So I started assembling a candidate list of 'next car' in case I got the green light from the finance minister of the household, my darling wife Darlene. The plan was to buy our next vehicle without going into debt, because being as close as we are to retirement, we don't want any debts hanging over our heads anymore. So, in March 2022, we went car shopping. [sigh] Like I need to tell you guys, this is the absolute worst time in history to go car shopping. We just felt it was necessary to see what was out there and begin to narrow down the field.
Used cars are the worst possible option, as their average value has been inflated by as much as 35% over book because of lack of supply. It has gotten so bad that the moment you even hint that you might be selling your used car, the vultures are hovering at your door trying to wrestle it out of your hands.
We also knew that getting a new car was not going to be a quick, painless process, because the chip shortage and supply chain issues has plagued the vehicle manufacturing system, especially in Asia. So we knew this was going to take a while. May as well start now.
My candidate list was made up of both cars and small SUVs. When we got to our first dealership, we realized right away that a regular car wasn't going to work for us anymore. Darlene and I are getting older now, and that means the body's not as flexible as it used to be. Getting in and out of a low riding sedan was not fun, especially for her. Well, there was half of the candidate list eliminated.
Next we tried some SUVs. The primary consideration for choosing a solid contender was Darlene's seating comfort. She has fibromyalgia and if the passenger seat can't be adjusted to the right angle to get pressure points off of her thighs, it's a non starter. Manual adjustment isn't likely to cut it, it has to be power adjustable. We tried the only Honda SUV that would meet our needs and she couldn't get it to 'fit'. (LOL see what I did there? Honda 'fit'?) The CR-V didn't pass muster, and I was kind of relieved because I'm not a big fan of it anyway. That's when we said goodbye to Honda and moved on.
I had the Mazda CX-30 in mind as the one I wanted at the top of my list, but I knew it would be a hard sell as the passenger seat was not power adjustable. But we tried it. No go. But I didn't give up on Mazda just yet. I got her to try a CX-5. She was able to get the seat where she needed it. Success after only 4 tries! Now for the next question, would I want this for my next vehicle? It was time to take it for a long test drive.
I loved it. Even though it was the non-turbo version, it had enough power. It was slightly bigger than what we need but didn't feel like a boat, like some other SUVs I've sat in. It was well appointed and I was familiar enough with the model to know which trim level I would want. So, we made the decision to go for it.
We picked our colour, we scored a few discounts, we put down our deposit, and were told it would be about 6 weeks, maybe more, to get the car. LOL. I almost believed that for a minute. Thank goodness we didn't actually 'need' the car at this point. I feel sorry for anyone who needs a new car right now, because there's really no such thing as 'right now' anymore. Some folks are being told 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, maybe you'll get the next year's model by the time you actually see a car. This is because the supply shortage is doing such a number on the manufacturing line, that some manufacturers are considering shutting down all 2022 production, letting supply build up again, then restarting the factory on 2023 models instead. Seriously folks, it's a jungle out there.
At one point, after around the middle of May, almost 8 weeks after the order was placed, I called my sales guy for an update. He said that the situation with dealer allocations of finished cars had not improved, so be ready not to see a car before July. Disappointing, but what can you do?
Then, at the beginning of June, I got a call from my sales guy. He wanted to know if we were willing to accept a colour other than the one we had chosen, a nice deep, dark metallic blue, which had been chosen by Darlene. I said that it would depend on what colour they were offering. He offered machine grey metallic. This was secretly my first choice. I asked Darlene if she would be OK with it and she was. So we switched colour. The salesperson said that the blue was not being made very much anymore so allocations in that colour were now rare, and were looking like they could take months to appear. But the new colour choice would give us our car much sooner. We had no idea how soon.
2 weeks later, almost to the day, I get a phone call telling me our car is at the dealership. We picked it up two days later.
