My 1996 Sebring Convertible was on its last legs. Although I don't spend a lot of time in a car there are rainy miserable days where it makes more sense to drive than to ride. The Sebring's transmission had a leaking main seal. And speaking of leaks, the convertible top had developed a hidden leak that allowed rain to puddle on the floor somehow. I knew I could probably wring another year out of the Sebring so we started a long hunt for its replacement.

Initially we were looking at other convertible and sports cars. Over about six month period we looked at Sebrings, the Pontiac Solstice, the Pontiac G6 convertible, and the BMW Z4M. Not being a big fan of American cars (even though the Sebring had been the best car I had owned to date) we were leaning heavily toward the BMW Z4M.

Even though the Z4M seemed to be a bit pricey given the $53,220.00 MSRP price tag, I'm sure my negotiating skills could have brought the purchase price down to $45,000 out the door. And a great benefit from BMW is 4 years, 50,000 mile warranty and free maintenance. Having owned a Porsche 911 before I knew that maintenance on exotic European cars cost a fortune. But BMW included a maintenance package that covered all maintenance, including brake pads and wiper blades.... EVERYTHING! Maintenance over a 4 year period easily costs $5,000 on a roadster so I was looking at a real price for the new car of $40,000. In today's market that wasn't a bad price at all for an exotic roadster.

We put together a plan to start stashing cash in savings so we could put at least half down on the car in May, 2007 (my birthday). But being the shoppers that we are we continued to look.

Another thought process began to develop in our minds. We had started enjoying camping while we were on the road. Of course you can only carry so much gear on a motorcycle so luxury camping with a large stove, chairs, and other little enhancements was not an option. We started toying with the idea of tossing gear in a car for the occasional more luxurious camping instead of the serious "roughing it" we do when camping with our bikes.

Also, we had started to consider motorcycle rides to the deep south and the east coast. Since I get only three weeks vacation a year it seemed impractical to plan more than one trip a year since almost half the vacation time would be spent just riding across the vast western and central states. I hate, hate, hate riding on interstate but if the plan is to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway the quickest way to get there (and thusly save vacation time) is to go interstate. But traveling long interstate miles on a motorcycle is actually slower than traveling in a car. We like to get off our bikes about ever 150 miles or so and stretch our legs. Also, grabbing a quick bite to eat on a bike is not an option. At least its not like you can do in a car, ordering something to go and eating while traveling.

Carole was the first one to come up with an alternate plan. Why not tow the bikes the extremely long interstate routes, arrive at a launching point, and then gear up the bikes and enjoy our vacation riding? Blasphemy!! Tow a Goldwing??? But the more I thought about it, the more it sort of made sense. Carole really wants to explore Texas. Her idea is to trailer the bikes to Austin, then jump on the bikes and explore the roads around Austin Hill Country and all the roads to Dallas, San Antonio, Galveston, Padre Island, and Big Bend country. That makes sense to me.

So I began searching the internet for practical vehicles. But even though I was thinking practical, the vehicle had to be fun. So I started looking at SUV's. I liked the smaller class of SUV such as the Pontiac Vibe, the Mitsubishi Montero and the Toyota RAV4. But I quickly realized that I needed at least a 3,500 pound towing capacity and the little SUV's weren't going to do the trick. So I started looking at the mid-size SUV's. The Honda CR-V and Toyota Highlander really caught my eye. But I really began to focus in on the Toyota FJ Cruiser since it looked like what I felt an SUV would look like if it was going to meet our needs.

The price and mileage pulled me away from the FJ Cruiser. By the time the vehicle was built like we would want it the price tag jumped to $30,000.00. And mileage was a big concern of ours and the FJ only gets 16 MPG city, 19 MPG highway. As sexy and fun as the vehicle looked, since I was going practical (as opposed to the Z4M) the FJ missed the mark.

