I knew it was the end of the line for Buey, the loving name we gave my 2011 Buick Regal, when I was doing a u-turn after work and the entire car shut off. Yikes, right? Besides the safety factors, I loved this car. This had been the first car I owned in my name; the first car I submitted that glorious and painful last payment for, and was mailed a beautiful paper title with my name on it, not my parents’. This was my first ‘adult’ thing, and I did not want to let it go.
I cried in this car, went on road trips, ate way too much McDonalds drive thru, and even pierced my nose in this car ( that’s a story for another time). Of course I didn’t want to get rid of it. I’m one of those people that get sentimentally attached to objects, purely because of the memories. I literally have shirts I haven’t worn in years, but refuse to get rid of because I had a really good day when I was wearing it. I guess you can catch me on a future episode of Hoarders. Just kidding…hopefully.
I was coming to terms with the fate of my car as I drove it to Stingray Chevrolet over in Bartow. One of our good customers, Lindsay, and her husband, Matt, own the dealership, which definitely put me at ease. I don’t know about you guys, but the last thing I want is to be pressured into buying a car by an unfamiliar face, and being talked into a car so expensive that I have to eat Ramen noodles and sleep in the actual car in order to pay for it.
Let me tell you, this experience was the exact opposite of what I was expecting. I parked the car, and my parents (obviously bringing backup for this) and I were immediately greeted IN the parking lot. Literally, this nice angel of a girl came out to tell us where to go, which I loved because I always have anxiety of trying to figure out where I’m going for appointments. You walk in, and these bright, shining faces tell you good morning, alongside these bright shining cars. I swear, there were even birds chirping. Plus, there was even a coffee bar, and if you know me, this was everything.
They introduced me to the guy that was going to be helping me out- Mike. Mike is not the kind of guy you imagine when I think of “car salesman”. You know what I’m talking about- cheap suit, receding hairline, and slimy. Maybe I watch too many movies?? Anyways, he was very attentive, gave reasonable recommendations, but most importantly he listened. Not to go on a rant, but as a young female, when it comes to “adult” things, such as buying a car, I tend to get talked at a lot, and not really listened to. While we test drove cars, he listened to my concerns, what I liked about car X, what I didn’t like about car Y, and then he would recommend a car based on what I was saying. I never felt pressured to like one car more than the other, to try a car that was out of my budget, and I just felt relaxed the entire time we looked. Mike’s a good listener and also has a Morgan Freeman kind of calm voice, plus he might be single, ladies, so hit him up.
After a few hours of Mike putting up with my terrible test driving, I chose my new baby- a black Chevy Equinox aka a mom car. It drives like I’m driving the roads of heaven, so smooth and so quiet. Ask Lisa, she snored the whole way home.
From the moment we stepped onto the lot, to the test driving, to the insane amount of paperwork and signatures I learned is involved in purchasing a car, Mike and the entire Stingray staff did everything they could to make the process as smooth as possible. See the photo below for how happy I was to have a fully functioning car!!!
Nope, not being paid for this shoutout. I just know how hard these people work, and I like to thank businesses publicly!
It's A Shore Thing 