7-21-2023
My Car Buying Experience
I had been looking at buying a new car for myself over the past couple of years. It’s not because I needed to buy a new car, but the Toyota Tacoma was just a bit much for me to climb into and out of, plus it protruded a bit much in the front when I parked. Otherwise it ran good and I always kept up with regular oil changes and new tires all around.
I had been looking at the new Ford Maverick pickups as they were lower and a bit smaller than the Tacoma and seemed to get much better MPG. I made my way to a local car dealer who had a couple of Mavericks and a Honda Ridgeline on the lot, next to each other. I walked around and then sat inside each vehicle, front and rear seats an decided that the Maverick didn’t have as much leg room as I was expecting, but otherwise I could probably get by and the Ridgeline wasn’t quite right for me either.
During my online searches the Hyundai Santa Cruz kept popping up in comparison to the Maverick. I never even considered the SC, as in my mind I kept seeing the old Subaru Baja or Brat and thinking the SC was along those lines. I saw listings for several SCs at a local dealership and I thought it might be worth checking out further.
The morning of July 4th my wife and I were talking about what to do with the Tacoma if I did buy a new vehicle. We decided to sell it to our older daughter and her husband as they needed a more reliable vehicle than the two they were driving. Besides their youngest son was having car issues and kept borrowing one of their vehicles, which actually would have put them in a bind the next morning.
I called them to come over and get the Tacoma. I told them what a local car dealer would pay and said to give me what they considered a fair price. After they came and got the Tacoma, the carport seemed a bit empty. Shortly after they left and since this was Colorado we got one of those sudden hail storms. I mean baseball size hail which lasted for over 40 minutes and then it was gone.
My wife said not to get a sports car and don’t get a black truck because they show the dirt easier. So I checked one dealership and they had some black SCs and a white one listed. The next morning I headed out to see what they had and my plan was to test drive and ultimately bring one home.
I arrived and walked right past a black SC and thought it wasn’t as small as I had imagined. So I went into the showroom and over to the customer waiting area to get a cup of coffee and mosey around (snooping) to see if I could spot the white one.
I found several more black ones, but after speaking with a salesman he told me that the white one was scheduled but not yet in transit, maybe the end of August. So I climbed inside a black one and it had headroom and legroom to spare (front and back) and they even came with a lockable factory tonneau cover. I looked at pros and cons of the SC and found the major complains were the engine was underpowered and the MPG (21 city, 27 highway).
I took one for a test drive and it was a 4 cylinder turbo with plenty of power for my driving around town and an occasional trip up the freeway. I came with all sort of gadgets, (I call them bells and whistles) including remote start, driver assist lane and cruise control, backup camera and so much more. I was sold even before we got back to the dealership. With a sticker price starting in the low $30,000s pricewise it rivaled the Maverick. There are several models of the Santa Cruz from the SEL, SEL Premium and the Limited. The one I brought home was the SEL Premium. Not wanting to take any chances I purchased the extended 10 year/100,000 mile warranty and a 4 year maintenance plan at the local dealership, which comes with towing and rental vehicle (and I have AAA towing).
On July 6 I took it in to have the windows tinted and while sitting in the waiting area I heard and watched as we got another really heavy Colorado hail storm which seemed to last forever. I’m so glad I had my carport extended after the 2016 hail storm. – RTM
The Real Truckmaster 