I looked at new cars last night

mominabigtruck

New member
First off, let me just say that I was really dissapointed at what I looked at and the salespeople:thumbsdown: I was at the ford dealer first and I was looking at the new edge, and I asked the guy about carseat installation, I said I had heard that it was a pita and he told me that it has the "little hookies down there to put your seat on" Yes those were his exact words. It looked nice but he didn't even offer to let me try my seats in there, he just kept trying to show me an escape which I don't think would have enough room at all. Then I went to the chevy dealer where the salesguy there tried to sell me an uplander. I REALLY didn't like it. The middle seats were tiny and looked like I wouldn't be able to even fit my husky there, it would be too wide and they were really close to the doors, which I thought was weird and unsafe. Then he tried to sell me a trailblazer, so of course I could have no more seating room then I have now and pay more in gas:confused: But on the up side, when I was showing him what seats I had to fit in, he told me his daughter was in one like my blvd, meaning rfing. I asked him how old his daughter was and he told me 20 months. So while he was trying to sell me a horrible vehicle, he was practicing erfing which is great.:thumbsup:
 
ADS

Morganthe

New member
Poor you, I NEVER have fun at a vehicle dealership.

Correct me if I'm wrong -- I"m not up on the models these days, but other than the Edge, were all of the sales dudes aiming you towards gas guzzlers?:confused:

Oops, just looked at the Edge home page:
*EPA estimated 18 city/25 hwy mpg FWD, 17 city/24 hwy AWD.

So based on the fact that EPA estimate is made from ideal conditions -- no wind, weather, road conditions, etc so it's usually a bit ambitious... Other than hwy, it's not a great gas consumer either. :shrug-shoulders:

"Little hookies" :ROTFLMAO:
 

southpawboston

New member
i make it painfully clear to salespeople that i don't want them trying to tout all the reasons i should want one car or another... and that i probably know much more about the car than they do, and IF i need their help i will be sure to call on them ;). at that point, they always leave me alone... sometimes they even ask me questions about the car that they didn't know the answer to :p. but to be honest, i never even bother asking them about carseat installation... to think that any of them know the first thing about it would be assuming way too much. the only things i ever engage the salespeople over are 1) finding me the car i want, and 2) pricing.
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
I've learned the only thing to ask about with regard to carseats is if I may do a test installation of my seats in the vehicle I'm considering buying. I haven't been turned down yet. :) I wouldn't hesitate to make it clear to the salesperson that they're losing a potential customer if they did refuse to allow a test installation. :twocents:
 

mommycat

Well-known member
I don't know how different things are states/canada, but I was just looking at new carsa as well, and specifically said, I am looking for xyz (for me that was a/c, 4drs, room for carseats and cargo) and I came with a measuring tape and/or carseats, can I sit in the car and try out the space in the backseat. I wouldn't wait for them to offer for you to try the seats, they probably wouldn't know you need to check this. No-one had a problem with me trying mine when I asked.
 

mommy2jana

New member
So...what did you think of the Edge? I was thinking of going to look at one this weekend. I won't have dd's Marathon with me b/c she's going out of town with my sister in it, but I'll have her Regent to try in it.

lol @ the "little hookies" But that's good that he's practicing erf'ing with his child, even if he doesn't know the correct terminology for LATCH!
 

lynsgirl

New member
i make it painfully clear to salespeople that i don't want them trying to tout all the reasons i should want one car or another... and that i probably know much more about the car than they do, and IF i need their help i will be sure to call on them ;). at that point, they always leave me alone... sometimes they even ask me questions about the car that they didn't know the answer to :p. but to be honest, i never even bother asking them about carseat installation... to think that any of them know the first thing about it would be assuming way too much. the only things i ever engage the salespeople over are 1) finding me the car i want, and 2) pricing.

:p I absolutely knew more about the van I wanted to buy than the salesperson (Sienna) and when I asked if they had any 8-passenger ones on the lot, he said "They don't even make an 8-passenger mini-van." :ROTFLMAO: He was fairly certain they didn't have one, because he'd never seen one. So while he was inside getting the keys to a 7-passenger, we looked over the ones on the lot and right next to the one he was getting keys for was, ta-da! An 8-passenger :whistle: . An 8-passenger Sienna that he subsequently trotted back inside to get the keys for and which currently resides outside full of carseats :D .
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
I can relate. DH and I shopped the Toyota dealership's lot when it was closed to see what Siennas they really had in their inventory and to minimize initial contact with salespersons. We guided the salesman directly to an 8-passenger Sienna on the lot when we returned during business hours to try out carseats and test drive. :rolleyes: He thought it was funny, the customer leading the salesman.

There also was a Saturn salesman who tried to tell me the cargo anchors in the Vue were the top tether anchors, d'oh. The tether anchors were clear as day on the back of the rear seats.
 

mominabigtruck

New member
I didn't mean that he didn't offer to test out the seats, he wouldn't even let me open up the edge and look at it, he just kept telling me the escape was a better deal. Could've been because they only had one edge and a whole bunch of escapes. I went and looked at a 2000 volvo wagon this morning and it looked really nice. It looked like I could actually fit 3 seats across, which is what I'm worried about in a suv. Lots of cargo room too! I might go back this afternoon when they're open and see if I can test drive it.
 

southpawboston

New member
I've learned the only thing to ask about with regard to carseats is if I may do a test installation of my seats in the vehicle I'm considering buying. I haven't been turned down yet.

yep, same here... i've never been pressured to "hurry up" or anything... it can be quite time-consuming, as you know, swapping seats in different vehicles.

