The deed is done. Yesterday, we signed the loan papers and took delivery of a Dark Red 2002 Honda Odyssey EX-L sans DVD player or navigation system. Going by Edmunds it looks like we got a pretty good deal. The price fell substantially below their dealer retail and even a little below their private party price. I suspect that their prices are overinflated based on other research.
The Wife was up early Saturday and saw an ad in the paper. She called and left and message and I followed up with the kids and checked out the car. I discovered that 5-year-olds aren’t the best people to take with you when shopping for a car. The Boy kept exclaiming things like "We should buy this car, dad!". I could see the seller doing a Mr. Burns, "Eeeexcellent!".
It turns out that the seller lives out in the boonies (somewhere near La Grange), is a retired car salesman, and has a connection through his son at a local dealership to get "creampuff" trade-ins of cars that evidently don’t sell all that well out there. Since he re-sells several cars a year, he’s categorized as a dealer and we unfortunately had to pay TTL whereas we probably would’ve avoided the taxes if he were a private party.
I had the van inspected yesterday by AutoPI who I recommend. I also found out that Austin Telco Credit Union has some of the best local auto loan rates. The bummer is that I went there after the inspection and it turns out that they have coupons for $20 off AutoPI inspections. I think it was well worth what I paid, but $99 sounds much better than $119.
I fully expect the soccer mom/dad minivan comments to start rolling in, so go ahead. I can take it.