I have a mom-van with close to 100K miles on it.  The gas mileage is miserable.  Instead of buying another new van, I decided to take a look at smaller, cuter cars with better gas mileage and just demote the mom-van to road trips and costco.\n\nI always dread car-buying time and view it as a necessary evil.  I'm not a car person and I don't get excited about the prospect of something new to drive, so all the hassle of research, negotiation, paperwork is doubly annoying.  I always attempt to make first contact by email to see which dealers will work with me on my own terms.  I'm at home with 5 kids and I'm the only driver in the house.  I don't have the time or head space to drive all over town comparing prices, features, etc.  That's why we have the internet!  The problem is, so many car dealers are still stuck back in 1985.  \""You seem to have a lot of questions!\"" they'll say, \""Come on down so we can answer them all for you!\""  No.  If I'm throwing 20 grand or more around, I want to have time to think about it.\n\nRob at Autonation was the first to respond to my email with a detailed answer.  We hammered out all the details in a series of emails throughout the day as I made lunch, helped with Math, brushed out tangles, or in traffic (ssh!  Always at the red lights!).  That is literally the only way I can buy a car.  Rob is a sweetheart. When I finally narrowed my search to two cars and went in to test drive, he had them tucked away in the garage and had carved out as much time from his day as I needed.  He walked me through all the features, had ready answers to all my questions, and  never insulted my intelligence or made me feel stupid.  He provided a concierge-like service the likes of which I've never experienced at a car dealership, even when we bought my husband's BMW back in the day before the economy crashed.  Sigh.\n\nAnyway, you still have to do your homework (Rob L. down below, I'm looking at you, guy...that information is all over the internet!) and know what you're buying, what it is worth, and what you can afford.  They're going to haggle.  They're in business of selling cars.  But I never felt like someone was trying to do an end run around me.  Negotiations were straight forward and I walked away satisfied that I got plenty for my money.  \n\nThanks guys!  Maybe I'll pop in sometime and say hi when I'm up that way visiting my daughter :)