Today I finally decided that I've had enough of my truck: Bad gas mileage, even worse turning radius, and a much worse time trying to park it in my garage. I want something smaller, with better MPGs, easier to drive, safe, capable for reasonable offroad adventures, and capable of fitting a carseat or two in the back. I want something different and I'm ready for change.

I've been doing research for about 2 months now and while I was previously looking at Subarus (as some may recall), I decided to take a look at the 2014 Nissan Xterra. On paper, it fulfills all of my needs for a car. The only thing I wasn't sure about was how it actually felt to drive one. I hadn't seen one up close yet.

I have previously paid too much for a car because I needed a car that day and I was not at all prepared for the car buying adventure. I got taken for a ride and probably paid $2-3k more than I should have for it. I am still bitter about it. Today I went to the stealership (Woodmen Nissan) and walked in with a plan in mind. I was not going to leave the lot with a new car under any circumstance. I want to play the game a little and see what kind of offer I can get down to. Here's the details

I want a 2014 ProX4 (5 speed automatic) with the tow package. MSRP is about $32K
I have a 2001 Silverado Extended Cab LS with 120k miles in KBB "excellent" condition. It has a brush guard and high-end toneau cover, along with a rear "airbag" suspension system and a brand new upgraded audio with an underseat subwoofer. Interior and exterior are in "like new" condition. No rips, tears, scratches, dents etc. Never been in an accident, etc. I expect that I could sell it private party for $9-10k

I spent about 90 mins at the dealership. Several times they asked for my truck keys, to which I politely requested that the keys remain in my hands, but I would show them anything they wanted to see (thanks to the horror stories in another thread). About 45 mins was spent driving the Xterra and test fitting Little HoneyBadger's carseat in it. I told them upfront that I preferred to take care of my own financing and that I wasn't going to make a purchase today.

In the end, I gave them my name and email address (one that I hand out to collect junk mail). I gave them limited information about where I work and where I live (although I allowed them to make a copy of my DL before the test drive, the address on my DL is out of date on the front). I made myself clear that with the trade in value of my truck, they could take into consideration my military service, my USAA membership, my Costco membership, or my Cheyenne Mountain Zoo membership if they wanted, but by the end of the week I wanted their best price. At one point I threw out the number $21k, but that might be a bit ambitious.

Bottom line is this: I don't have any requirement to buy a new vehicle. I just wanted to see what kind of year-end offer they could make me. If they can offer me anything under 22k, I will strongly consider taking it. If they refuse to go under 24k, I'll walk away and hang on to my truck for a while.

If you awesome folks have any advice, inputs, suggestions or general harassment, I'd love to hear it! I will post any correspondence I have with the sales staff at Woodmen Nissan as it comes in.