Auto: Pilot

As many of you know, one of my goals this year has to become more financially savvy, which includes everything from learning more about investment options and retirement plans to simply not spending money on things we truly don't need. I told myself months ago that if I could discipline myself enough to take advantage of extra work opportunities and not buy that really cute purse or tenth pair of beaded flip-flops that eventually I could dedicate some of those earnings and my savings from college towards a new car. Once I started car crushing on a black Honda Pilot, that goal came into even sharper focus and suddenly working summer camps and coaching track seemed doubly appealing. Clay was all for it (how did I marry the most supportive, kind man ever??), so when Bruiser Camp concluded on Friday after a fun day rafting down the Nantahala River, I jumped into my 1997 Honda Accord and cruised up to Nashville to check out Honda Pilot #1.

I arrived at 6:45 p.m. in time to see two older men smoking cigars on the front porch of a small used car operation. They allowed me to take a test drive of the Pilot while they checked out the vehicle history on my car. I liked their car a lot, but the interior was a tan/brown color, which I wasn't so sure of with a black car, and it had a quarter-size nick right in the middle of the driver's vision on the windshield. Liked the car a lot, but there definitely seemed to be room for negotiation. Well, I guess I didn't play my cards right because they didn't budge from the sticker price and wanted to give me $1000 for my car, which isn't ludicrous (it had some things wrong with it, which is part of the reason for getting a new car) but it made the final numbers out of question for me. Ten minutes later, I was back on the road, home to Louisville and the fun Brittany Valley Road garage sale and a weekend with the wonderful fam.

I did a little more research on Pilots in the Louisville area before calling about one advertised on cars.com. For anyone looking for a car, I highly recommend this site--its thorough, clear, and allows you to compare costs and options easily. I checked it daily for probably about two months (it perhaps became a bit of an obsession). A dealership in Atlanta had two black Pilots, so I called, told the salesman my price limit and trade-in and told him to call me back if he thought he could make it happen. He called back three minutes later. I tried to remain cool and collected; inside, I was stoked.

I returned to Chattanooga on Sunday night, had practice with the CC team Monday morning (we are swimming now--hooray!), and then Clay and I headed down to Marietta to check out Honda Pilot #2. We both loved the car when we test drove it, it had grey interior, and the mileage was reasonably low (44K). I started getting really excited. Could I have just taken my final drive in my beloved, but ailing, Accord?

We sat down to hammer out the numbers and our salesman put a number on paper that suggested to me he didn't remember our conversation on Saturday. Uhh, dude, remember that I said I can only pay this much? I immediately balked and pulled out all the printouts we brought on the BlueBook value of the Accord and the comp Pilot prices in the area, etc. and then we countered the offer. They countered again, we countered again, we almost walked out, and then...he tossed me the keys to the Pilot. Congratulations! You just bought a Pilot! We just bought a Pilot! Craziness. But so, so fun.