This past weekend Matthew and I made a big, huge step in our grown up lives. We bought a Mercedes. We had been casually shopping for a new vehicle for months and months, yet hadn’t really committed to buying anything. This weekend though, things suddenly got serious.

This story begins as “that time I almost bought a Mustang.” Friday night we brought home one of the new, oh-so-fine Mustang GTs and planned to go back and sign papers on Saturday morning. We wanted something fast and fun while we were still young and didn’t need to make room for car seats and soccer equipment. I’ve never been a Mustang fan, yet this new redesign is simply gorgeous. We decided to buy it. However, after driving it home over the weekend, we realized the ride was just too rough and noisy for my daily life. After all, I’m in my car most of the day. While it would be fun to drive, it wouldn’t be as comfortable as other options or conducive to my business.

Saddened by the thought of not coming home with this fancy Mustang, we decided to drive to Shreveport and test drive four or five other vehicles that Matthew had found. We really had no intention of buying a vehicle at this point. I was coming off of a migraine from the previous evening and felt tired and foggy. Matthew had the day off though, and this seemed like a great way to spend some time together.

We pulled up at the Mercedes dealership first, and I just wandered around a bit while Matthew talked to the salesman. I chose two cars right away that I liked and ruled out all of the others. We drove them both and chatted with the salesman. If I were being honest with myself, I’d say that I knew right away that this black Mercedes C250 was mine. It just felt right. There were so many things I loved about the car, and I felt so much more comfortable there than in any of the other vehicles I had driven. Nonetheless, it took me hours to commit to the idea of buying a Mercedes.

Here’s why:
1. It was the most expensive vehicle either of us had ever bought. That’s a bit scary. There’s something a tad frightening about doubling your car shopping budget, even if the money is there. For me, I was making a mental list of all of the other things I could (and maybe should) do with that extra money.

2. I was genuinely afraid of what people would say. This is probably the hardest one to admit and the most prevalent. I’ve only had the car for a few days now and I’ve already heard things like, “keeping up with the Jones'” and “that’s too expensive for me to ride in.” I didn’t want to suddenly be considered a snob, just because I bought a nice car.

If I were being brave, I’d admit that this was one of the main hesitations that I’ve had with buying a new car. When I was added to the Associate Leadership Council at my office, we talked about this very thing at our initial retreat. I hadn’t bought a nice car (even though I’ve worked very hard for it and spend most of my time there) because I didn’t want people to see me differently. All of these thoughts are simply holding me back and things that I have to deal with on a personal level. I took the first step though…I bought the car. Now, I’ll just hope that people will be happy for me instead of judgmental.

3. I’m deathly afraid that someone is going to hit/scratch/dent it. My last car was banged and bruised to no avail and not one person ever stopped to apologize or offer remedy. It feels like a scratch or dent is going to hurt much more in this car. Guess I’ll be that person parking at the back of the lot…

All in all, I am thrilled to be the owner of this new car. I can’t wait to drive it and take it on trips with Matthew. As simple as it is, my favorite features are the illuminated “Mercedes-Benz” on the door sill when you open it, the adorable blue stitching on the seats, the awesome sound system, and the light-up emblem on the front. (It’s almost always all about the details for me.) The safety features are mind boggling also, and I love how well everything is finished. I can’t wait to get the windows tinted and drive from one appointment to the next.

Let’s talk for a bit about the service we received at Holmes Mercedes. Matthew and I both have bought and sold several vehicles. This was by far one of our best experiences yet. As a matter of fact, it was even enjoyable! Most of the pleasantness can be attributed to our salesman, Kenn Posey. Kenn was the polar opposite of your stereotypical car salesman, and so much more pleasant to work with than anyone at any of the other dealerships…and we’d been to a lot. He knew everything we could possibly want know about the car and was not in the least bit pushy. It was almost like we’d brought a friend along for the experience, not a salesman. We were at Holmes Mercedes for several hours and at no point were we frustrated or rushing to leave. If you’re even remotely considering a Mercedes purchase, I recommend that you talk to Kenn first. I throughly look forward to working with them in the future.

There are two lessons to be learned from this story. The first is to always trust your gut, especially on larger purchases. I tried really, really hard to make that Mustang work. However, something told me that it wasn’t the right fit for us. Second, don’t make a decision for you or your family based upon fear of what someone else will think. All too often we let what friends, family, or even strangers, will think or say stand in the way of doing things that will make us happy. Buy that car. Make that move. Quit that crappy job. Dye your hair blue. Do whatever it is that will make you happy, without worrying about what others will think. They likely won’t remember in the end, yet you certainly will. Life is short and you only get one shot, so make it a good one!

Read more:
Our first car purchase. 
When we bought a house. 
And mattresses….the most riveting of the grown up decisions.