Good-Bye Old Girl….

I have had my 2011 Honda Pilot for 9 years.  We bought it as a present for Charlie before he was born.  It had been chugging along and was about to hit 200k miles when the check engine light came on.  I took it to our local mechanic and the first thing he said to me after he read the code results was “How long are you planning to keep this?”  I knew that wasn’t good and that it meant expensive.  Turns out my catalytic converter was going out and would be $2,000 to fix.  Now, if you go to Kelly Blue Book and look up a 2011 Honda Pilot with 200k miles the value range is $1,600 to $3,500 and that is without them knowing about the catalytic converter problem.  My dad always told me don’t put more money into a car than it's worth.  So I was in a predicament, but my mechanic cleared the code and the light didn’t come back on right away so crisis averted.  Well of course that wouldn’t last forever and the light came back on a couple of weeks ago.  Crisis back on.  Jim and I discussed starting to look at cars but thought we had some time.  Well last Monday, the wrench light and oil light came on…plus some VTM-4 light which I looked up and it means a malfunction. So, the time we thought we had was ticking away quickly.

Last week, I researched cars and watched YouTube reviews for all different kinds of SUVs.  First, I was looking at another Honda Pilot since my current one had done such a good job, but there aren’t very many used Honda Pilots available because they have such good resale value that they fly off the lots.  Then I was looking at the Hyundai Santa Fe.  I liked how it looked and a friend of mine had good luck with theirs.  But after watching mechanic review videos I discovered that it didn’t have a 3rd row seat (which I really wanted with two kids) and it had something called a dual clutch transmission that pretty much was awful per the mechanics.  So that was out.  Then I was looking at the Hyundai Palisade for a hot second.  That is when my dad informed me that Hyundai is owned by Kia and that the Kia Telluride was almost the same thing as the Palisade. After watching my mechanic review videos and calling my own mechanic for his advice, the Telluride had won the mechanics’ hearts and so I decided to learn more.

Jim and I decided to head over and check out a Kia Telluride in person last Friday afternoon, just to see if we liked one in person.  We had to bring the kids, so we all set out to Andy Mohr Kia in Avon.  And boy is that a trek from the Eastside of Indy.  We finally arrived there around 4pm and set our eyes on a Telluride for the first time in person.  We had come to look at a 2023 that they had on the lot with 14k miles on it.  We checked it out and the kids were thrilled with the 3rd row as we have one currently but it’s always down.  Well, they love the third row and were excited to push all the buttons and find out what everything did.  I was the first one to test drive it, and I really liked how smooth the ride was compared to my 2011 Honda pilot.  Plus, it was quiet which my Honda had gotten progressively louder the older it got.  It had all kinds of bells and whistles that made driving easier, and it was actually easier to see out of than the Honda.  Less blind spots.  I enjoyed my drive and then Jim took a turn.  He liked the Telluride as well. 

We decided to move forward and see what they would give us for our Honda.  I was really nervous since there were 4 lights on.  We drove it around the lot with the salesman and he made a comment about a thumping sound.  I told him I was use to all the sounds and didn’t really hear it.  Well, lucky for us, Andy Mohr Kia offered us $2,000 for our 2011 Honda Pilot with 4 lights on and almost 200k miles on it.  We were interested in what kind of deal they would make on this 2023 Telluride.  When the salesman brought over their first offer, Jim and I stood up to leave.  It is important to note here that we just bought Jim a new to him car in September 2024 so we had gone from zero car payments to 1 car payment to potentially 2 car payments in just a few short months.  Of course, the salesman wouldn’t let us leave so began the back and forth of car price negotiation.  We had a set amount in our head that we were willing to pay, and we wouldn’t budge from that.  We finally talked them down to a price we were comfortable with plus a free warranty. 

By this time, it was probably almost 6 pm and we now had to talk to the business manager to continue the purchase.  So, we waited.  The kids were getting restless, and our phone batteries were at zero.  Everyone was hungry and ready to go, but we waited.  The salesman kept saying we were next, but it was taking forever.  Finally, around 8pm we were hangry.  We had been waiting 2 hours to see the business manager and we weren’t even financing through the dealer.  We were done.  We had been there 4 hours and still hadn’t bought the car.  So, we told the salesman we were leaving.  Deal be damned.  We were all starving, and the kids were losing their minds.  The salesman panicked as we got up to walk away.  As we were heading out, they stopped us and said they would send us all the paperwork electronically and we could docusign.  That was what we needed to hear.  We were so thankful to get out of there and seek out food.  Why do dealerships do that.  If you knew it would be hours before we could see the business manager why not tell us so we could get food.  The whole thing was stupid and I hate buying cars.  We finally got to eat and we were in home and in bed at 10pm as we were all tired from the long day.  Everyone was so tired that they slept like logs.  Well, all except mommy.  I was up all night worrying and anxious about the impending car purchase.  I always do this on big purchases.  Its so much money and you don’t know if it’s the right move or not. 

The next day, we headed to the credit union to get our check and trekked back out to Avon to drop off the money and the title for our Honda.  When we got there, they had put the 2 additional forms we needed to sign in person aside so that we didn’t have to wait this time.  We signed and gave them the check and they said you are all set.  We were about to leave when I remembered they probably needed the title and the 2 keys for the Honda.  They had not asked for them.  I went back up and said you probably need this and gave them the title and keys and we left.  We did it.  It was done.  We had a new car.  The process was over.  Thank God! 

I know everyone hates buying cars, but I particularly hate buying cars.  I hate the time and negotiation process.  I hate the small talk and waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  But it was done.  We had our new Telluride, and we could go on with our lives.  I will admit it was a little hard to let go of the car I brought my babies home from the hospital in, but we will make more memories with the Telluride, and I cannot wait.