lot of my questions were answered on their website, LoL. Oops. Did I *really* want to take a 3-hour round trip for a test drive?


Road Trip!
Sure, why not?! I did take a male counterpart with me for moral support and point out things I may not notice, plus to help with negotiations. I drove 1 ½ hours into another state to test drive a car. Am I crazy? Upon arriving at the 5-star dealership, a guy came out and asked how he could help. After being informed I wanted to look at 300 Limited AWD’s, he showed me the cars, brought me the keys to both and told me to take them for a test drive. Meantime, the salesman who I had been emailing with realized who I was and claimed his “territory” customer.


Drive ‘Em
They didn’t ask for my keys, didn’t ask for proof of insurance, or even my driver’s license. Just “Here ya go. Take them for a drive!” I took the gray one first. Nice. Then I took the white one. (I had seen them both online, and really liked the white one) While out test driving the white one, my friend called and told me that I did NOT want the gray one – it had several flaws including dents. He had given the white one the once-over (lol, maybe twice or thrice-over) while I was testing the gray one. The engine on the white one was cleaner, also. The white one was definitely taken care of better than the gray one.


Negotiations
We sat down and talked numbers. I already knew their pricing was a LOT lower than other dealerships and according to blue book values. The salesman made it a point to tell me, not knowing I did my homework. In essence, they weren’t going to budge on the sales price so the only thing I had to bargain with was trade-in value on my car. They came back with what I thought they would, a bit lower than blue book value. Not good enough. Actually it was, but I wanted to see if they would do better, and they did.

So guess what?! I negotiated my way into a new-to-me Chrysler 300 Limited AWD.


Definitely Unprepared
Then it came time to draw up the paperwork. I hadn’t planned on going home with a different car. As such, I didn’t have the extra sets of keys or the title. Nor did I have my checkbook. The dealership took my word that I was pre-approved for a loan. At this point, I’m still in awe with the whole dealership experience. They let me take the 300 off the lot for $100 deposit, and told me to mail them a check! (Well… the title and keys, too.) Unbelievable. After recently sitting through negotiations at a different (local) dealership who was high-pressure and anti-negotiation, I thought my car buying experience was a piece of cake!


My “New” Ride
Initially, the 300 was designed under the supervision of Mercedes engineers which is why it looks and drives comparable to the Mercedes E-class vehicles, only with a less expensive price tag. The powertrain is the same as the Dodge Charger.


Features: All-Wheel Drive 3.5L V6. 5-speed Automatic Transmission with ability to manually shift. Leather Interior. 6-CD Changer with MP3 and WMA. Sirius Satellite Radio. Boston Premium Sound System. Heated Power Driver –and- Passenger Seats. Electronic Stability Program and Traction Control. 18” Aluminum Wheels. Auto Headlights/Fog Lights. Auto Temperature Control. 60/40 Split Rear Seat. Steering Wheel Controls. Remote Locks. Built-In Programmable Garage Door Openers. Sunroof. Tinted Privacy Windows. Rear Window Defrost. Power/Heated Side Mirrors. Electronic Vehicle Information Center. Of course, there are lots of nice safety “upgrades” as well.

Hard to believe they let this off the lot for $100, isn’t it?