Eric is a Good Negotiator

We're looking at getting a new car for the baby. We currently drive a 1998 Nissan Altima that my parents gave to us for free. Free! My mother had fit of overconcern last week in which she demanded that we buy a new car because a 1998 Nissan Altima is apparently a death trap for babies and/or pregnant women. Who knew?

While not looking forward to having car payments again, I was happy to agree to her demands. I would feel safer with my new baby in a new car. Also, the Altima is stinky, despite many professional cleanings and steam cleaning of all surfaces. We decided we may as well get a bigger car, something with more heft. We went the way of my parents and settled on a Toyota RAV4. It has a ton of cargo room and an optional V6 engine! Plus it's very very roomy inside. And it's not weirdly ugly like the new Honda CRV.

We are just in time to get the very last of the 2007 models before the 2008 models come out. This may be a good bargaining situation. Our friend Luke's mom is apparently an animal at bargaining for cars. We got Luke to ask for her advice, and she said to decide on exactly what you want, decide exactly what you want to pay for it, and then just keep asking. Eric took this advice very literally.

As reference, the little Mazda Protege5 we used to lease cost nearly $400/month.

A 2007 RAV4 Limited model with a V6 engine (according to the website) costs $525.74/month to lease, with $5000 down.

Eric got on the phone with a salesperson who had this car on his lot.

Eric: I want to pay $300.
Salesman: ...I'm sorry, what?
Eric: I want to pay $300 a month for this car.
Salesman: Are you serious?
Eric: Yes. I am serious.
Salesman: (punches in some numbers on his calculator) But you'd have to put down $14,000 in order to pay $300 a month!
Eric: Yes, I don't want to do that either. I just want to pay $300 a month.
Salesman: Umm...
Eric: I stand firm at $300.
Salesman: (punches in some numbers on his calculator) Okay, no way. You're asking me for like a $10,000 discount. We only make a $3059 profit on this car. Call me back when you've thought about it.
Eric: Okay.

Eric thought about it overnight and decided he still wanted to pay $300 a month for the car. He just called the salesman back, and is once again trying once to get our car for $300 a month. His one concession is that we don't need the V6 engine.

We'll see how that goes.