My New Car Buying Experience

I am a fairly frugal person with few excesses, save such tech items as smartphones, iPad, iPod, computers and camera; it’s a big reason why I drove my last car 8 plus years. I want to stretch my dollar as far as it can go, as most people do.

When I bought that 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac (in 2003) though, I wasn’t quite of that mindset. The vehicle, after all the add-ons, was over $31,000 when it was all said and done. That vehicle was the most extravagant that I’ve ever owned; all power, satellite radio, leather seats, security system, the works. And it was faithful too. It was never in the shop for mechanical issues, other than the two times that I was rear-ended at stoplights by inattentive teens.

But despite all of that it had begun to show its age at 142,000 miles; its tires needed replacing, the transmission had begun to slip at speeds above 75 miles per hour, and various rattles and squeaks were evident throughout the cabin. I was also getting much less than Ford’s rated 18 miles per gallon; a weekly fill up during the recent height of gas prices cost me $72, and that didn’t last the entire week. But the main question was whether I should throw $3700 into new tires and transmission repairs, or use that money as a down payment on a new vehicle. I had enjoyed four years of blissful car note free existence up until that time, after financing the truck 66 months (I had paid it off about a year early by making extra payments). I knew what I had to do, but what type of replacement was definitely a top question in my mind to settle.

I am a band/choir director in a smallish school district. I had needed the truck to haul equipment over the years, but my place of employment has also grown over these same years. I now had at my disposal a department truck to carry all of the stuff I needed the truck for initially, so there went my overriding need for a pick-up truck.

I have never been a sedan fan, so the obvious answer to me was a crossover. Let me state that I have been a Ford person for many years, owning – trouble free I might add – a 1997 Ford Ranger and a 2001 Ford Escape prior to purchasing the Sport Trac. Prior to that, I had owned a 1985 Nissan Stanza wagon (good car), and a 1987 Hyundai Excel and a 1991 Chevrolet Lumina. Those last two cars were dogs.

Since I had owned an Escape in the last decade I was eager to see what the all-new 2013 revision had brought to the car. This was where my odyssey began. My wife, who drives a company Ford Fusion hybrid, had picked up the car at Holmes-Tuttle Ford here in Tucson about ten months back. She had a great review of one of the sales staff, Scott Patty, who was especially helpful. He happened to be the internet sales manager there. In her experience dealerships are not very accommodating to pharma drug reps who have ordered replacement cars through their company’s fleet websites. The dealerships don’t make much money on these sales so they usually don’t spend much time with the reps either on the test drive or the delivery of the vehicle. But her salesperson did and she remembered him when I announced that I was ready to buy a new car.

I called Scott in November and set up a test drive appointment for the Ford Escape. He quickly remembered my wife and had a car ready for me when I arrived. The new Escape has been totally remade from its earlier version, with all new engines, sheet metal and technology. I was initially interested in the top of the line Titanium version of this SUV, which comes with Ford’s 2.0 liter Ecoboost engine, and a convenience package the includes an automatic rear lift gate (pass your foot under the rear bumper), all power leather front seats, keyless entry with exterior touchpad, and MyFord Touch/Sync. There is an amazing amount of new auto technology in this car, but not without some problems. The Ecoboost engine, especially the 1.6 liter, has been subject to recalls, and the MyFord Touch system has been finicky.

The car I drove was in perfect condition and I had no problem with the touch screen technology (which includes a backup camera, voice commands and navigation). I was bothered by two issues though; the windshield had a tunnel effect that I was not overly pleased with, and the front seats were very hard. Ultimately, the price would be the main source of my displeasure, however. With all of these amenities the price of the car is over $34,000 list. It’s a steep price.

I kept all this in mind as I saved money for the down payment. In mid-December I was ready and returned with my wife to test drive again the car and start negotiations. She drove it and was displeased with the seats, the handling and the price, all legitimate concerns. Additionally, we were not pleased with the dealership’s offer of only $2500 for my trade. We needed more and they did come up $500. But it was still not enough.

