Yesterday, I traded my '98 Ford Escort ZX2 (ATX) for an '04 Infiniti G35 Sedan (ATX). I could not be happier (well, maybe if it was a coupe ;] ).. My name is Mark.. I don't know much about car engines but I'm still learning.. more of a fan of car audio, but i guess until recently, I had never been pinned to my seat ;]

I'm an immigrant from www.teamzx2.com, but i love communities in general and i hope to learn as much from you pros as I did from them =]

If you want the story behind my purchasing hell, continue reading, otherwise scroll down for pics! =]

 

So ever since my car's timing belt slipped during a monsoon storm on the 14th of July, my car has never been the same, and has exponentially gotten worse seemingly overnight.

Recently, it was dying almost immediately at stop lights, bucking at any speed, barely getting out of 1st gear, throwing 3 CEL's at once, overheating, eating gas, leaking radiator fluid, etc..

I couldn't take the stress anymore, I honestly felt I was going to die in that car in some horrible accident because of all the stuff going wrong with it..

So 4 days ago, I was surfing craigslist looking for a good car.. So as I’m looking through all these dealership ads, there’s a couple ads for auto-loans..

So I found this one ad with a website called www.1hourautoloan.com .. looked pretty simple, really small interface on the right-hand side, I started filling it out, and then stopped when I got to the point where I was supposed to enter my social security number.. I’m no idiot (no, listen I’m no idiot.. I google’d the website prior to entering my SS#, and I couldn’t find anything about it.. there were 3 pages returned, no reviews, no praise, no complaints, nothing on the Better Business Bureau’s site, nothing at ripoffreport ,just a bunch of ads..

So at 7:00PM on 07/20/08, I take the chance..

At 8:04PM, I have a call from the Earnhardt Dodge center off Baseline and Country Club.. I’ve been approved for a loan

So I went there the next day and was looking for a car with my fair credit, and a dealership offered me 4 different vehicles.. an ‘02 purple malibu, ‘00 black honda accord, a loaded ‘04 blue dodge ram 1500 extended cab, and a plain ‘05 gold dodge ram..

There's no way in heck my brotherly self is gonna be caught dead driving a purple malibu.. A.) it's purple, B.) it's a malibu, C.) it's a PURPLE.. MALIBU..

the honda was appealing considering the accord's status as honda's 'entry-level luxury sedan', but not so attractive on the age (it's only 2 years newer than my ZX2)

the blue RAM was ok on the outside, but the inside looked like people had died in that car, looked like blood stains and whatnot all over the place, in weird places too..

and the gold RAM didn't seat enough people for my liking..

So I thanked the salesman whilst preparing to leave and sat there while he brought me some water.. and a sales manager..

The sales manager asked if I liked any of the vehicles on the lot, and I said "not really.." .. with a surprised look on his face, he said "what did you look at?" (of course, this is all typical commissioned salesman behavior).. I told him the vehicles, and he said "you didn't like the Infiniti?".. I said "I saw the Infiniti, but there's no sticker tag, and it's probably out of my financing range"

“The Infiniti” was a light green '03 G35 sedan, sand interior, premium package, disk brakes all around, 3.5L 6 cylinder engine, 71K miles, but $18K and I didn't think I had been approved to afford it..

"No way" he said continued with "what do you want your payments to be?" (of course)

I told him I'd like to keep it at X amount, a manageable number I had in my head whilst taking into consideration all the savings I'll have when i finish moving on friday..

So he gave me the keys and I test drove it - drove it tenderly off the lot, pedal to the metal, pinned to the seat, and I was sold. Purred like a kitten and ran like a cheetah, THAT's how I wanna roll!

So after 20 minutes, I came back and we started the process of negotiating.. mind you, I had NO down payment, fair credit, and my ZX2 was parked RIGHT in front of the entryway to the dealership, heat waves bending the air above the hood, tires near bald, radiator fluid snaking it's way out into the walk-path, obviously the car is in bad shape.. I'm not expecting to trade it in, I don't think I’ll get much for it, I’d be better off parting it out

So we work numbers for about 5 minutes, and he says "ok, so if I can make this monthly payment roughly the amount you requested, you'll buy the car?"

"Yes," I said, without blinking

"OK, can you sign here stating that?" I signed without hesitation, I knew this wasn't a legal documentation or binding contract to buy, so if I didn't like the final terms, I could back out

"Cool," he says.. "Give me 5 minutes, maybe 10, to talk this over with the finance managers.. I don't see why this will be a problem, using your car as a $5500 trade-in (no joke) bringing the total cost of the Infiniti down from $18.5 to $13K + the TTL and legal fees"

There was no artificially raising the cost of both cars to look like I had a down payment (a method used a lot by sales people to help move inventory), the final cost of the car was going to be $13K + TTL and legal fees.. I was sweating excellence =]

He comes back not 5, not 10, but 20 minutes later, and first thing he says is "bad news.." and I'm like ">:| WHAT?" and he says "the financial guy that I usually use to hook me up with these approvals is gone for the day until noon tomorrow"..

