Yep, you read that right. We bought 2 SUVs in 1 week!
Before I discuss what happened, I should address why we were looking for a new car in the first place. DJ has a 2007 Chrysler Sebring that he has driven since…2007. It’s 12 years old and currently has 179,207 miles on it with a perpetual engine issue that we refuse to fix every month.
What’s wrong with it? Well, we honestly don’t know. But after putting $2,000 into it (to fix multiple mechanical issues) just to have the
But wait, there’s more:
- The dashboard hasn’t worked in years and DJ has been driving around with a flashlight to see the controls.
- The cigarette lighter no longer provides power.
- The car’s brake light dings whenever you go over a bump.
- It loves to putter and skip if you drive it further than 2 miles.
So yes, it was time to buy a new car and we have been preparing for this over the last 2 years. We decided that we wanted our next car to be an SUV and that’s exactly what we searched for and ended up buying. Our process took about one month. We wrote a full blog post on car buying tips, so make sure you check that out!
First Attempt
Many people think that we’re cheap and never have an inkling to spend money. This couldn’t be further from the truth! We are just intentional with our money and prefer to only spend on things that truly add to our lives.
Our SUV non-negotiables:
- Leather
- Like new
- Safety Features
- Android Auto
- Comfortable seats (We love driving)
- Not too big and not too small
- Dependable
- Sexy (If we were still broke, we’d buy an ugly car but we have the freedom to buy sexy)
- Automatic Trunk
- Under warranty
- Has to be grey or silver (my first car was silver, my current car was silver so leave me alone lol)
Our top picks were the Hyundai Tuscon, Mercedes GLA, BMW X1,
We set aside time on a Saturday to go look at a few places that had the cars we were interested in. We went to the Hyundai dealership first because I found a coupon for a $50 gift card in exchange for a test drive. I swear, we had to work HARD for that darn $50. They were super-pushy, annoying, and hard of hearing. They ignored everything we said but wouldn’t let us walk away in peace. We did test drive a 2019 Tuscon, but we didn’t want to buy a brand new car so we left.
Next up, CarMax. If you want to browse cars in peace, go here. People aren’t harassing you and every car is unlocked so you can hop in and look around as much as you want. I saw a few things that I liked but most of the SUVs weren’t a good fit.
What We Bought First
We ended up at a BMW dealership because I saw a Certified 2016 BMW X1 for a ridiculously cheap price. Of course, when we got there, the freaking thing wasn’t on the lot 🙄 but a similar one was there and we fell in love. We test drove it and ended up buying the darn thing on the spot.
Here’s the catch though, that particular dealership had a 7-day, no questions asked, return policy. They let us drive a loaner home (same exact model we bought) that night while we waited for our X1 to arrive at the lot. It took us less than 24 hours to realize that we actually hated the BMW interface.
It was already outdated, difficult to use, and had no option for Android Auto or Sirius XM (even though the dealer claimed it did). We also hated that BMW’s expected maintenance costs are sky-high.
When they called the next day and told us that our car had finally arrived, we drove our Honda as well, dropped that SUV off, and canceled that contract on the spot.
They probably weren’t too happy about that, but we definitely were! 🤷🏽♀️
Fast Forward 1 Week
We did a ton more research, got super clear on our goals, and went back out the following weekend. I sat my butt in every SUV on the market, kind of like Cinderella’s shoe being passed around her village.
Once it started getting late, I reluctantly asked DJ if he wanted to go to Acura. We knew we loved the RDX but they hold value like none other so we didn’t want to be disappointed if we couldn’t afford what we wanted.
We ended up going to Acura anyway and wound up leaving with the exact SUV we wanted. It literally matched everything on our list so we walked out with our baby that night. Somehow, they even agreed to let us put a large portion of the transaction on our credit card. We obviously have the money in the bank to cover the cost, but getting cash back points out of the deal was
This post really has no purpose other than to say that we’re really thankful to be in a position where we can buy what we want and not have to settle. Some people buy $100+ shoes, spend $12,000 a year on eating out or pay $30,000 a year on child care. People have the right to spend on what they believe brings value to their lives. We bought an SUV that we love and can keep for
Hope you enjoyed this random story!
– $tay Wealthy Fam!
I always thought that BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Range Rovers would be reliable. Until I started doing some research on the internet and realized they were all junk. Well maybe not junk,just very expensive to fix. Seems like the opposite of what I would think a luxury brand would be. Doug demuro has a great video on his bumper-to- bumper warranty on his Range Rover. In which he goes over the many issues they had to fix on his vehicle. Then there’s the depreciation. Yikes! Talk about a knife in the back. Maybe since it’s a luxury brand it’s a gold-plated… Read more »