Why I Traded My ‘Cool Mom’ 4Runner for the ‘Fantastic but Plastic’ 2021 Chevy Tahoe

Real Mom Reviews

Oct 28

written by Abbey Bilodeau

My name is Abbey, and I am a stay at home mom to a 17 month old, who will hopefully become a big sister sometime soon!

In 2019 I rolled over a TON of negative equity into a lease on a 2019 Limited Nightshade Toyota 4Runner (my dream car at the time). In addition to rolling over a lot of negative equity, my husband and I put a significant amount of money down in order to reduce the payment (which I have since learned wasn’t the best idea, from Kelly).

In May of 2020 we had our first baby, and quickly realized the 4Runner offered no space to grow our family. The trunk space was very limited, especially for bringing our family on a road trip/vacation, and everything babies come with! Additionally, with the rear facing car seat there was minimal leg room for either the driver or front seat passenger.

Fast forward a few months and I stumbled upon The Car Mom. I’ve learned SO much from Kelly about the car buying process, leasing vs. buying, and so much more. I’ve always loved Tahoes and Yukons, but have been scared off by the price tag, and never thought I’d be able to justify spending that amount of money on a car. With how crazy the car market is we decided to capitalize on the used car market and trade my 4Runner for the 2021 Chevy Tahoe Z71. We started looking for Tahoes back in August, and a local dealership actually happened to have the exact one I wanted coming in. We put a $500 (refundable) deposit down to hold it. At first it was just the look that I loved (I’d never actually driven one), but I was ecstatic when Kelly’s tour came out for the Tahoe, it was exactly what I needed, a deep dive into the vehicle. The Tahoe was built, and finally came in a few months later (this week!). I test drove it and absolutely loved the drive. I love being up high and feeling like I own the road, and while I wish Chevy would update the dash (AND ADD MIDDLE HEAD RESTRAINTS!) I love the infotainment system, the captain’s chairs in the second row, all of the space compared to my 4Runner, and so much more!

Kelly truly saved the car buying process for us. She recently shared a tip about the Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer tool, which prepared me for going into the dealership. When the salesman offered me $39,000 for my 4Runner, and I had an instant cash offer of $42,070 sitting in my pocket I was able to respectfully, and confidently tell him that the deal would not be happening with that offer. After a lot of back and forth, I was able to get the dealership to just about match my instant cash offer, and I was also able to negotiate my interest rate (thank you Car Mom!). It was so empowering to see how surprised the salesman was with my confidence, knowledge, and determination. He even jokingly told my husband that when it’s time for him to buy a new truck he’s not allowed to bring me because I’m tougher than my husband - ha!

I certainly will miss my 4Runner (I’m sentimental, and brought my first baby home in that car, haha). However, I’m so excited about my Tahoe, and am so excited to fill it with babies. I’ve learned so much about vehicles, and the car buying process thanks to the Car Mom, and have now proven that her tips and tricks WORK. It’s extremely empowering, and I’m so grateful for Kelly!