We are mobile!

We are finally mobile!!

After 4 years in the city, moving to the suburbs has meant we also need to buy a car. Not just any car - a family car!! This is something neither of us have ever had to consider before! Before, a sporty little number with 2 doors/2 seats, with absolutely no boot space wasn't a problem, BUT NOW, we are looking at things like safety ratings, a button to put the boot down when I'm holding the baby, and needing enough room for a buggy, and all the other rubbish I like to drive around with me! Hey listen, I may be on my way to becoming a mama but a girl does still need emergency shoes in the boot for unknown situations :-)

We haven't needed a car up until now really - we lived right in the middle of the city, with Darling Harbour at our doorstep, the Opera House a 10 minute walk away and our work places a short walk away.. What did we need a car for?!!

We do both love driving however so have missed just being able to jump in the car and go. GoGet (car share) has done us well, but it just isn't the same! So after 4 years of not having a car, it's quite exciting to be able to go car shopping :-)

Anyway we are both used to European cars and love them, but in Australia they are just ridiculously priced due to the luxury car tax. With our little poppet on the way, we just can't justify it, especially when you can't expect a newborn/toddler to look after your interior in the same way as an adult! 

Jay has done the research and decided on a Jeep Cherokee to meet all our current needs so off we went to the dealership at Five Dock for what can only be described as the worst car buying experience ever! I'm not one to go by stereotypes but honestly the experience we had here was beyond awful. We were totally mis-sold on a car that we thought we had test driven the same model, only to find out that we had been send out in a car of a bigger engine! Now I know I'm just a girl but aren't you meant to test drive a car for the purpose of feeling how the one you intend to buy drives?!! And call me stupid but how can you do this if the one you test drive is a different engine to the one you want to buy?!! 

Anyway, we had already put our deposit down by the time we realised what had happened. It's a very long story but to sum it up, we were told we would be liable for 10% of the car value if we broke the contract, that we were silly if we didn't take the new deal they were offering (even though it meant paying another $5k), and that I didn't know value for money if we didn't take the deal! At this point I lost it as nobody has the right to tell anyone how to spend their money! We had been very clear that we can't go beyond our budget (even though we had!), and anyway, how dare he! Long story short, I of course got our deposit back - this manager chose to mess with the wrong person!

There was no way we would have taken their deal even if we wanted to. To deal with dishonest people is not my thing. We also later found out that the great price he was willing to give us was actually more than the state special sale price - thank god we walked away from this place.

We have now got our lovely new Jeep Cherokee, with a much nicer buying experience and great customer service from Suttons Northern Beaches :-)

The best part of it - it was waiting with a nice big bow, which I've never had before :-)

For what we want, this car will be perfect for our little family. So far so good. It's quite big to drive but I'm quite enjoying feeling that little bit higher up than other cars when on the road. Now i just need to learn how to park it!

Next, pimping it out with a baby seat haha!! Let's see if I can get the husband to get excited about that...!!