I won the buy/lease debate. I lost the small car/big car debate. We bought a Honda CR-V, the little SUV. We bought the bottom of the line, no extras added version; but it still came with plenty of powered accessories: power windows, power door locks, cruise control, et al. It was also my first experience haggling over price, and the first time something I said elicited something like an angry response in a salesman. The downshift into simile was intentional – who knows how much of the response was genuine or part of the routine? It was a classic negotiation. I started way below where he wanted to be, he started a lot higher, but we met somewhere in between. The question is, who one? Do I get points for ending up closer to my starting point than he did? Other than the fact that a car purchase was not part of my ten year plan, I feel that I did not spend too much on a car. What more could you ask for?

Oh yeah, we really like the car.