Car Rant

We are in the market for another vehicle.  I am so frustrated with the process that I could just scream...actually I think I have a couple of times already.  We have been looking for far longer than I ever imagined and right now I think I would rather walk everywhere the rest of my life than to go into another dealership!  Here are just a FEW of my issues.

• Why can't a salesman simply tell you how much a vehicle costs?  Joe and I saved up a certain amount of money to purchase a vehicle with and we know that we do not want to go over that amount.  If a salesman knows my price limit from the time I walk in the door, why on earth would they show me a vehicle that is worth twice what I am willing to spend?  If I ask how much a vehicle costs, I do not want to hear "Just take her for a drive and see how you like it...we will work something out."  If I hear that one more time I just may punch someone in the face.  It may not be very Christian of me, but that is where I am right now!
• Why do salesmen look straight past me but greet my husband with a handshake and a smile?  Especially when I am the one carrying the purse with the checkbook.
• Since when did salesmen turn into bankers and car lots turn into credit agencies?  I can't even tell you the number of times we have heard a salesman ask us to use the money that we have saved as a down payment and just finance the rest of the ridiculously overpriced vehicle.  When we refuse, they are quick to assure us that they finance everyone, and it does not matter even if we have horrible credit, that they will find a way to get us in that vehicle.  HELLO!!! We have fine credit, and we have it because we have avoided financing things that we know we can not pay for!
• What is up with all of the car lots with signs that read "Buy here, Pay here"?  I just don't get it.  If I am going to purchase something then I think it would only be appropriate if I paid for the item at the same location.
• Why do salesmen feel the need to lie?  I am no good at telling when someone is shooting me a line, but even I can tell that some of these salesmen are lying though their teeth.  Especially when they contradict themselves in the same sentence.
• What makes a vehicle that has had only one owner any better than a vehicle that has had two?  Why is it that all used vehicles have been recently traded in by a little old lady who only drove it back and forth to church?
• And last but not least, why is it that men love to go shopping for vehicles?  I am pulling my hair out and Joe is having the time of his life. 

So there you have it, my car rant.  Believe it or not, I actually feel a little better.  I may not need to punch that salesman in the face after all.