Daughter's digital digging helps mom make a deal

OK, so can we all just agree to not tell my mother I've written this story?My mom is in her late 60s. She has been widowed for 20 years, since my car-loving father passed away suddenly. She had to quickly learn how to take care of a household of pets, teens, cars and an in-ground pool. She has done a fabulous job.HARD DRIVE?As auto industry players strive to let customers handle most or all of the vehicle transaction digitally, 3 Automotive News staffers learn firsthand that the efforts have a long way to go. SHIRAZ AHMED: Frustrations in finding a CPO hatchback onlineMICHAEL WAYLAND: Do online sites help simplify the purchase? Not so muchSHARON SILKE CARTY: Daughter's digital digging helps mom make a dealBut no matter what I say, I can't get her to spend less on vehicles or persuade her to buy used. She insists on driving new, even if it strains her budget, because she wants zero hassles with her vehicles. She wants to get in, turn it on and drive away. She wants to feel secure in bad weather. She wants very little maintenance.Oh, and she insists on having a CD player so she can listen to audiobooks.I wasn't even aware that she was thinking about buying a vehicle until she called one Saturday afternoon last month. I didn't pick up right away, so she called back. And called again. Alarmed and thinking something was wrong, I called her and learned she was in the showroom of a Subaru dealership in central New Jersey. She was looking at a Subaru Forester and wanted to know what I thought. She had told the salesman she wanted to spend about $400 to $500 a month. He could do that, he said. (Of course he did.) And then he appraised her 2013 Honda CR-V and told her he'd give her $7,600 for it.

Daughter's digital digging helps mom make a deal

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