My last blog post spoke about buying a 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan GT as my new vehicle from Enterprise Car Sales. But I considered purchasing a couple of different models instead last winter before my Infiniti I35 completely crapped out on me.
Toyota Prius
Every since I was shopping for a new car for myself, I desired a Toyota Prius because of the high fuel efficiency it provides. I recall test driving a smaller Prius c at Crestmont Toyota a few years back when I bought my new Nissan Sentra.
But this time, I wanted the larger Toyota Prius and found a couple of used models online to test drive. I first went up to the Prime Auto Imports location in Bloomingdale NJ when there was snow on the ground. After driving about an hour up to the dealership, the Prius I was looking at was being sold to someone else!
I did a cool business card out of it (as well as others at a bagel store I stopped at for lunch off of a bulletin board). I was not defeated since I saw another Toyota Prius at Brookside Motors closer to home in Union, New Jersey.
I actually got to test drive the Prius this time and spoke with Fernando Marques, who was the manager at Brookside Motors at the time I went and may very well still be. When I drove the Prius, it felt smooth and I had just enough room behind the wheel to be comfortable.
However, the backseat behind me did not have a lot of space and that’s a problem when you have 2 growing kids. As much as I would enjoy the Prius as a bachelor, I’ll have to wait another time to get something that fuel efficient. Or until all-electric vehicles become more commonplace & affordable, which is where the auto industry is trending towards.
Cadillac SRX
I was also in a similar phase of wanting to own a luxury car with a lot of great features at a lower cost. That’s when I saw a Cadillac SRX, a more spacious SUV than the Chevy Equinox we have.
And the dealer who had this particular model? My friends at M&R Auto Sales who had the smelly Jaguar and the pretty mint condition 1989 Oldsmobile did. Well, I took the test drive and it was brief.
It was literally around the block, so I didn’t get too proper of a feel for the Cadillac SRX. I almost considered buying it, except that I didn’t have the full cost of it and the payment plan was a bit steep.
That’s because M&R is a “buy here pay here” dealership that would only allow payments of $100 per week until the vehicle was bought off. And at the time, $400 a month of a payment was too steep for my pocketbook.
It’s a good thing I didn’t see a Toyota Prius or a Cadillac SRX since I can’t picture driving anything else besides my Dodge Grand Caravan.
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