About a year and a half ago I found myself looking for a car. I had moved from Baltimore to Austin by car less. In Texas I found it extremely difficult to get around without a car. This led me to the purchase of a 2005 Toyota Corolla. The five decision making steps needed to decide what to do in my situation include; 1) Problem recognition, 2) Information search, 3) Evaluation of alternatives, 4) Product choice and 5) Post-purchase evaluation. I was tired of Texas' poor mass transit, a car would give me more freedom and time. I needed a car! During my search for information, I asked my friends in Austin (Rebekah and Dan) why they chose the cars they own. We searched online for the websites of car manufacturers such as Mazda, Toyota, Honda and Nissan. Dan consulted www.edmunds.com which helped them with their decisions. I also talked to my friend from Corpus Christi who had recently purchased a Toyota Tacoma. For more information I called my dad and asked him what he thought of the cars out there. He too had gone to buy a car. He had purchased all the car comparison magazines including Car and Driver, Consumer Reports, etc. When I was evaluating alternatives or evaluation criteria, I ultimately narrowed it down to the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Tacoma, and Honda Civic. I proceeded to write down the pros and cons of each car. Finally, in the fourth decision stage, I decided on the Toyota Corolla. The car practically sold itself. I liked the car because it had great gas mileage, was visually appealing, reliable, and had great acceleration for a manual 4 kicker. The interior feels like it belongs in a more expensive car and the ability to comfortably seat 4 adults. Often, after making a...... half sheet......and. The product itself arrived washed and vacuumed, had a full tank of gas, and a 3 year/36.00 mile bumper to bumper warranty. Toyota priced their quality product at a decent cost allowing me to purchase it. Post-purchase services included free oil changes when I perform the changes at their facility in Austin. They usually have delivery times of 30 minutes to an hour for most basic services. Toyota also offers extended warranties on tires, paint, engine, etc. Safety systems, roadside assistance, gap insurance are also elements that you can add to the package and cost of your car. The tricky part is that they will tell you what extra services or products you can purchase. They then proceed to tell you practical cases where you would like to have these "extras". The aim of the game is to make the buyer believe that he cannot imagine how he could live without these "extras".".."