So all in all, we waited 3 months for a new car. And I consider that very, very fortunate compared to the horror stories I had been hearing. I was also worried that the dealership would pull a fast one and dramatically inflate the price of the vehicle when it arrived, but they did not. The price had gone up, but only by $400, and we got an upgraded stereo for that extra money. No complaints here.
We also knew that getting a new car was not going to be a quick, painless process, because the chip shortage and supply chain issues has plagued the vehicle manufacturing system, especially in Asia. So we knew this was going to take a while. May as well start now.
My candidate list was made up of both cars and small SUVs. When we got to our first dealership, we realized right away that a regular car wasn't going to work for us anymore. Darlene and I are getting older now, and that means the body's not as flexible as it used to be. Getting in and out of a low riding sedan was not fun, especially for her. Well, there was half of the candidate list eliminated.
Next we tried some SUVs. The primary consideration for choosing a solid contender was Darlene's seating comfort. She has fibromyalgia and if the passenger seat can't be adjusted to the right angle to get pressure points off of her thighs, it's a non starter. Manual adjustment isn't likely to cut it, it has to be power adjustable. We tried the only Honda SUV that would meet our needs and she couldn't get it to 'fit'. (LOL see what I did there? Honda 'fit'?) The CR-V didn't pass muster, and I was kind of relieved because I'm not a big fan of it anyway. That's when we said goodbye to Honda and moved on.
I had the Mazda CX-30 in mind as the one I wanted at the top of my list, but I knew it would be a hard sell as the passenger seat was not power adjustable. But we tried it. No go. But I didn't give up on Mazda just yet. I got her to try a CX-5. She was able to get the seat where she needed it. Success after only 4 tries! Now for the next question, would I want this for my next vehicle? It was time to take it for a long test drive.
I loved it. Even though it was the non-turbo version, it had enough power. It was slightly bigger than what we need but didn't feel like a boat, like some other SUVs I've sat in. It was well appointed and I was familiar enough with the model to know which trim level I would want. So, we made the decision to go for it.
We picked our colour, we scored a few discounts, we put down our deposit, and were told it would be about 6 weeks, maybe more, to get the car. LOL. I almost believed that for a minute. Thank goodness we didn't actually 'need' the car at this point. I feel sorry for anyone who needs a new car right now, because there's really no such thing as 'right now' anymore. Some folks are being told 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, maybe you'll get the next year's model by the time you actually see a car. This is because the supply shortage is doing such a number on the manufacturing line, that some manufacturers are considering shutting down all 2022 production, letting supply build up again, then restarting the factory on 2023 models instead. Seriously folks, it's a jungle out there.
At one point, after around the middle of May, almost 8 weeks after the order was placed, I called my sales guy for an update. He said that the situation with dealer allocations of finished cars had not improved, so be ready not to see a car before July. Disappointing, but what can you do?
Then, at the beginning of June, I got a call from my sales guy. He wanted to know if we were willing to accept a colour other than the one we had chosen, a nice deep, dark metallic blue, which had been chosen by Darlene. I said that it would depend on what colour they were offering. He offered machine grey metallic. This was secretly my first choice. I asked Darlene if she would be OK with it and she was. So we switched colour. The salesperson said that the blue was not being made very much anymore so allocations in that colour were now rare, and were looking like they could take months to appear. But the new colour choice would give us our car much sooner. We had no idea how soon.
2 weeks later, almost to the day, I get a phone call telling me our car is at the dealership. We picked it up two days later.
So all in all, we waited 3 months for a new car. And I consider that very, very fortunate compared to the horror stories I had been hearing. I was also worried that the dealership would pull a fast one and dramatically inflate the price of the vehicle when it arrived, but they did not. The price had gone up, but only by $400, and we got an upgraded stereo for that extra money. No complaints here.
So now our original car is my daily driver to keep from racking up the mileage on the new vehicle. Once that car no longer becomes practical, we won't have to wait 6 months to get its replacement.
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