I got a car for Christmas the year of my 16th birthday. The car didnt have a bow because there was a torrential downpour but the box had a total gaudy bow on it.
It was a bad Christmas, my parents were splitting up and my dads gf at the time wrapped it and made the ugly bow. I was a total brat and sobbed about that, i never want a car for Christmas again haha.
Sidenote: The car i got for graduation from . college was much more appreciated and my parents were back together.
#spoiled
Wait - your parents got remarried after being divorced for several years?
I got a new car last Black Friday and we totally took a family pic in front of it with a big bow on the roof. No shame here. Course it was only a Nissan suv.
But DH couldn't buy a car without me. He's horrible at negotiating and let's me do it all.
Post by birdistheword on Nov 23, 2014 19:51:47 GMT -5
When people buy other people cars, are they buying them cash? Or do they have separate finances? Because otherwise, it's like "Merry Christmas! You get to make a big car payment every month!"
But then you miss out on the thrill of the car negotiation, that is my most favorite part!
Haha, DH is the GM of a dealership, there isn't any negotiation, he gets an employee price and then decides how much to put down and how to finance. All I do is pick the color and what options I want.
I would be even more mad if my "present" was a financed vehicle that we had to pay for very month. That's not a gift at all, lol. Merry Christmas, honey. That will be $349/month for the next 4 years. Um, no!
Haha, DH is the GM of a dealership, there isn't any negotiation, he gets an employee price and then decides how much to put down and how to finance. All I do is pick the color and what options I want.
I would be even more mad if my "present" was a financed vehicle that we had to pay for very month. That's not a gift at all, lol. Merry Christmas, honey. That will be $349/month for the next 4 years. Um, no!
We are at 0% interest, I always have a car payment, just part of the industry he's in. I get a new car every 2 years, I'm not complaining! And he gets a free car and free gas so we only have one payment. It works for us
It didn't freaking work for us. I tried so hard too.
I bought the car in late October/early November. (They couldn't hold it until Christmas because I was using our old Camry as trade and I wanted the particular car on the lot so I had to purchase it while it was available and they didn't want to risk the Camry getting into an accident in the interim.) The bows were all locked up so they couldn't get me one. Instead, they were going to have it on the showroom floor for when we picked it up and it would be all detailed and shiny with a big "SOLD" sign on it. But they were still detailing it and adding the rock guard when we arrived. DH was antsy waiting, figuring I'd bought him an RX350 SUV (although we'd just bought a Mazda CX-9 which looks just like it only bigger with a third row) or an ES350 (the smaller sedan). We had sales people coming up and slapping him on the back, congratulating him over and over and telling him how much he'd love the car. He's thinking "wow, they're being really supportive here" which amused me greatly. He saw the big black car drive down the lane and said "Now THAT'S a Lexus." to which I replied "That is YOUR Lexus."
For Christmas I asked him what he wanted. "You can't top the car." So I bought him a car cover. Turns out they ordered it for the LS460 and not the LS460L so it was the wrong size. Not that it mattered, because SERVICE WAS CLOSED ON CHRISTMAS EVE WHEN I WENT TO PICK IT UP and nobody in sales knew anything about it. Glad I called ahead to avoid the drive. So I bought him a remote control truck for under the tree. Got his Christmas car early so he got the truck he wanted, just in 1:14 scale instead.
For our anni/his birthday I bought him a model of the Lexus LS460 that I'd bought him for "Christmas in October" and put it in the driveway with a big red bow on it. So technically he got a Lexus in the driveway with a big red bow (in January and at 1:14 or 1:21 scale or something like that). Does that count?
It was a hell of a gift season. One of my most epic.
Here we are without the bow:
I bought it with my money. I knew exactly what he wanted. I shopped around a lot. I'm comfortable negotiating and he's comfortable with me doing it. He's wanted a Lexus for as long as I've known him (we'd been looking at them for at least a year while he was grumbling that he wanted to buy one since I had a fancy new rig).
This was totally the dream of my fifteen and sixteen year old self. By the time I was seventeen, I was in college and living in a dorm, and thus there was no driveway in which to park a surprise car. Bow or no bow. *sad trombone* lol
Post by mrsukyankee on Nov 24, 2014 3:48:58 GMT -5
I've never had anyone pay for a car for me so it might be nice just once. But that's it. If my DH showed up with a nice little run around car this winter, I wouldn't turn it down. (I drive about 1-2 x a week max)
Yes. I would also be pissed if my DH did this without me. I'm sorry but major purchases should be made together. I think it's a sign of controlling behavior if a husband does this.
I know a woman who's DH surprised her with an Acura for her 40th and you know what, she was pissed. It wasn't the car of her choice. She kept it though, it's a fine line between being pissed and unappreciative. Just difficult all the way around.
But seriously, you would think for how much you spend on a car they would just give you the f'ing bow.
The bows are really nice quality (they are huge and would probably cost a few hundred dollars at least). So each dealership buys a few and then rents them out. It's not like you'd want to reuse a giant bow for anything...ever again, lol...they charge the small deposit because people used to say "oh sure I'll bring it back" and then wouldn't.
I reused mine! I bought my first car at 18. When I went to pick it up, the dealership had a giant red bow on it. I didn't get charged anything else and I kept it. I hung it up on my bedroom door for a while and then in my room.
Husband bought me a Lexus last May, one afternoon when he claimed he was taking me to lunch. I got all huffy when he was driving to lunch, because he was going so far away from my work and yo, I only have an hour. Then he turns into the dealership, vs the Pizza Hut across the drive. Points to a white Lexus SUV and tell me it is mine if I want it. Let's go for a test drive and see if I want it. No bow involved. No payments for me. Happy Day!
Post by Norticprincess on Nov 24, 2014 11:22:32 GMT -5
My mum got her FJ as a birthday gift. It wasn't in the driveway, dad took her to pick it up as there were some issues with the order. My dad knew she wanted it. She'd wanted one since the concept was announced. She had a '78 when I was little. She ended up with completely different one from what my dad had ordered. (Order issues) The one he ordered ended up going to a different dealer (this was the first month they were available in the US) She liked the one the dealer actually got in. Color difference. She thought they were just going to look at them to see if she really wanted one, see how long it would be to get one. She was really shocked when they handed her the keys and said have fun. No bow, it would have come off on the trip home, through two creeks and a few light trails.
My mom was happy. My dad had bought her cars before she was normally in on hers. He had bought him self several new ones without telling her first. Running joke, dad goes out for new glasses and comes home in a different car.