I'm the proud owner of new debt. I mean, a new car. Well, I mean "SUV", not car. A Toyota 4Runner to be exact. Yeah, I actually bought an SUV. It's no worse than the Jeep Cherokee I used to own. And the new SUV gets better mileage than my truck did. It's actually classified by the EPA as a "low emissions vehicle". But who cares about the Earth, eh? I wanted features.

It's a nice ride. I got the plain vanilla SR5 four wheel drive model with the V6. It has a surprising amount of power. Runs like a stripped-assed snake, as my dad would say. It's got the goose. I splurged on floor mats ($180) and a roof rack ($220), mostly because they were already "included". Options == w00t for me. It's "Galactic Grey", which looks vaguely blue at night.

It's actually pretty damn nice, even though it's only the "base model". It has power windows/locks, lights that dim and such, cruise control, a multi-function display, climate control, ABS, traction control stuff, dual AC vents, CD player with surround, trahs bag holders, keyless entry, automatic windows, eight-way adjustable seats (with lumbar!), locking center differential and a bazillion more things that don't come standard on other mid-range SUVs and which I've not yet played with. I'll not want for buttons to push, lack of DVD touch-screen notwithstanding.

The ride is really quiet, the seats are comfortable, and I feel like a full-on yuppie. This is the fanciest car I've ever owned (and the second that didn't leak when it rained!), and I'm glad I got it. With Tess's help, we got it at just over invoice and with a loan at 4%. And a free alarm system. And a 75,000 mile warranty. It took three trips to a dealer to get that kind of deal, but it all worked out in the end. I'm not paying all that much more than I was on my old truck, and I won't be paying on this one for much longer than I would have been paying off the truck. We got a fair deal, and I feel good about it. Yeah, it's not the Sport edition, but that's fine. I can deal without high-end suspension systems for daily driving. I just didn't feel right buying the Sport model. That seems frivolous, this seems practical.

We discovered a good trick: Whenever you go to buy a new car, get a good loan from your bank or credit union first. And don't tell a soul about the pre-arranged loan. Just tell the sales guy that you want to deal with the final price of the car, not payments. Tell them you don't care about payments, only the final amount you'll be paying for. Negotiate that final amount and nothing else. Then when you get to the finance guy after making the deal, tell him you need an options contract. You get to see the finance guy's eyes bug out. Then they try to work a deal for you such that you pay them interest instead of your bank. Basically, you get a free extended warranty if you want it. He has to do some jiggering to get you a good rate, but it means you have to buy more "stuff" from them. They make more money than they otherwise would because the loan is through them. Works for me. Sounds like a win-win. I'm not going to have to pay for any repairs whatsoever for as long as I'm paying off the loan on my new car. And that extra coverage is essentially free. Last year I paid $800 to have the fuel system on my truck flushed. I still had four years worth of payments to make and I was already forking out big cash for repairs and upkeep. That sucked, no pun intended. Not anymore. At least not for the next six years.

Oh yeah, I must mention Gunny, our salesman. We bought from a guy named Jeff, a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. We hooked up with him on Monday night when we first went to the dealer, and we both liked him a lot. On that first night, we couldn't make a sutiable deal, and we wound up having to tell him that we were sorry we couldn't find come to an agreement. We said that we'd like to look at less expensive models, but since it was late (10:30pm at that point) we'd have to come back. I could tell he took it personally (but I didn't care all that much; business is business).

Gunny is kinda new at the car selling thing, and he has a earnestness that is somewhat infectious. He's honest. I know that sounds like bullshit, but he is. The other salemen don't seem to like him, and that seems like a good sign. He's actually not a very good salesman. I mean, he couldn't convince me to buy anything, but he's really good at facillitating a purchase. For example, gunny is severely long-winded. I made the mistake of asking him where the term "gunnery sergeant" came from and it cost us 20 minutes. Salesmen walking by hearing him talk would roll their eyes. It's almost like you can hear them think "Just farking close the deal already!" Tracy was thinking the same thing. I was happy to chat with the gunny... :-) In fact, I'm glad he got my money rather than those bag-lickers over at the first dealership I went to. I guess that's part of what makes you feel good about spending a lot of money on a big purchase like a car. At least to me anyway. I felt like gunny was fair with us and he deserves to make a little on the deal.

We're going to PHX tomorrow and then to my parents' cabin for the Fourth. I'm looking forward to the road trip. New car smell the whole way... :-)