Car shopping

We have finally begun the search for cars. And what a trip it is!! First there are no big lots of cars for you to browse through and peek in the windows, not stickers to read the price, of course. It is definately a formal adventure. When we walked into the dealership, we were greeted by a receptionist. She took our information and introduced us to a salesperson. All well and fine....would you like a drink of water, coffee, pop? Normal question here as it is so dry and you always seem to be thirsty. Yes, we take the water. Well, that means you now sit at a desk and discuss what you are looking for, even if you already knew what car you want to see. The sales person shows you to the vehicle in the showroom and stands by your side and explains every little button...helpful. We are looking for automatic transmissions as driving on the roads here is as hazardous as me driving a race car in a race! I have enough to think about just avoiding the crazy drivers and trying to figure out where I am going. The sineage is quite a difference. Sometimes the sign for an exit is after the exit! We found out, you can get all the airbags, front, side, curtains feet, in standard cars only. The automatic ones tend to only have front airbags. OK So do I want to save my life by being able to keep all my attention on the road or just hope and pray the airbags work??? We opt for the automatic and find that a slightly bigger car has the chance of more airbags. There are models of cars we do not have in the US and may of the ones in the US are not available down here.
Oh, you want to test drive the car?? Well, that is not possible of course, you need to make an appointment and come back on another day. And so we did. Talk about a time taker!! We entered the dealership and skipped the water this time...getting smarter!! Now you don't get to drive the car you are specifically looking for. You get to drive their demo car and imagine what it would be like to have the seat that goes up and down. Just imagine what your visibility would be! First, the agent must drive the car to show you how and to work all the features. Then you are allowed to drive, with him in the backseat of course, on their designated route. The better the car, the shorter the route. And did I mention, we were testing two cars in each dealership. One for Mark and one for me. Mine first. Next we drive Mark's . The agent decided she could let Mark drive without doing it first. Mark drove his directly off the showroom floor, as there isn't a demo model for the nicer cars, only the floor model. I think he got to drive it for 6-8 miles. Imagine how that engine might be when climbing a hill or how comfortable the ride must be when you drive over all the cobblestone roads in your neighborhood! Upon return, we had to go in, sit down and discuss what we thought of the car, having a drink. Thought we were And of course talk about how we are going to love that vehicle and how are we planning on paying?? Finally after a couple hours, we are free to go, but they kno, we will be back to buy that car!! We just don't know that.
After a weekend and a couple weekdays, we managed to make it through Honda, Chevy, Ford and Nissan. We are down to Nissan Sentra, Honda Civic, Honda Fit for me. And the Nissan Altima and the Honda Accord. My decison is...Do I want the fun car (FIT) the safe car (Civic 6 airbags) or the smoothest riding (Sentra). Help if you have an opinion!! Mark is still working on his decision too.
Oh yes, and two days after Mark test drove the Altima, the salesperson showed up at the Makino office with "HIS" car!! Nice touch! But he hadn't made up his mind and neither had Makino!