OK, so can we all just agree to not tell my mother I've written this story?
My mom is in her late 60s. She has been widowed for 20 years, since my car-loving father passed away suddenly. She had to quickly learn how to take care of a household of pets, teens, cars and an in-ground pool. She has done a fabulous job.
But no matter what I say, I can't get her to spend less on vehicles or persuade her to buy used. She insists on driving new, even if it strains her budget, because she wants zero hassles with her vehicles. She wants to get in, turn it on and drive away. She wants to feel secure in bad weather. She wants very little maintenance.
Oh, and she insists on having a CD player so she can listen to audiobooks.
I wasn't even aware that she was thinking about buying a vehicle until she called one Saturday afternoon last month. I didn't pick up right away, so she called back. And called again. Alarmed and thinking something was wrong, I called her and learned she was in the showroom of a Subaru dealership in central New Jersey. She was looking at a Subaru Forester and wanted to know what I thought.
She had told the salesman she wanted to spend about $400 to $500 a month. He could do that, he said. (Of course he did.) And then he appraised her 2013 Honda CR-V and told her he'd give her $7,600 for it.
She was bummed with that trade-in value. I did a quick search on kbb.com and saw he was undervaluing her CR-V by at least $3,000. I wanted to step in and go with her to a dealership and make sure she was treated well. But I live in Michigan and I wasn't sure what I could do, except maybe arm her with better research and give her some confidence.
"Walk out, Mom," I said. "You don't need to buy a car today. Let me help you."
And so she did.
My help
First, I did some quick research on the Forester to see if anything worrisome jumped out. I am a big believer in not overthinking car selection. Generally, people know what they want and are happiest if they spend less time trying to find the "best" choice. Subaru is a good brand. When its vehicles are equipped with EyeSight, they are super safe.
Google revealed nothing alarming, and the vehicle seemed to fit all my mother's needs. Check.
Then I went back to kbb.com to get a more precise value on my mom's CR-V. It has been a while since I've been in her vehicle, so I don't know its condition. I had her send me the mileage (96,000), tell me which options it has and asked her for a rough estimate of its condition. Turns out she had bought the top-of-the-line 2013 model. It was an EX-L with a DVD player. KBB had it valued at $11,081 to $12,572.
Next, I had to figure out if a CD player was even available on the Forester. A year or two ago, my mother expressed a rare moment of outrage when hearing that many automakers are getting rid of CD players. Sure, you can plug in your phone and listen to an audiobook from there, but that's not what my mom was used to. She works in a library. She wants the ease of leaving work with a new book on CD, popping it into the slot and listening to it on her half-hour ride home.
Thankfully, every trim level of the Forester comes with a CD player. Phew.
Straight shooter
So that meant I could try to get my mom's payments down. I could find her a lower trim level that came with EyeSight and a CD player. EyeSight, Subaru's suite of active safety systems that can brake to avoid a collision, is available as an option on two Forester trim levels and standard on the top-of-the-line Touring trim.
I searched online through inventories at dealerships near my mom's house and began emailing the stores. In the emails, I explained that I was helping my mom buy a vehicle, we knew which model she wanted and she had test driven it, we roughly knew how much her vehicle was worth and she wanted to buy close to home so she could get her service done where she bought the vehicle.
This is what happened:
- The dealership closest to her house had a large inventory of Foresters that met our needs. I asked for the price on one, and received an email back encouraging us to come in for a test drive. I reiterated that we did not need a test drive, but that we'd like to talk prices. I did not hear back from the salesman, but the next day started receiving marketing emails from that dealership. Two weeks later, the salesman emailed to ask if I was still interested. I did not respond.
- The next dealership responded to email with a phone call. I had put in a fake phone number in the mandatory box because I did not want to receive calls at work. The saleswoman emailed me to say she'd tried to call, and asked if I had more questions. I emailed back, explaining the situation and again was asked if we wanted to come in for a test drive. I said no thanks.
- I tried carsdirect.com, but was unable to get a price for a vehicle without putting in personal financial data. I felt uncomfortable sharing that information, so I backed out early in the process. But it appears I'm now on the company's email list. More spam for me!
- Next I emailed All American Subaru in Old Bridge, N.J. Within minutes, I received a "Thank you for your email" response. A couple of minutes later, I received an email from the Internet sales representative with a price that was $3,215 below sticker price. It was the first price I received, and it seemed more than fair. I emailed back and forth with the sales manager and felt comfortable that she was a straight shooter. And so, I texted my mom with the saleswoman's information and told her to give this place a try. She made plans to go the next day.
As for the rest of the story, I wasn't in the room so I can't report any details. But my mom left All American Subaru with a new Forester in dark silver, which was the color she wanted. She spent more than I had expected, but still fell on the lower end of her budget.
Most important, she was happy. She didn't feel like she'd been taken advantage of. And she got the vehicle she wanted. And I scored some good-daughter points, which I'll get to keep for a while provided no one tells my mom I wrote this story.
