Shopping for a Car

C2 has taken over my car. I had hoped to wait until the end of June to begin car shopping. I knew he would need transportation for work, school, and after school activities, but I was hoping that it would be later rather than sooner. I had planned to save $8K to $9K by the end of June and he was to save $1K.

Well, here it is February. I have $6k and C2 has zero dollars saved. He's working almost everyday after school, so I have no ride home from the commuter lot. If I want to go to the gym or to my pilates class, I have no transportation. So as much as I didn't want to do this, I took out a $4k loan. I figured it's an improvement over totally financing a car. Before I became financially focused, I financed a new car 100%. This time I'm looking to finance a pre-owned car for $4K and with my $6K in cash pay $10K for a pre-owned vehicle. My goal is transportation. No bells and whistles.

If you are a car salesman, I mean you now disrespect. We all have to make a living. I've never sold cars, but I imagine that there is some gratification in doing so. Basically, I'm sure it's a noble profession. Here's the but...I hate the process. I don't understand why I can't just walk onto the lot and tell the salesperson exactly what I'm looking for and then he or she says to me yes we have that for you or no we don't. Why do I have to talk to one person who relates what I tell him to another person (the manager, I presume) only for that person to tell me he can't sell me what I want in that price range?

As you have probably already guessed, I spent my day at a dealership today. Even after doing some internet research and making some telephone calls, I came away with no car. I am a little disappointed, but I'll keep looking. This is a new experience because my immediate gratification self wants to spend the money on all the bells and whistles right now. But my delayed gratification self is trying very hard to be discplined and stick to the goal, which is reasonably priced transportation.