26 Miles

I’m Not Taking It Anymore! – Redux

// August 20th, 2005 // Life

Well….the Mazda didn’t work out. It started dying at red-lights when idling, so I took it back. Let me be the first to again commend Carmax on their 5-day return policy. They of course wanted to know why I wanted to return it and after discussing it they agreed it wasn’t the car for me. I never felt pressured in any way and they seemed intent on making me happy, almost with a sense of urgency. It took a day to bring my trade-in back from across town but the actual “undoing” of the sale was all very quick, less than 45 minutes. I had to sign a total of three pieces of paper to undo the transaction. A refund check will be cut to me for my down payment and mailed to me within 10 days. Again, hooray CarMax!

I had forgotten about a business contact I had whose mother was the Internet Sales Manager at the local Toyota dealership. So after getting my truck back, I drove around the corner to the Toyota dealership. I already own a 2003 Toyota Highlander so I’m already sold on Toyota quality, I just had to see what kind of deal I would get. With the discount I received from my “inside” connection, I ended up getting a 2005 Toyota Camry LE for $186 over invoice. On top of that they threw in $2500 in rebates so I ended up paying only ~$17k for the car. I’m incredibly pleased and a new Camry beats a 6-year-old car anytime.

I’ll still save ~$1200/yr based on the difference in payment and gas savings over my truck. Plus I get a new car out of the deal.