2014 Mazda6: A Smart Marriage of Design and Tech

Shopping, if done right, is a marathon, a slow steady race to the finish line, where you embrace a brand-spanking-new purchase. You must have patience, endurance, tenacity and the ability to remember everything you saw along the way.

I’m a terrible shopper

I assume every shopping excursion is a sprint — or better yet, a relay race. Run in, grab something, run out and hand it off. If I am forced to shop, I do it as quickly as possible, making snap decisions that don't always result in victory or satisfaction, but always signal completion. A good shop is one that's over.

When it came time to buy my first new car in a decade (not counting the family car, which is my wife’s), sprinting was not an option. No, the search for my first real 21st-century car required a steady jog, trotting from one dealership to another, spending hours on auto web sites over a four-month period.