There also was a Saturn salesman who tried to tell me the cargo anchors in the Vue were the top tether anchors, d'oh. The tether anchors were clear as day on the back of the rear seats.

i actually made this mistake with MIL's CRV before joining this forum. i actually *used* the cargo anchors :eek: because i couldn't find any tether anchors (they did seem a little strange...and weak, but oh well...). then i learned here a few weeks later that the anchors are in the roof... doh!
 

southpawboston

New member
I went and looked at a 2000 volvo wagon this morning and it looked really nice. It looked like I could actually fit 3 seats across, which is what I'm worried about in a suv. Lots of cargo room too! I might go back this afternoon when they're open and see if I can test drive it.

V70? that generation (pre-2002, i think) were really very good cars... pre-ford influence (the 2002+ V70 was designed after ford had bought volvo, which wasn't a bad thing, but i think the earlier V70s were nicer). the engines last forever, and they are quite roomy (and safe) without being bloated. they don't have side curtain airbags but they do have side torso/head combo bags in the front seats, and they earn top frontal and side crash ratings despite the lack of side curtains.
 

mominabigtruck

New member
Yeah it was a v70. It has 100k miles on it but the body and interior are immaculate. I liked that it had lap shoulder belts everywhere too.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
Dealers are usually full of __it IMO ... in the future, I'll have all my research done via this forum, etc. & just go in making it perfectly clear that I only want to look at such-n-such vehicles, thankyouveryfreakinmuchbuhby :rolleyes:

FWIW, while my van was being serviced recently, I was climbing all over inside the Edge & although I like that the rear center armrest has a lock for the closed position (good for RF babies), I could not find a single place to tether RF. Nothing, nada, zilch. The dealers all refused to let me read the manual :confused: :thumbsdown:
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
NO kidding @@

Their excuse was that it's their policy not to keep them in the vehicles & just walked away when I said I didn't plan on keeping it in the vehicle, let alone taking it from them (hello, manufacturer can replace it anyway!)

This is a "sister" lot to the one I've had sooooooooooooo much trouble with & am actively spreading the word around: DO NOT BUY MAGUIRE! :whistle:
 

oxeye

New member
Yeah it was a v70. It has 100k miles on it but the body and interior are immaculate. I liked that it had lap shoulder belts everywhere too.

My mom has a 98 V70 and it has been a great car. I think it has 120k miles on it and barely anything has gone wrong.

I've installed seats in it a couple times and while I'm not great at seatbelt installs yet, I still managed to get the seats in there just fine. :) And depending on which seats, I bet you could do three across no problem. :thumbsup:
 

The Bjorns

New member
Let me just say that DH and I met when we were selling Saturns (he lasted only a few months because he was too nice and I only outlasted him by about3-4 months). The good thing about that is I love screwing around with car salespeople because I know all the insider terms they use. Tip: if you can judiciously drop the phrase "smoking crack" the salespeople will think you have insider knowlege because they use this term constantly. Such as a person must be "smoking crack" thinking the value of his trade is extremely high. Trust me, the phrase works--at least in Calif!;)

We had it narrowed down to the Nissan Murano, the Mazda CX-7 and the Acura RDX in August so I brought my stroller and tested my Marathon. The Nissan salesman was just so clueless about center LATCH. No one could exactly understand why I thought the tether was the dumbest thing I had ever seen. Pro: you could use LATCH for a center seat installation. Con: the tether was all the way at the back of the cargo area right by the lift gate. Imagine trying to fit groceries or heaven forbid a stroller around the tether strap. Helloooooo? Is this the most ridiculous location ever?:confused: The salesman just couldn't wrap his tiny little mind around why on earth I would place a car seat in the center when I could put it on the side.

I don't remember if the CX-7 could do LATCH in the center seat or not, but the outboard LATCH "hookie things" were very hard to access.

We ended up with the Acura because I LOVED all the safety features that were standard--and I have a fabulously secure center LATCH installation...at least for a few more months before #2 comes along.
 

LaurieB

New member
I've learned the only thing to ask about with regard to carseats is if I may do a test installation of my seats in the vehicle I'm considering buying. I haven't been turned down yet. :) I wouldn't hesitate to make it clear to the salesperson that they're losing a potential customer if they did refuse to allow a test installation. :twocents:


I had a window full of salesman staring at me as I test-installed my seats. I guess a lady who wants to check seat fit BEFORE a test drive is a little strange then when I crawled in the seat and the van was rocking... must have been a show. Anyway, it worked, the seats fit and the van sold....

Laurie
 

southpawboston

New member
the tether was all the way at the back of the cargo area right by the lift gate. Imagine trying to fit groceries or heaven forbid a stroller around the tether strap. Helloooooo? Is this the most ridiculous location ever?:confused: The salesman just couldn't wrap his tiny little mind around why on earth I would place a car seat in the center when I could put it on the side.

I don't remember if the CX-7 could do LATCH in the center seat or not, but the outboard LATCH "hookie things" were very hard to access.

the reason the center tether anchors are frequently below the rear hatch sill and not directly behind the seat is because of structural reasons. having tether anchors for all three seating positions on the rear seat back may be too much of a load for the seatback to bear in a collision, especially if the seat has a 40/60 split. the first few years that cars came with LATCH (early 2000's), many were putting the anchors all the way at the back sill, where it is structurally very sound. but they realized it is very inconvenient to accessing stuff in the trunk. so in later years they relocated the anchors to the seatbacks and also the roof. but in some cars, having all three in a convenient location poses too much of a structural burden.

hope this answers this. this was discussed in depth in another thread; i'll see if i can find it.

as for the CX-7, it does allow use of center LATCH, but it requires borrowing outboard anchors.
 

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