Two weeks ago, I went for a couple of test drives.
I had an appointment at Roush Honda around noon to check out the new 2019 CR-V. Honestly, my service there was unmatched. Zack LaChapelle was great! (If you are in Columbus and in the market, check him out if you are looking for a new car or a lease. Angel Milanov if you are looking for used. Also, Roush Honda is the only employee owned Honda.) We talked about all the features and went over the checklist of things that I knew I wanted and needed in a new vehicle.
You have to realize that I am on the road just about every day that I am working. With my job, I am running all across town. Just last week, I was up in Mt. Vernon one day, down in Grove City the next couple of days, and running appointments in Powell, Westerville, and Columbus in between. I put almost 50k miles on my Cruze in about two and a half years. So I had been doing some preliminary looking for about six months into small SUV’s that have good fuel economy, cargo space, and all of the driver safety features to make me feel safe.
So we’ve gone over my checklist, and he is showing me all about the features that I’ve asked for and ones that I didn’t know I would want. Like a programmable liftgate, adjustable lumbar, telescopic steering wheel, etc. I’m over like uh huh, yea, sounds great. Then I get in and I’m driving around the city streets and on the highway and I’m already sitting there like “This is my car!”. I’m comfortable and I feel safe.
I head back to the showroom to talk numbers and boy talking was an understatement. What I want and what I was willing to spend were coming in at two different ends of the spectrum. I was looking at the brand new EX-L and that was going to not just double my payment, but TRIPLE it. Double was what I was expecting. Which hey might have been fine if I were in a relationship, living with someone,etc. But I don’t!
I’m sitting here reevaluating my list. Do I need leather? Not necessarily, but is a definite bonus. Apple suite? I’ve been connecting with my auxiliary card already. I trim what I can without sacrificing the things that I consider a necessity, but I lose the Honda sensing features which was one that I definitely wanted.
Zack already knew that I wasn’t going to be buying anything that day. For his patience and honestly, I was entirely grateful. But I left knowing where I needed to be to make my budget work and confident in whatever decision I was going to make.
After I left Roush, I went to one of the Toyota dealerships in my area and had an experience the opposite of what I had at Roush. I had sent email inquiries back before Christmas about the Rav4 and the associate I had been corresponding with was out for her honeymoon. She forwarded my information to another associate. Who guess what? Wasn’t there! The guy literally had no idea what I was talking about. Just gave me the keys and let me be.
I had originally went in thinking that the Rav4 was what I ultimately wanted, but boy was I wrong. I didn’t like it all! I got some weird feedback when I was driving. I couldn’t get comfortable in the seat or the steering wheel to where I was well adjusted. It just wouldn’t get to the height that I wanted. I felt like I had this awkward extension in my arms to reach the wheel. To say the least, it just felt off.
Over the next week, I went for test drives of the Chevy Equinox. While nice, just doesn’t get the fuel economy that I wanted, unless I got diesel. The Trax cargo space was too small for my needs. Plus a couple others; they just didn’t compare to what I would be getting with the CR-V.
Sometimes, they say when you know, you know. And well, I knew.
It took me about a week and some looking at used 2017/2018 stock to find it. I happened to come across a 2017 Honda CR-V EX-L with 16 miles on it! Let’s repeat that. 16 miles! Talk about fortunate. It put me in the price range I wanted to be in, but allowed me to get all of the features that I wanted. No sacrifice needed. It seemed kismet!
So I said “Bye” to Charli, and “Hello!” to Eleanor.
Amy Hardesty 