It’s been almost a year since I published this POST about shopping for our next SUV and our “7 rules” to maximize our purchase. Just today, I am finally signing the papers on our next set of wheels.

After a few stops & starts, I finally got serious about finding our next SUV last month when we had a $2.8K breakdown. I had kept putting off shopping over & over before that final straw broke.

Our new SUV is a newer version of our current BMW X5, with more bells & whistles. We followed all of the parameters I put out last year – it’s a 2 year old vehicle, just 10K miles, several years of full warranty still in effect, and we even got a fair price on our trade-in. We found the new SUV in Asheville NC over the internet.

Being patient paid off. I found a similarly equipped vehicle at a dealer in our metro area last month, but couldn’t close a gap of about $1K when negotiating the price. My wife encouraged me to just buy it – because it was exactly equipped the way I wanted (even colors) – but I was patient. It just felt like they were a bit overpriced and wouldn’t budge.

Since I’m not working, I decided to spend some time looking for a better deal. I looked online every couple days and test drove some other makes & models. In the end, rather than pay the $1K more the local dealer wanted, I found a year older X5 for $11K less! Patience paid.

This is now the second vehicle in a row that we’ve bought from out of state. I have to pay to have it shipped to MN for $1K, but I am fine with that. I’m also OK not having been able to have test driven it since it is certified, has full warranty, & maintenance coverage by the dealer.

I’m not sure yet exactly when it will be delivered, but I am quite happy at how the purchase came together.

Anyone else in the market for their next set of wheels this summer?

Image Credit: Pixabay