ANY anxiety is too much where a loved ones health is concerned. I'm so glad this is behind you now.
Mr. and I do our research online about the invoice price, MSRP, and features of the model we want before we go to the dealership---then we're like a tag team. They HAVE to talk to us both.
We found a good, reliable, no-nonsense car dealership years ago, and we go back to them when we need a new car. They don't give us the "how much a month do you want to pay" routine---they'll talk with you about what model and features you want and negotiate a total price without much fuss.
Before we found them, we went to a dealership that had the model that we wanted, but with a moonroof, which we didn't want. The salesman swore that the model we wanted could not be had without a moonroof unless we special-ordered and waited six months! (That was false---when we went to our current dealer and asked for that model without a moonroof, he said, "What color?") Then, after the salesman left us sitting in his office to go get answers to some questions we asked, he never came back! Several months later the dealership called us to ask why we had looked around there but not bought a car. I told him. (Boy, did I tell him.)
This has been top-of-mind with me lately, because we have to go car shopping before long to replace a deteriorating old-faithful.
