“So wait, let me see if I got this right: you went to Sweden to buy a car?”

Yes.

“Why?”

The above exchange has been happenening for the last few days, over and over. It’s a neat story.

Way back in February of 2006, Joy and I decided to start researching a new set of wheels to replace the aging and deteriorating 1995 Cavalier. I wanted to move a little more upscale, so the first place we stopped was a Saab dealership, where we test drove the 9.3. Except for the fact that it had no non-leather option (neither of us like leather upholstery), it was a fantastic car.

Our next test was a Volvo V50 - Joy pointed out that a sedan was not going to cut it for two kids and a dog for the frequent long-distance trips we take. We nervously moved into station, I mean “sportwagon” territory. The V50 is not your mama’s Volvo. There’s no boxiness here, just sexy curves and beautiful lines. Plus a 12-speaker sound system, upholstery that feels like wetsuit material (sweet), and a pile of other nice things. Our biggest complaint was that the storage compartments are a little skimpy.

Finally, we checked out the VW Passat wagon and the Mazda 6 wagon. The Passat was nice enough, but it had so many extraneous gadgets, it actually turned us off. I mean, really, why do I need to adjust the brightness of my footwell lights? Just more stuff to go wrong. The Mazda, after the other three brands, was rather uninspiring inside. Nice enough, but didn’t compare to our other options.

Over the next several months, we continued to research and discuss our options. One sunny July afternoon, we laid the four brochures out in the backyard and made our decision. We were going to get the Volvo. And not only that, we were going to take advantage of the Overseas Delivery Program. In short, Volvo will knock 8% off the price, plus give you two round-trip tickets to Gothenburg, Sweden and a night at the Radisson there.

We walked into Fields Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo in Waukesha in October and told Susan exactly what we wanted. By the end of all the paperwork, we had a price that was roughly $3,500 under what you would pay in the States (the package we added was running a discount in addition to the 8% off the top). For another $900, we upgraded our travel to include 3 nights in Barcelona, Spain.

So why did we go to Sweden to buy the car?
Because when you add it all up, we saved $7,840, that’s why. If we had bought the car here, then taken a 5-night trip in Europe, it would have cost about $34,500. Our actual total? $26,660. And that’s STILL far less than the cost of just a V50 here.

Joy behind the wheel

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