Today Lindsay and I headed out to the Jeep Dodge dealership to check out the Jeep Patriot.  Now we have no intention of buying a new vehicle however I wanted to test drive the vehicle and get a sense of how it drives and handles.  We are looking for a used version of the patriot, probably the 2009 Limited version because that will be in our budget in June.  Since we will be debt free and starting to actually make money and be in the black we will pay cash for this new vehicle and that is a great feeling.

Today really opened my eyes to how car salesmen use people’s excitement to get them to buy a car they probably had no intention of buying that particular day.  Now I’m not saying everyone does this but I can see how people get sucked in and also end up paying more than their budget (if they even have one).  I honestly believe people don’t have someone they can bounce their ideas off of.  Really I feel they lack mentorship.  That’s where the whole ridiculous consumer debt comes from, people making stupid decisions.  People feel they deserve a new car, they feel entitled.  Its that line of thinking that has this country in the highest debt levels it’s never seen for a very long time.

When shopping for a new car or even a used car, take the emotion out of it.  Have a predetermined budget of what you can afford.  Do your research so that you can steer the conversation when discussing the vehicle.  So many people have no idea the stats of the vehicle they are looking at, this gives the salesperson the upper hand.  Have the upper hand so that you don’t cecum to the excitement and find yourself signing papers you never meant to.