Art Herrick : The Rover (Rover 80, 90, 2000 and LandRover) is the world's worst car ! I'll never forget that.. What has happened in England to their automobile industry is a crying shame. And the same could happen to us ! Leaving all this ranting aside, the single most important thing is the quality of service and availability of parts at a reasonable cost.. IMO, the English do seem to know how to paint a motor vehicle - if nothing else...

Thanks for the reply, Joe. My husband took it to our mechanic who said, "You don't want this car." I'm not sure what was wrong, but I guess it wasn't so good under the hood. We revamped our criteria, and ended up buying a 2009 Hyundai Sonata for well under KBB. And our mechanic could only find a couple scratches underneath. It's now our newest car, 2nd best gas mileage, mostly driven by son and husband. I continue to drive the boring white Sienna...sigh.

I like your idea of shouting your reply to an "associate" in a store (read, "salesperson") when they approach you with an introductory question! And telling your reason, of course. Including, of course, it's effect on you. If on my leaving his store with empty hands a manager gave me the gears (especially if done in a loud voice), I'd turn back and walk right up to him, telling him that when I'm looking for a major purchase, I want to check out the various possibilities at length before deciding to purchase. And that, in the light of what he had just done, the possibility of my returning to his store had just slipped down several notches ... that I'd be likely to return only on condition that he was offering something that I really wanted very badly. Otherwise ... his store was, as of now, out of the running. And may you have a good day, sir ... I wouldn't want to leave you on a note of rudeness! ole joyful

When I got home at 6:15 yesterday I found I'd received an email from the Honda Fit salesperson, who sent me a price quote, a PDF attachment, at 5 p.m. I had dealt with him over the phone one day earlier and sent him a long email after the call. -!- Yes, the email was based on the draft above, and modified in ways that reflected comments above. I can post it if people want. His message: "Thank you for the detailed email. Here is a price." At 6:30 I emailed back and phoned (leaving message) saying we'd be available downtown around 7:30 p.m. for the test drive he wanted us to do. I live downtown. A similar story: Yesterday I called the Suzuki retailer closest to me and spoke to a salesperson. Ten minutes at 10 a.m. Before 12 noon I sent email to the manager for him to forward to the salesperson. The same long email modified as per feedback received. The salesperson called me back at 2:30; his price was $X thousand lower than the web price. He agreed with me that this was just the "over the phone" price with a stranger so the real price would be even lower than that. After calling him again at 4 he was expecting me to confirm later whether he'd see us that same evening. I sent email at 6:30 asking if it was reasonable to expect him to pick me up and drive another mile to fetch my wife who was finishing work. In other words, if the test drive could start at my wife's workplace or at my place. That email was also sent to the manager's email address, for him to see and discuss with the salesperson. Then I called and asked him the same thing. He went to get the email and consult his manager, and got back to me. No go. At 7:30 p.m. I was at his front door showing him my drivers' license while standing a few feet inside the front door. He gestured to a chair and I said "No time, remember we're driving now to go pick up my wife." He walked over to a floor model to show me things, and I said "You'll show all this to my wife when we get her into the vehicle, right? So let's get going." We left to go pick up my wife. The manager observed from the distance and did not approach. Minutes after picking up my wife, I was driving and my cell phone rang. It was the Honda Fit salesperson getting back to me at 7:50 p.m. Can't talk now, thank you for the email, bye-bye. I drove the three of us back to the Suzuki showroom, my wife drove a second vehicle, and then we did all sit down. Since he used silence as a closing tool, my wife resisted him. --- The best way to save money is to avoid spending money. (An SX-4 at $X deprec./year, plus insurance, plus gas, plus maintenance, etc) We still have our ten year old car depreciating at $1700 per year (bought used) and have never paid for major repairs for it yet. Since last year we now belong to a car sharing service. We've used it a few times. Compare A to B: A. carsharing service, regular car rental service, taxis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carsharing) B. owning a car Conclusion: A is way better. My wife was frustrated with our current situation. Now she is happy. She was the one who said "A" is way better after we went for a walk around the duck pond in the park. At 10 p.m. I feel now I've come as far as I needed to on Tuesday, 48 hours ago. We'll go rent a Versa or a Fit for our vacations. To try it out. I'll look into inventories visible on the web. Thank you!