How Not to Buy a Car in 2015!

How Not to Buy a Car in 2015

My boyfriend is stuck somewhere between 1984 and 1992 and loves driving his ridiculous Subaru Brat, which by the way, moans like a sick cat. Not me. This designer bag toting, smartphone using, modern gal could never be seen in such a beastly beater. 1984 boyfriend loves the thing, even during its weekend oil leaks and occasional radio malfunctions. We’re different! The truth is, I’ve been attached at the steering wheel to my own perverse obsession to a jalopy, and I have no idea why. It shakes and shimmies at 60mph, and not because it’s jamming to the Classic Rock sounds of Bon Jovi on the radio. Everything is broken in the rolling bucket of rust and retaliation. My classic four-wheeled beater is on its last lap along with my vintage boyfriend trailing close behind. Let’s just say, car shopping has been on my to do list since the guy and his Subaru rolled into my driveway for our first date!

It was a Saturday morning, Mr. Motley Crue and I were dressed in our time-warp of stonewash and neon and ready to make the big ticket car purchase. In my head I had visions of dancing convertibles, with sugar coated exotic nameplates, and shiny wheels that didn’t shake with acceleration and writhe in excitement upon every push. Mr. 1984 was reluctant sitting behind the wheel of the rusty rattler, but off we went on our used car shopping madness, jolting and jarring the entire way.

In true bygone fashion, for 5 long and stressful hours, we shimmied through every used car lot within a 40 mile radius searching from our car window, for the perfect vehicle that would bring us into this decennium. There was no need to call ahead of time to local auto dealerships to see what vehicles were in stock before we wasted a half of a tank of gas swirling through fields of Kia’s. Even doing internet research for affordable vehicles from private sellers was not part of the awesome car buying plan (insert sarcasm here). It was purely a dearly departed interval of wasted gas, wasted hours, and wasted panic attacks as far as I could tell. Honestly, it had been a few decades since I actually drove anywhere to buy anything, including a car, given the conveniences of modern technology like mobile phones and laptops. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against car dealers or car dealerships for that matter. It’s the daunting, time-consuming, disappointment of traditional car shopping that makes me want to bang my head on a steering wheel, inflate an air bag, and call it a day! There had to be a better way- a faster way; a more efficient way; a relationship saving way to buy a car, right?

Despite my flip-phone carrying partner, I happen to be a girl of the millennial generation who owns a smartphone and isn’t afraid to use it! A friend of mine had told me to shop online. I was reluctant but disgruntled from my last 5 hours of aggravation. So, after our car shopping extravaganza, while happily sipping my 2-for-1 Margarita from the comfort of a Chili’s bar stool, I found myself thumbing my way across my smartphone in search of the perfect car, or boyfriend, whichever came first! Wow! I had no idea I could actually shop for a car that way. In my internet travels, I discovered a few car selling sites that looked confusing and time consuming. I mean the whole idea here was to get the car buying process over quickly and without running my boyfriend over with his Subaru.

Car Lister seemed to be the easiest application I found while driving my way through the car marketplaces online. Generation old-school and I started browsing hundreds of available cars from different dealerships and private sellers all around the country right from my phone. Not only could I easily and quickly shop for the car of my dreams, but there were other convenient options to help my mobile car buying experience. Features like FaceTime, Instant Messaging, Direct Calling, and being able to see the vehicles history reports are just a few of the options I really liked. Also, the comfort of knowing the car I was searching for was actually available on the car lot tasted way better than the Margarita by far. Even Mr. Parachute Pants was interested in browsing the inventory. In less time it took me to swill down my second lime infused beverage, I had already found a car I wanted in my price range. I was immediately able to reach the dealership through the facetime calling feature so that my rock star and I could get a closer look. The sales guy used his iPad and literally walked us through the inside and outside of the car and we were able to ask questions as if we were standing next to him watching the sweat drip from his brow onto the car lot. It was amazing. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete the entire car buying process from my mobile phone but low and behold, Car Lister took care of that too. We were able to use the easy financing option which took only about 20 minutes. The dealer also helped us with getting the car shipped so that our new car could be delivered to our doorstep just like my designer purses I order online! Hello! Why buy a car any other way? The best part of the whole car buying experience was that it was so easy even my flip-phone boyfriend thought it was the best way to buy a car in 2015. He finally saw the need for a smart phone and less need for his parachute pants! I found the need for the shiny wheeled convertible parked in my driveway and less need to run over my boyfriend. We both win!