I would rather buy a new house than a new car any day of the week.

Less hassle, less annoying sales people. Less familial stress.

Doesn’t seem like that’s the way it should be, but it is.

Note that I'm not actually buying a new car. I'm just considering it, and it's giving me a headache.

Yeah, but can you get a house with bucket seats, cup holders, and wipers that automatically wash your windows?

I'm pondering it too.

And yea, I don't want to deal with Car People.

From spending a weekend looking around it seem the better the brand, the less annoying sales people.

Ford - Assholes
Buick (next door to Ford) - Nice guy, ran around getting me prices and didn't even push his card on me.
Cadillac - Really nice
Chrysler - Pretty nice
Chevrolet - The Worst
Saturn - Really nice
Saturn Pre-Owned - Not that nice

Now as for looking for a house, wow that's been a nightmare. So much so that I've given up for the year and will continue to throw 1400 a month away in rent.

Enjoyed working with Saturn. When it came to the van, we went through fleet sales (I can't recall if it was a Margie Work Thing, a Credit Union Thing, or a CostCo Thing), but the fleet sales guys are nice and low-pressure, at least in our experience.