Ebuying a Car

We had been thinking about upgrading our vehicle status by adding a minivan. For those who know us, the fact that my wife was even entertaining the idea of a minivan is a miracle. Recently, she accepted a position as a nanny for three small children. The family is very flexible about allowing my wife to take the kids to the park or zoo. Her car at the time was a Honda Civic. It had enough room for her and two of the kids in the back seat, but not room for all three. Our pastor had purchased a van on Ebay and recommended that I try to see what I could find. I began my search to see what was available and where. I did not want to have to fly half way across the country and drive back. After searching on Ebay, I found a dealer that seemed to have what we were looking for. He specialized in Honda Odyssey and Toyota Previa vans. He had several nice looking 2003 Odysseys. Best of all he was only about three hours away in PA. The couple that my wife had previously worked for as a nanny had an Odyssey and she thought they were nice. I did a price comparison with dealers in the area and found that the online dealer was asking $1,000 to $2,000 below what the local dealers were asking. I did a NADA search to see what the retail list would be for the van and found that the online dealer was asking for $500 below list. The van in the picture had a Buy it Now price and a button for Make an Offer. I offered $1,000 below the Buy it Now price and shortly thereafter received a notice that my bid was accepted. I applied online for a loan through USAA which is also my insurance company and within 30 minutes a check was overnighted by FedEx and we received it less than 24 hours later. We drove the three hours to the dealership, got in the van for a test drive and spent about ten minutes filling out the paperwork. In no time at alll, we were back on the road home. The van was exactly as advertised. It is the nicest vehicle my wife or I have ever owned. She is very pleased with the purchase and that makes me very happy. I must say it was the most positive car buying experience I have ever had. If anyone is interested in purchasing a late model Odyssey or Previa, email me for the dealer's info.