How I bought my new car, and which dealers played ball (Chapter 1)

Last night our family took home a new Honda Pilot SUV. Great vehicle -- it meets our needs perfectly.

Like many people, I love and hate the car-buying process. I love to shop, but hate the negotiations. E-mail, I've learned, has completely leveled the playing field for me, and it made the process of buying a car much simpler and less stressful.

We started our shopping with the purchase of a terrific Consumer Reports magazine that went in-depth on every 2006 SUV you could buy. That helped us narrow our choices to the Toyota Highlander, Nissan Murano and Honda Pilot. On separate occasions, my wife and I visited the Bankston Nissan, Bankston Honda and Toyota of Lewisville.

First impressions:

• Toyota of Lewisville -- this is a beautiful facility with fancy landscaping and a showroom that's equally attractive. But even on a crowded Saturday when I visited, there were salesmen hawking the front door. A big turnoff for me. Better to let me come into the showroom on my own, and then you can help me find something. We saw the Highlander here, but decided it was too small. The 4Runner is nice, but just a little too big. We're moving on.
  
  
• Bankston Nissan -- Just the opposite here. A nice facility, but nothing fancy about the architecture or the grounds. But just the opposite reaction from the employees. No one was standing guard over the front door, so I walked in and started looking around. I ventured over to the Murano on display, and I stuck my head inside the driver's window. About 30 seconds later, a young salesman named Sonny put his head inside the opposite window. He says "nice, huh". I said I was just looking, and he answered smartly, "Mind if I look with you?" Very clever response. The kid was barely 20 years old, or at least appeared that way. He said he had only started a short while ago, but still he knew the vehicle pretty well. We talked for a few moments. I gave him my name and phone number, so he could show that off to his boss, and he gave me a couple of brochures. Advice to Sonny - stick with it, you'll do well!
  
  
• Bankston Honda -- Nice large campus (the former Autonation dealership). Sales reps hung back, stepped up appropriately when we entered the showroom. My wife visited once before me, and then we came back together a few days later. We test drove the Pilot, liked it, and said we'd think about it.
  

Next chapter: Coming up with a price.

More to come.