The Year I Finally Bought Myself A Car (Without Calling Dad For Backup)

Years ago when I moved to Los Angeles from New York, I was convinced I could survive without a car. They all told me “Nobody walks in LA,” a statement I met with a defiant scoff. If anyone could get to know the city sans vehicular assistance, it was this east coast metropolitan explorer.

It took only one hot month of confusing bus routes and unsolicited rideshare monologues before I realized the truth: LA demands wheels.

Naturally this revelation would require a car shopping trip, which I naively pictured as the thrilling automotive equivalent of plucking a handbag from some glossy department store shelf. Buying my first car (a beat-up 1988 sedan purchased off someone’s front lawn) was one thing. The retail experience was another, and it promised endless dreamy options replete with cute colors and backup cameras (!).

When I called my parents to inform them I’d “just pop by” a dealership to find my perfect fit that weekend, my dad insisted that I wait until he could fly out from New Jersey to help me. Me, being the grown woman that I am, insisted right back: “I’m not a baby! I’m a 30 year-old woman who moved 3,000 miles for independence!” Still, he booked a cross-country flight to come to my aid — and thank goodness he did.

As it turns out, car buying has its own language: money down, financing, negotiating add-ons like spare tires (I totally thought those just came with the car). Even with my dad there as my translator, the process felt overwhelming and time-consuming. What I’d originally expected to be a breezy three-hour errand turned into an eight-hour father-daughter odyssey. Then when the lease for that car expired a few years later, dad came out to help me… again. Imagine what that does for my sense of self-efficacy?

Fast forward to 2025, where my most recent lease is almost up and the idea of losing another weekend to car shopping makes me want to bed rot for the next decade. (As does the idea of calling in a man to help me, even if he is responsible for half of my DNA.) This time, I’m determined to get it done solo. The first step? Arming myself with knowledge, which I learned can start from the warm cocoon of my duvet, laptop propped up on my knees.

Late at night one evening during my pre-bedtime scroll, I stumbled upon Amazon Autos. “Amazon is selling cars now?” I wondered before realizing that it wasn’t quite that… but close.

To catch you up to speed, Amazon Autos is modernizing the car-shopping experience. They gather hundreds of new, used, and certified pre-owned cars from pre-vetted local dealers in one user-friendly place. From the comfort of my bed, I browsed them all within the same convenient Amazon interface I’ve become used to. There are SUVs and hatchbacks, sedans and minivans, all filtered to include the features that matter most to you. For me, it’s lane assist, smartphone/control panel sync technology, and of course, the sweet, sweet backup camera that makes parallel parking possible.

I learned that each listing breaks down fair and transparent pricing, itemizing cash, finance, and lease options, along with incentives and rebates. Picture it: your new car offer in one tab, your balance info in the other, laid out clearly so you can make the ultimate responsible choice. Once you pay for your car from home, all that’s left to do is hit the dealership for the test drive, final paperwork, and key handover. If only this had existed during my original foray into car buying.

So, how did my story end? I ended up buying my lease out, and I held on to my precious blue bullet. In the process, Amazon Autos allowed me to run a thorough comparative analysis of all my options. Starting my search online gave me the one thing I never had the first time around: breathing room. I could browse, compare, and think things through without the pressure of a sales counter. And I did it all on my own. For me, that’s a happily-ever-after: feeling informed, empowered, and totally capable. No need to call dad for backup.

Head to Amazon Autos to find your next car.