The main problem was the cost of the car, which was too high for the money I wanted to put down ($3000) with my trade. I wanted to keep monthly payments around $550 and no more than 48 months. That was not going to happen with an Escape Titanium. Other models in this series were not as appealing and I felt were still overpriced. I also did not want that troublesome 1.6 liter engine, which at last account was subject to four recalls in 2012 for fires and other issues.

We went at this for three hours and we would not budge; there was no way that we were going to go down this road again without a car equipped the way we wanted, so we finally walked out. Scott was great in this whole process. I have no ill words to say about the salesmanship or professionalism that he exhibited. Both were top notch. We just could not agree on a price and terms.

I had also been watching reviews on line of the Mazda CX-5, a new model from the tires up. Mazda had been a longtime partner of Ford, and had in fact re-badged the former Ford Escape as the Mazda Tribute. Mazda though stated that its new CX-5 shared no components with any Ford products. My blood was up, so I visited the Mazda dealership (all in the Holmes-Tuttle/Jim Click companies) a few days later and drove the car.

I came away very impressed with the handling and the controls; while it came with a touch screen and backup camera (which I wanted), the package was simpler and easy to use on the go. Hands free telephone and voice commands were standard, as well as keyless entry, power driver seats and blind spot warning system. Seats were a high quality cloth in the mid-level model that I was interested in (Touring), and they were prepared to cut me a teacher’s deal of $1500 off the sticker price, which was $27,500 and change). There were no rebates offered at the time I bought.

The car only comes with a 2.0 liter 155 horsepower four, mated to either a six-speed manual or 6-speed automatic (which can be shifted manually). Most car magazines have not been extremely happy with the power, but Mazda calls this engine SkyActive, meaning that weight has been shed as a concept from the ground up to make this engine quick enough and fuel efficient, at 26-31 mph in an even mix of driving.

My wife had been worn out by the negotiations with Ford earlier in the week, so she told me to handle it on my own. We did have a lively text-conversation through this negotiation, but essentially she said stay with our original requirements, if I could. My trade still brought me only $2500 but they threw in a Sirius/XM radio and installation at cost ($140), allowing me to buy this add-on in cash rather than financing, so I finally said yes with her blessings.

I took delivery on December 15th and have been nothing but pleased with the CX-5 since. It is not overly powerful, yet it is quick. If I need the transmission to shift faster I can always throw it into manual and it scoots. Above all I am most pleased with the gas mileage, a main reason for ditching my old Ford. I’m getting 30.4 mph on regular at this writing. I’ve only had to fill up once since buying the car. I can’t beat that with a stick.

As far as room and comfort is concerned, I find it as roomy as my old truck up front, though I wish the arm rest was just a little be higher and longer. I can still get a tissue box, sunglasses, keys, pens and miscellaneous items in there. There is also a USB port, aux jack and DC power port in the storage bin, all nice to have.

Rear seating is about average for this class; there is more leg room than the Escape, but other SUV’s do boast slightly more. I don’t carry many passengers, so it doesn’t matter much to me. The rear seats fold flat for carrying cargo without much trouble.

Most of the materials up front are high quality and soft touch, though there are a few hard surfaces. I really wanted leather seats, but the cloth in my new car is very excellent quality and should hold up. Leather seats in Arizona are a mixed blessing. They look great, but they are also very painful after sitting in the 100 degree heat and sun a full day in the summer. Interior temps can reach 130 degrees. Try sitting on leather with shorts on after your car has been outside all day in those conditions!

I had the option of buying a car with a moon roof, but those have never appealed for me. Besides they tend to rob a bit of headroom. What I am missing most is a rearview mirror with auto dimming feature, as well as ambient lighting in the foot wells at night, as my old vehicle was equipped with, and a cargo cover. It’s no big deal though, because I can add them as accessories very easily during the coming months, and I will.

The bottom line here is that I paid less and at a lower rate and term for this vehicle than my Ford Explorer Sport Trac 9 years ago. I’ll conclude by saying that my buying experience was protracted, yet ultimately far less stressful than what I expected. You can get mostly what you want if you resolve to hold out and not give in to the ‘falling in love” syndrome that many car buyers do. If you do, you’ll be taken. Most professional car sales people are truly trying to help, even if they are looking out for their best interests. Shop around for the best rates (as we did) and stick to your guns!