It's like, 5:50PM, I had been there since 2:15PM.. I want this car, and I'm ready to GO

"Well, is there any way I could get in writing that I'm going to be purchasing this car tomorrow?" I ask.. and he says "Unfortunately, I can't do that.. if someone were to pay in cash, we" "THERE GOES MY CAR!" I said while pointing at it leaving the lot! NO! D:< Some jack's test driving MY car! :'(

I'm thinking "[F] this" but calmly say "ok, well, you guys have other lots, can you check them for something comparable to the G35 that I can get approved for?" and he kindly said "absolutely"

I thanked him and went home; I got home 10 minutes later, looked online at their other lots, found nothing of interest, and took a nap

10 hours later, it was time to go to work. I got in my suicide-chamber on wheels, and headed towards work

On my way, I drive by the dealership.. I live on the same street and it's along the route, so I slow down and look around for the Infiniti.. NOTHING

So I go to work and I'm totally depressed.. I tell my coworker the story up to this point and he's like "wow I'm sorry bro" and I say "yea, sux"

So 4 hours later, at 9:30AM, I get a call from the dealership.. This time, it's the finance manager.. he says "yea, I just call the customers that bought a car to make sure they're satisfied with their purchase, and I call the ones that didn't purchase anything and see what we can do to assist them.. so, what happened yesterday? Did you not find a car you were interested in?"

I scoff a bit and say "dude, the financial lender guy wasn't there yesterday, and I was in the process of negotiating terms and conditions with a sales manager for a car and someone else drove it off the lot while I was negotiating.. I don't even know if it's there anymore because I drove by this morning and I didn't see it!"

He says "You mean the Infiniti?" and I said "hell yea the Infiniti D:< .. it's gone man :’("

"Are you sure?" he continues "because it might've just been set aside for you.. I have your file here and it says you were approved!"

WHAT?! .. "Let me go check" he says, and comes back 3 minutes later and says "I'm sorry, that one WAS sold yesterday afternoon right after you left"

"Thanks anyway" I say

"Wait - I'm not done yet"

"what?" I say, obviously disheartened

"Well, as you know this is Earnhardt, and we have several other locations.. I happen to know that at another location, we JUST got a car you might really like that's very similar"

"You gotta be kidding me" I say, because I went home and CHECKED the websites right before I passed out; they had NOTHING I wanted!

"Dude, are you serious?" I ask again

"Yea, haha.. hold on let me call them on the other phone real quick.."

he dials the dealership.. comes back and tells me what it is.. OMG it IS something I like!

"Dude.. is.. I mean.. I don't get out until 2 dude.. I mean.. can I get approved on that one? Will it be there?" I drill him with similar questions for a good 15 seconds before he says:

"Wait wait.. I'm way ahead of you.. I'm faxing your existing approval over there right now, and I'm having them pull the car off the lot just for you"

I'M SWEATIN EXCELLENCE BABY!!! AND I LIKE CABBAGE D:<

Promptly at 2PM, I limp down there in my suicide box (my car dies TWICE on the way, runs out of radiator fluid even though I just filled it yesterday, AND is bucking all the way down in heavy FAST-MOVING TRAFFIC)

I test drive the car they have and LOVE it..

Surprisingly, not only was I approved for the car, they offered me $2500 for my ZX2.. so with 0 money down, slowly improving credit, and a trade-in that's probably gonna make me feel like I indirectly murdered the next person that owns it, I landed a dark silver '04 Infiniti G35 sedan fully loaded power everything, moonroof, 3.5L 6 cylinder, black leather interior, disk brakes, 6-disc changer, this beast even has a tape player (yea baby, kickin it ooold skewl)..

Another thing that really surprised me about this is that the car is 5 years newer than my car, much more powerful, more luxurious, goes faster, etc.. but my insurance only went up like $30 a month for full coverage (sweeet) I love State Farm <333

Let me tell you though, it feels like my shoulders just came off my body, the stress the ZX2 was causing me was ridiculous, and I just never realized it.. I always felt really stressed out when I got into my car, it wasn't like it used to be where I loved being in it just because I could be.. I mean, the ZX2 was scaring the hell out of me..

But now it's all over with.. I have a newer car, and I hope it runs me as well, or better, than the Z did.. here's hoping .. cheers

 

 

I hope you got a better deal on the second one.. because if not.. they used a nice trick to get ya~

 

nm...i thought the first car didn't have a cassette which means it was a 05~06... but.. nm

 

it's all good =] I'm gonna browse the forums for a bit and look over the noobie section and such, and then hit the marketplace and i guess an ICE section... i wanna replace this factory sound system immediately... sounds good with CD's, but there's no way i can live off that