We got our truck

For several weeks, we were constantly checking the internet for RAMs 3500, 1-2 year old, but didn't find anything closer than 250 miles - too far for making the trip just to check out a truck that we might not like in the end. Plus, 80% of the used trucks are white, an absolute no-go for Silke. After finding out that the somewhat less expensive RAM 2500 would be sufficient for towing our trailer with respect to weight limits and engine power, we included new trucks in our online research and found a Dodge dealer in Charleston who offered very aggressive pricing for their RAMs.

Last Saturday, January 7, we drove the 100 miles to Charleston with the intention to check out this dealer as well as Chevrolet Silverado and GMC trucks, and do some test driving. Little did we know how small the chances are to escape from the office of a professional car sales person without a sales contract under your arm. Whenever we said, "now we want to check out the other truck dealers", he would reduce the price a little more, until we really had the feeling that we couldn't walk away from such a great deal. The price we finally agreed upon was only 10% more than what we would have paid for a one or two year old vehicle, and for our Volvo that we traded in we got almost 20% more than the Kelley Blue Book price. And the color - dark red - was the perfect compromise between Silke's and Manfred's diverging preferences.  The icing on the cake was that the 2012 Cummins diesel engine now has 800 lb ft (1085 Nm), almost 20% more torque than the previous versions. And when it comes to pulling a 12,000 lb trailer, torque is almost the only thing that counts.
Less than an hour after we agreed on the deal, the plate was transferred from the Volvo to our new RAM, we dropped a $1,000 check as deposit on the table and promised to pay the rest within a week, and left the place in our new truck, still not exactly grasping how this all happened.

What a hilarious experience!