I traded in my 07 Toyota Yaris and got one of these diesel Jeep Patriots that I have been talking about. I had no choice but to get it in silver, so it looks like this:

I feel like I got a reasonable deal but when I look back I am disappointed that I didn’t ask for another $1,000 or my trade in. The price tag on the car was $32,990. It had been reduced from around $40,000. It is an 07 model with 08 plates so it was kind of old and really they just wanted to get rid of it. This is how the negotiation went (and it was somewhat difficult because the dealer I was dealing with would not tell me what his best price was. I asked him twice and he still wouldn’t say anything!):

Me: I’d like to pay $30,500 for the Patriot and get $13,000 for my trade-in
Dealer: This is the Limited version of the vehicle, its got leather seats, a sunroof and the freedom pack. If you can go up $1,000 more …
Me: Okay, look that sounds reasonable. Let’s do that.

What I should have said was (and this is what I had written down as my second offer so I have no idea why I didn’t follow my plan with the second offer!):

Me: I’d like to pay $30,500 for the Patriot and get $13,000 for my trade-in
Dealer: This is the Limited version of the vehicle, its got leather seats, a sunroof and the freedom pack. If you can go up $1,000 more …
Me: Well if you want me to pay $31,500 for the Patriot then you have to pay me $14,000 for my trade-in.

Doh! Why didn’t I follow-through with the plan. I could have saved myself $1,000. Anyway, at least it’s a lesson for the next time that I buy a new car. This time around it went much better than the very first time I brought a new car (the Yaris that I just traded-in) when I was told that they can’t reduce the price on cars that are paid through finance (which through this process of buying another car appears to be a load of bullshit!) so I ended up paying full price and got stuck with a horrible hire purchase interest rate through the dealeship’s own finance company. And they gave me a rotten insurance premium too. Blah to them!

Anyway, I’m picking up the new car on Wednesday next week and when I drove the new car home I’ll never see my zippy Black Toyota Yaris again *cry*.