We could only do so much internet research so we decided to head out to the Capitol Auto Mall in San Jose to check out every dealership and see what they had to offer. We started on a Saturday at the Honda lot. After going through the things that salesman like to do, we finally worked our way over the CR-V. It's a great looking vehicle and was fun to drive. The turning radius on it is incredible for an SUV, it out turned my Sebring. But the towing capacity on it was light at 1500. The amazing thing here was that I told the salesman that we weren't buying for another 6 months and that we were just looking around. Yet he sat us down at a table, brought over his manager, and they came down $5,000.00 dollars on the price even though I was repeatedly telling them that we weren't buying! I imagine I could have got another $2,000 off the price if I was negotiating. Honda, your MSRP is wayyyyyy too high if I can negotiate away 30% of the price without trying.

So we left their lot and started walking down the street. The next lot was a Saturn lot, not even a consideration in my mind. So we kept on walking. Just as we were entering the next lot I looked back and a dark gray SUV on the Saturn lot caught my eye. I looked over at Carole and saw that she was simultaneously intrigued. So we both turned around and went back to look at it.

It was a 2007 Saturn Vue, Front Wheel Drive with a Honda V-6 engine.

A salesman came out and started talking about the vehicle. But come on, it was a Saturn. In my mind Saturn had all the appeal of a comfortable pair of old shoes. Again, in my mind Saturn was the budget minded car company that seemed to have more marketing than substance. All I really knew about Saturn was from the commercials on television that had runaway shopping carts running into their doors and not making any dents.

We took the Vue for a test drive and I was instantly impressed. The 250 horsepower V-6 was surprisingly responsive. The comfort and visibility from inside the cockpit was a pleasant surprise as well. We got back to the lot and the salesman just stood there not saying anything. So I asked him the price.

Now came the shocker.... No Haggle Pricing. What this really means in no negotiating. All of the power of the buyer was removed. The dealer states the price and that's it. Of course I knew that they would try to hit me at signing for extended warranties, body and upholstery protection, and all the other up charges. So their "No-Haggle" policy appeared to both of us as a total disabling of the customer and haggling to go higher by the dealership. We walked away.

We continued to look at hundreds of other vehicles that day. We looked at the Ford Freestyle, Pontiac Vibe, Mitsubishi Montero, and even a Saleen Mustang (ultimate sexy for an American Muscle Machine). But we both kept referring to the Vue, comparing everything against what we really liked about the Vue. I guess the key selling point about the Vue was all that power with 28 MPG highway. No one else touched it. I was also intrigued with the Vue having a Honda V-6, a known reliable engine.

A firm rule of mine is that I will never pay a higher price than15% below MSRP on any car. The dealership just doesn't need that huge a margin to be successful. So we headed home for the evening with my mind reeling from the negative "No Haggle" position that Saturn maintains. It was priced okay, but the bang for the buck was definitely something that wouldn't leave my mind. The Vue was actually a pretty good value even at MSRP.

That evening at home I ran some comparisons of all the vehicles we were considering. Ironically Honda had the best tool for comparing against their CR-V, and the Vue stacked up as a better bang for the buck.... against the 4 cylinder CR-V! But I still couldn't get past the No Haggle pricing. Deep down inside I knew I was being stubborn for the price was definitely justified. But where is the fun in paying MSRP?

Then I remembered that my company offered employee discounts for GM and Ford vehicles since they are designed with our software. So I logged into my company's site and checked into the discount. I was linked over to a GM site for Suppliers where I had to give specific information to make sure I qualified. Then I put the Vue together at their site anxious to see what kind of discount I would get. I was disappointed to see it finish with "See dealer for discount price."

I talked to Carole about it and we decided to go to a closer Saturn lot to see what the discount would be. We went to Saturn of Stevens Creek in San Jose/Santa Clara the next morning. A salesman named Erik greeted us and took us to the back lot to see a Vue that was packaged similar to what we were looking for. I told him our specifics and he looked around on the lot to see if there was one that matched. None did but I told Erik I would at least like to see what Saturn offered for my supplier's discount. We were taken inside where I met with the Sales Manager, Michael Scheidecker. In hindsight I realize that Mike was the reason we now own a Vue.

