Car buying was exhausting

I finally landed a car, and it ended up being new. It was an exhausting process. But whatever, I think with the year I've been having, I deserve it.

I actually got a pretty good deal from one dealer, but the car I wanted was spoken for. Then looking around town, they were generally in short supply. I settled on a Hyundai Ioniq 5, with a Kia EV6 as my back up plan. They're built on the same platform, but the latter is a little smaller and sportier. The wrinkle is that I wanted the highest trim, because of all the tech and stuff that comes with it. That includes upgraded sound, digital (phone) keys, ambient lighting, among other things. Oh, and ventilated seats, which are life changing. Can't believe that didn't become a thing sooner. Anyway, I was looking as far away as Gainesville for these things.

(Sidebar: There was an article today in the NYT about Detroit's failure to get any foothold at all in the EV market, especially outside of the US. Yet another industry that cedes leadership to the rest of the world.)

Eventually, I found a local dealer that had the car in the trim I wanted. They're one of the non-negotiating shops, like the one that made the earlier deal, but this one was effectively a grand and change more expensive. Given my general exhaustion in the process, I just gave up and bought it. Almost a week of looking was enough, especially since I started with the asshats selling used cars. None of them are honest, and they're all terrible. The dealer I bought from worked entirely via text message, and when I got a number I could live with, we drove out to get the deal done.

This is the first car that I've ever bought outright, which I'm very proud of. Even ten years ago, I couldn't imagine doing that, but the saving discipline has been worth it. Well, technically I did finance it, because that knocked $7k off of the price that I couldn't negotiate. So I'll just pay that off immediately. As the AI bots warned, the finance guy made up some stuff about bad things happening if I paid it off too fast, but that's because they just lose whatever margin the financing enabled. But they're not going to lose money, they just won't make thousands. This particular contract had a "gotcha" in that there's a $75 fee that they "may" charge you inside of six months, but it still beats thousands in interest. Rates suck right now.

The car is quirky as hell, in good ways mostly, and with a few minor annoyances. I'll write more about it after I've spent some time with it.