Choosing the Right Car For You

Everyone that you come across seems to have thatsalesman told me that I would be able to afford the
one story of how they made a mistake in theJeep with no money down and that the new Jeep
purchase of at least one car that they've owned.would be better than the old one because it was
Similarly, I also have a sad tale of car woes thatnewer and had a great sound system as well as the
resulted from a hasty decision a few years ago.full towing package, etc. While it didn't have the
I tend to harp on certain things, and one thing that Isunroof that my last Jeep had, everything else
cannot seem to forget (because I am still paying forseemed fine. I jumped on the opportunity. I believed
it-literally) is a purchase that I made a few years agothat this salesman, who was a father and had a
involving a brand new Jeep. I had just graduatedfamily, was actually looking out for my best interests.
from the police academy when the lease on my JeepSo, foolishly (and much to the chagrin of my mother
was up. I only had a few weeks to decide what Iand brother who had tried to counsel me via phone),
was going to do. Was I going to keep the JeepI purchased the Jeep. No sooner had I driven off of
(which had been purchased brand new) or was Ithe parking lot of the dealership, I noticed that the air
going to trade it in and get something different?conditioning wasn't working properly. Little did I know
Previously, my father had bought the leased Jeep forthat that summer would be the beginning of what
me as a graduation gift from college, and he hadwould later translate into a lot of trips up to that
warned me that once the lease was up, I was goingJeep dealership for maintenance issues and repairs.
to have to make the decision to either take over theWith the last Jeep that I had owned, I never had a
payments or trade it back in and purchase a car onproblem- not even so much as a flat tire. However,
my own. It was time to grow up I guess. However,with the next Jeep that I owned, you name it- and I
looking back to how I thought back then, this wasn'thad a problem with it. Thankfully, most of the issues
necessarily how I viewed it.were covered under the warranty. But when the
Instead, I felt rushed, and living hundreds of milesprice of gasoline skyrocketed that summer that I
away from my family didn't help either. I brought onebought it and later on when I saw that the warranty
lackluster friend (whom I no longer speak to) withwas almost up and that I could no longer afford to
me to a few dealerships in the area, and after whatdrive the Jeep around, I sought the help of my
I thought was a long deliberation, I hastily decided tofather (once again) to get rid of the Jeep. Many
settle on ANOTHER Jeep that I had fallen in loveheadaches later, I hope that I have now learned my
with. All I cared about at that point was that thelesson with vehicles!