Monday morning before all the appointments, we bought a truck!!!! The 4-Runner was getting on up there in age and mileage. At the most recent service appointment, there were a lot of things that needed to be done to it...costing almost as much as it was currently valued. We have known for a while that it wouldn't make it much longer so it wasn't really a shock. We opted to do only what was necessary (oil change, new filters, front brakes and roaters) and skip what wasn't (shocks, struts and a timing belt). This kicked our new vehicle search into high gear.
Jeff has been looking at trucks for at least a year and a half. Since he drove the 4-Runner, the new vehicle would be his primary mode of transportation. He wanted a 4 wheel drive truck and he wanted one bad!
He took the 4-Runner by Carmax one evening after work (it's easy to do those types of things when you work in Hoover) and they said they would give us more than we thought! Awesome!!! Since he was already over on 150 he decided to go by Long Lewis (the F150 was a top contender) and see what they would give us for a trade. It was better than Carmax because they have some rebate program that they can add on to a trade-in. He found a truck that night but I couldn't get up there to see it so he waited. I left with tennis that Friday - Sunday.
On Saturday, he went down to McKinnon in Clanton to check out Tundras. I had purchased my 4-Runner from them back in 2001 and we knew the Toyota would be reliable. He found a Tundra that he really liked but it was more expensive and it was black. The ONE thing I didn't want was a black vehicle. My Dad had a black pick-up truck growing up and I remember how frustrated he would be because it showed every little scratch. Two strikes...more expensive and wrong color. The third strike was the financing...their rate was almost double what Long Lewis was willing to do. Oh, I completely forgot that they were only willing to give us half of what Carmax would do on the trade-in. Yeah, right! Get a life, McKinnon!
Jeff went back to Long Lewis, who was "holding" the truck from Thursday. He was able to test drive it and loved it. They even lowered the interest rate almost half a point. To recap: not black, less expensive, more trade-in value and lower interest rate. Win-win! They wanted Jeff to go ahead and take the truck on Saturday, but I still hadn't seen it or driven it. So, Monday morning, we were at the dealership at 8:00. I test drove it and man, was it nice! Quiet and smooth - the power of a V8 but the gas mileage of a V6. I approved! Two hours later we left with the truck.
I'm so happy for Jeff! He works so hard to provide for our family. I'm glad he was able to get something nice for himself. He's like a proud papa!!
"In the long run, it's Long Lewis, ya' hear!"
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