After a winter of deliberation from our families, some to our knowledge, some not, it was decided that they felt we wouldn’t be safe towing the trailer with the van, and they thought we should look into buying a new tow vehicle. (We know you did it because you love us – thank you).
Despite my initial objections (I still know we’d be fine in the van), I warmed up to the idea of having more room after an overnight trip to Mont Tremblant resulted in Guylaine having to carry some cargo on her lap on the ride home. This was how we were going to tour North America?
Jean was the one who originally got us going last fall by suggesting we look at Toyota’s entry into the large SUV class; the Sequoia. Many a night I stayed up searching the Internet for one of these bad boys we could afford. After much research, we determined anything 2008 or newer was built on the Tundra frame, and was much bigger then it’s predecessor. 2007 and older just wasn’t going to work for us. But these beasts were not cheap. We figured in time, we would be able to get one, but we just didn’t have the means to do it.
I continued my search through the winter. Then one day, I noticed a fairly large SUV from Infiniti called the QX56. I went home and again did some research. It seemed like a decent truck – good reviews – I could even buy an older one without worrying about major differences from year to year. We found a couple of 2005’s online in Ottawa and we decided to go see one. What a shock. The one we saw had an interior that made me feel ill. The color was a horrible light gray – and it was filthy. The steering wheel and every crease in the seats were black. It was just in really bad shape. I couldn’t get over how small the cargo area was. I don’t even think I could have gotten a hockey bag back there. The sales guy I was talking to was completely inflexible on the price as well. The kids were starting to act up in the van, so we decided to leave.
When we pulled out, Guylaine noticed another small used dealer right across the street and right at the front of the lot was a huge Escalade. Guylaine had mentioned Escalades before, but I told her she was dreaming. There was no way we could afford an Escalade. Figuring we were already way out in the west end, we pulled over and I told her to jump out and get the price and year from the sticker on the windshield. She came back to the van giddy and suggested I come have a look. It was beautiful. I went and talked to the sales guy and he gave me the keys. We climbed in. What a dream machine. I talked to the guy a bit more and we headed for home. Guylaine couldn’t stop talking about the two DVD players and how safe she felt in that big truck, and the two DVD players, and the black leather interior, and the two DVD players, and how big the cargo area was, did I mention the two DVD players? We stopped at McDonalds on the way home home to reward the kids for their patience and good behavior (ya – right). We got home a little after 9:00 and put everyone to bed. Then we went to the dealers website to check out the pics he had online. It was gorgeous. And while it was more then we wanted to spend, it was still within reach and way cheaper then a Sequoia. In fairness, the Escalade was a 2007 – the best year for Escalades – and the Sequoia would have to be a 2008, but 15 to 20 grand is still a big chuck of change (especially when you don’t have it).
I went about edjumacatin’ myself on everything Escalade. Then I started searching every nook and cranny on the Internet to find one similar to no avail. Everything was either base model (this was an ESV) or it had more mileage, or it was priced 5000 – 10000 more. This was the best deal I could find. I went back to the dealer when I had a morning off and took it for a test drive. This thing has every possible feature you could imagine. Heated steering, heated seats, folding mirrors, nav, back up assist with camera – you name it (did I mention it had two DVD players?). I was sold. To be safe, we went to look at a brand new Sequoia at the Toyota dealership to compare. There was no comparison. If the Sequoia could hold 4 suitcases, I’ll eat my hat. I was so disappointed in a truck that I had dreamed about for so long. Our minds were made up – we needed the Escalade. It was not only gorgeous, it fulfilled all of our needs. I made a commitment to buy it, and had them bring it to Jean’s brother’s shop to have the mechanic look at it. Mechanically it was great, but they pointed out that it would soon need tires, and that the body had a few dents and scratches that I might not have seen. We decided to go see it again at the dealer on Saturday. When we got there, they had already put plates on it. They were expecting us to take it that day! I told the sales guy that not only did I not have the cash, but that my insurance hadn’t called him yet, so I didn’t even have insurance to drive it off the lot. Guylaine was very unimpressed with how dirty the inside was. It looked like all they did was vacuum it. She got into a bit of an argument with the sales guy. I could see him rolling his eyes at her. She told him we weren’t taking it like that – and that we might not take it all – and that we were going to look at another one that afternoon.
After Sam’s hockey game, we jumped in the van with Jean and headed out to a Ford dealer in Gatineau to look at one Jean had found for a really good price. This truck was beautiful on the outside – much better shape then the first one. And it had brand new tires. But climbing into the cockpit, I was really turned off by the interior, which was the only other color other then black that was offered – Cashmere. Every little mark showed – and it had lots of them. Under the second row seating the carpet was stained with rust. And this was a base Escalade, which meant that once we opened the rear power hatch, we had the same problem as the Sequoia and the QX56 – no cargo room. We left disappointed. We came to the conclusion that the first truck was discounted because of the shape of the body – which really wasn’t that bad. If we wanted better we were going to have to pay for it – or we were going to have to compromise and get something we didn’t want. By the end of the day, I told Guylaine that I thought the best decision was to keep the van. I felt just sick. I knew she wanted it, but we couldn’t afford more and there was nothing else really out there. Before going to bed I did a Canada wide search to try to compare the vehicle we wanted with what was out there. They were all more expensive. The one’s that weren’t expensive had high mileage. I went to bed very disappointed.
Sunday morning I had brought Katrina to hockey and Guylaine called. I told her about my search. She said she had been thinking about it and she felt that we couldn’t afford a higher priced vehicle, and that we weren’t going to compromise and spend that much money on a vehicle we didn’t want when the vehicle we did want was available and already had plates on it. On Monday morning I called the dealer back, told him what I wanted fixed on the truck and he agreed to do it. I pick up the truck on Wednesday.
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