Thanks for all the info and advice offered over the past several weeks. Yesterday I closed the deal on a Toyota Matrix. My final two choices were the Fit and the Matrix. They are apples and oranges and either would have pleased me, though for different reasons. I found I could afford the Matrix, and that dealership treated me much more cordially than the Fit dealer. Both salenmen were fabulous, but the two guys from “the office” were night and day. I can’t pick up the car until I get the money from my investments–about a week. For now, all I can do is drive by and look at it as it sits it the “sold” row.
Congradulations! And happy motoring for the next 10 years!
Don’t forget to check it over thoroughly yourself before you drive it off the lot.
Enjoy!
A sound choice. Congratulations on the new arrival!
Make a list of things to check. You might forget a few in your excitement when you pick it up.
This is overlooked by just about everybody. Ask the salesperson to show you paperwork that the wheel alignment is set to factory specs. Many times, the dealer is responsible for setting the final alignment on a new vehicle. Just for giggles, ask him about this. He might even give you peace of mind and have the service department put the vehicle on the alignment rack. Many people over the years have commented in these forums and also on other websites about having a new vehicle that prematurely ate tires because the alignment wasn’t properly set before the new owner drove it off the lot. You don’t have to wait until the day that you pick the vehicle up. Just a nice positive low-key phone call to your salesperson will do. I’ll betcha that the salesman will get the alignment checked out for you. If he gets this done for you, I’ll also bet that he will at least let you see the print-out from the alignment machine that shows the factory specs and what your present alignment numbers are after correction, if necessary. Then again, it might not need any readjustment but the print-out will show this, also.