Michael Scheidecker was extremely professional and really listened to what I was saying. I had told him that we weren't buying for another six months but were interested in seeing what the supplier discount looked like. He brought up an invoice for a Vue exactly as I wanted it and showed me the MSRP, GM Employee Discount, and the Supplier Discount. The price was getting awfully close to what I was looking for below MSRP. We told Mike and Erik that we were going to go home and think about it. Erik asked if we minded getting a follow-up call from him and I said, "No problem. We'll be available around 6 PM."

We were headed home when we decided to stop at a pub for a bite to eat. We looked over the brochure for the Vue and ran the numbers on a sheet of paper. Financially we were fine to get the car right away. The more I thought about it, the less it made sense to wait another 6 months for the purchase. We were planning a road trip to Seattle for Thanksgiving and the Sebring was beginning to give me doubts about its ability to make the trip in comfort. Our finances were in great shape with our asset to debt ratio being extremely strong. We decided to seal the deal. So we went back to the dealer.

While we were gone Mike had found a Vue pretty much like we wanted sitting at the train station waiting to be delivered to a Saturn dealership. Cool, a Vue that had never even been test driven and had no marks on the tires from kickers. There were four items we still needed installed on the vehicle: Luggage Rack Cross Bars, Wheel Well Splash Guards, Rear Window Air Deflector, and a Trailer Hitch. These are dealer installed options that had a "suggested price" on the Saturn web site. The deal almost fell through when we were told they would cost substantially more than I had anticipated. Luckily Michael Schedecker came through when he stated he would honor the Web Site price for everything but the hitch. I figured I could have U-Haul put a hitch on for me cheaper than even the web site quoted, so we shook hands and got down to paperwork.

The final good news on the deal was the trade-in they offered me on the Sebring. They gave me more than I thought I could have gotten if I had sold the vehicle privately. Either I underestimated the value of the Sebring, or they didn't understand how bad a shape the Sebring was in (I had repeatedly told them honestly that it was needing a new transmission and the roof leaked), or Mike was cognizant of my disappointment with the "No Haggle" negotiation and decided to make a concession. Either way, I had exactly what I had been looking for when I examined the bottom line.

We did opt for the extended warranty/maintenance package. Financially it made sense to have all of the maintenance for the next five years paid for up front. I've seen the service inflation in Silicon Valley first hand. To not have to worry about the vehicle costing me even more money over the next five years was worth it. I know a lot of folks aren't fans of extended warranties, but on automobiles I automatically factor that in when I am thinking of the price. $1,500 per tune-up on my Porsche 911 educated me on the value of maintenance packages.

We signed all the paperwork and finalized our commitment that Sunday evening. Michael Scheidecker and the financial finisher, Laurie, were extremely knowledgeable and helpful as we wrapped things up. Laurie had heard some questions I had asked the salesman earlier that he couldn't answer. She had the answers and made sure I had all my questions satisfactorily addressed before she would let me sign the papers. Normally I can't stand the financial person at car lots, they are usually the seediest of the bunch. Laurie definitely changed my way of thinking.

In 2008 the Vue is being redesigned to come out with a more sporty look. I'm not a fan of that "Montero" look. Additionally they will be doing away with the polymer body panels and the Honda engine. I'm glad we didn't wait for the 2008 as the engine and polymer panels are a huge feature for me. We won't be doing much to modify the vehicle from its current state. I will add a trailer hitch, some Nerf Side Step Bars, and perhaps a cargo net for the rear cargo area. Other than that the vehicle is exactly what the doctor ordered for our plans to camp, rock climb, and pull our bikes to farther reaches in this great land of ours.