Today or tomorrow I might buy my Mirage

[Top_Fuel]

I've never negotiated by email ... I have to think about that. I really want to see the car I'm buying in person as opposed to on cars.com.

Look...you can still use this approach even if you're buying from a dealer that's 5 minutes from your house. I spent plenty of time looking at Mirages at a local Mitsubishi dealer...I just didn't go when they were open. Once I knew the specific model/transmission/color I wanted, then it was just a matter of finding the best deal within a reasonable distance.

When I bought my Mirage, the sales guy knew when I was coming to do the paperwork. He already had it cleaned up and sitting in front of the showroom ready for me to inspect before we did any paperwork. For me, the worst case scenario was that something was wrong with the car and I would have to drive back home in my rental car.

I've purchased my last 4 cars this way and it's the only way I'll do it from now on. I will never sit in another dealership across the desk from a sales guy and his manager playing the "What's it gonna take to get you in this car today?" game.


On another note...

Cruise control was a must-have item...so the base model was out for me. I know it can be added, but it still requires $200 of parts and a bunch of programming grief. In the end, I felt the extra $1,300 for all the extras was well-spent.