Still Waiting

To say that the search for our new vehicle has gone smoothly would be quite the understatement. After we travelled down to Regina a couple weeks ago to get a few things straightened out we thought we had it 'in the bag' with the new vehicle.

We had picked out the colour, the options and everything was a go. Of course our dealer didn't have the vehicle we wanted in stock but they assured us they could get our wanted vehicle. Then on second thought they advised they'd better call the other dealer to ensure they could do a swap. After a few minutes, the salesman came back and assured us the other dealer was fine with the swap and he'd let us know when our vehicle arrived.

A week later and the phone rings early this morning to advise that the original dealer has now decided they would not honour the swap and that was that. So we were back to square one trying to finding a vehicle that would suit our purposes and desires. Dang, but I was one unhappy camper and I let the salesman know my feelings.

However, I bit my tongue and told the salesman that I'd think over my options and give him a call back in an hour or so and that maybe we'd have to think of a different model (with a different dealer). Then I cooled my heals in the shower and had a thunk of what I wanted to do.

Originally we had nixed the idea of having a sun roof in the vehicle. After all this is Saskatchewan and who needs to be staring up at the hot sun beating down on you. So when I called the salesman back (55 minutes after his call), his first suggestion was that he had a vehicle that was near what we wanted. It was the right colour and all, but it also had a 'Sun and Sound' package installed. Now it didn't have running boards which were one of the only options that we really wanted. Sam is finding it a bit hard to climb into the vehicle of late and the thought that the boards would definitely help her. So when the salesman called and advised no boards, I was a bit pee o'd with him. He assured me that the dealer could install the boards no problem. My retort was 'yah sure at what cost?'. Well the boards run about $500 or so and then there is the charge to install them. Yup it will probably be about an extra $600 to $650. However the guy stated that for sure they had the colour we wanted (moondust metallic). I advised him to go do this thing with his manager, find the final price, availability of the boards, etc and to give me a call back. He assured me he'd call with 30 minutes.

When the phone rang and I saw it was the salesman, I let the phone ring a few extra times before I picked up the phone. After talking to his boss, the salesman assured me that they could match our previous cost price with the exception of the running boards, but the company was willing to 'eat' the cost of the boards as they had jacked us around for a week or so.

So the new vehicle will have the 'Sun and Sound' package with a sun roof, XM Radio, Bose stereo/amp, 6 CD disk changer and whatnot along with a set of running boards. Now you have to remember the vehicle is not basic model so it has quite a few upgrades already from the basic model. So even though I'm not a real fan of the sun roof, I can probably live with it. It is the colour that Sandra and I had wanted from day one, so for that we are thankful. Of course we could have searched around for another vehicle of another colour, but once you have your heart set on one colour it is darn hard to change your decision.

So I finally gave my approval to 'go ahead' with this new vehicle. When asked when I may expect the vehicle to show up in Regina, the salesman wasn't too committed to an exact date. However, he did say he was going to get right to work getting it set up for transport. He advised it could be as early as Monday evening, however, mid week would probably be a closer bet. I then impressed on him that I would certainly like a phone call when he had something concrete to advise (ie suggested shipping date) as well as a further call when the darn thing actually arrives in Regina. After all, I do have to make arrangements to travel to Regina to pick up the vehicle, get the insurance changed over, etc. The salesman stated he most definitely would be complying with my requests.

So now we sit for another couple of days waiting for the new vehicle to finally arrive in Regina.

What things some folks will do to get that 'new vehicle' smell in their lives :)