There ya go. That's the difference between us. You liked what you saw and juggled your finances around until you could afford the car.
Not having car payments in such a long time and spoiled me quite a bit. I think about money and don't like owing cash to anyone for anything. The only thing I owe money on is my house. The credit cards and gas cards are paid to a zero balance at each billing cycle so I can avoid interest charges. It's something that's real easy to do when you start out that way and can avoid large charge card expenses. It's also something that is hard to do if you need to put a big ticket expense on credit.
I want the car but have the patience to play the pricing game. If it takes until December to get what I want, I'm prepared to wait. It's no big deal to me. My money simply earns more interest in the bank.
When I do get the car, I'll compare the finance rates to my savings account interest rate. If there's not more than 4% difference, I'll use the bank's money and leave my money alone. The difference between what I would pay and what the bank pays me would be rather small. I end up keeping more money that way.
That may sound odd, but any financially driven mind will understand the thought process behind it. Tacking $5,000 onto a 15 month amortization (extra cash when refinancing your home) at 7% will cost you $8,089 when you're done. Doing $10,000 will ding you for a total of $16,179 when it's all over. I don't see the reason to pay the mortgage company that much money to get a car for a payment I like. Maybe for something I need but definitely not for something I want.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying what you did was wrong in any way. It was what you felt was the best thing to do at the time to get what you wanted. I'm cool with that and hope you still feel it was the correct thing to do. We're obviously different people who think differently.
The reason for me coming to this forum is clear. I wanted to research the vehicle and get feedback from the owners before dropping the cash on the car. Yanno, do that whole educated consumer thing before plopping down a substantial chunk of a year's salary for a car/toy.
I nearly picked up a new red on grey Limited last year for $28,000. I decided to wait a little bit to see what the prices did. I'm glad I did because now I can get an SRT-6 for the same money. I don't flip through cars. I keep them long after most people would get rid of 'em. I kept my first car 13 years and only got rid of my first truck after 6 years when I upgraded to a Cummins. When I buy a car, it becomes a part of the family so to speak. Like a house, it's a fixture for many years to come.
Yeah, I've got to wait a little while longer. Big deal. I had to wait 35 years for them to come out so what's a wee bit longer? No biggie.

It's not balderdash. Its patience and playing the money game.

No hard feelings.