Recently I purchased a used American Girl RC Sports Car, and I thought I would share my journey along with things I learned that weren't very obvious when I first got it.
The American Girl RC Sports Car first released in red in 2018. It has now been replaced with a pink and gold version of the car (bearing a close resemblance to the Our Generation Retro Convertible). The retail price of the car is $225. When it first came out, I did think it was cool, and it was something I was interested in owning but didn't think I would ever get it, simply because it was so expensive.
So my local Once Upon a Child had one they were selling for $75. I wanted it, but it sold and I thought it was just something I had missed. However, when I went in to check their store the other day, they had one! It was missing one thing however, the most crucial thing, the wall charger that plugs into the wall to convert the wall power to the battery power (AC to DC, or maybe DC to AC? IDK I can't ever remember which is which, just that one is for wall and the other is for devices). They said they had tried to contact AG about getting a replacement but hadn't received a response. Therefore, they originally marked the car at $100 but took off $50 for the missing charger. This was an excellent choice! So, I left my phone number with them and contacted AG both through Facebook messenger and email. The facebook messenger contact got a quick response which told me that replacement chargers were available for $58. I was incredibly excited, I called my local Once Upon a Child back and told them I would be purchasing the car as soon as I could make it back to the store.
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| This was my conversation about the replacement Charger. |
Now, things to know about this replacement part:
-It is only available by phone order, AG cannot take orders over Email, and it is not able to be purchased on their website.
-This replacement part is really a pack, including a new controller, charger and car battery. The pack cannot be split up, hence the $58 price tag. You could be left with extra items, which is not a bad thing.
-Purchase of this replacement part will count towards AG Rewards points (Shipping excluded)
-Customer service would always ask if I had the red car or the pink car. The replacement parts are the exact same, the battery and charger and controller are the same, they are just classified as two different products because they are two different colors. So, if you really want to, you could mix the pink charger (It's just the color of the label, the actual charger itself is black) with the red sports car, but I went ahead and got the red one.
-The customer service call took about 30 minutes, which wasn't too bad, and I was able to place the order pretty easily. I just went through as if I was making a phone order, I didn't go to any special option on the phone line (I believe I just used extension #1)
So, with a $50 price tag for the car itself, which did have the controller and car battery, plus an adorable little tikes gas container that I haven't brought myself to throw away yet. (Plus the car is technically not even a gas powered vehicle, it's electric :)
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| This Little Tikes gas container was thrown in with the doll car, it's just cute to think about the kid who probably played with it. |
... and the total of my AG replacement part order coming to about $73, I ended up with a $123 final price tag, $102 off the retail price! This was a Christmas present for me, so I didn't mind spending the money. I then brought the car home, sat, and waited.......
The package actually arrived pretty fast, it arrived with another AG order I had placed days before, and I was surprised with how fast it shipped. It finally arrived though, and this car is amazing!!!
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| A cupholder that can fit most AG drinks! |
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| A tiny rearview mirror |
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| Door handles that open! Be sure to pull on the end closest to the sideview mirrors, if you pull at the other end the handle won't open. This was more difficult to figure out than it seems. |
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| A touch screen console! Plus the glove compartment opens so you can charge the car's battery without taking it out of the battery compartment every time. |
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| Seatbelts, so we can be safe! |
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| Working headlights! These stay on all the time, at least to my knowledge. |
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| Working tail lights! They both flash when you back up and flash independently as turn signals when you turn the car. You'll also see here that the license plate is blank. The original set comes with stickers to put on the license plate so it can say whatever you want it too. Those were missing from the set, and I'm still debating on whether or not to try to get some stickers and put them on there or just leave it blank for fun. However, with everything, there are some cons. Here they are: 1. This car is loud, very loud. And not just because it has a working horn, the motor is incredibly loud. So, just beware that extended playtime may cause excessive weariness in the ears of those around you. 2. These doors can close in too far and get stuck on the inside of the car if you're not careful. 3. This car goes so fast that if your doll has glasses, I would recommend taking them off before putting her in the car. 4. The amount of leg room in the car is tight, so if your doll is wearing platform shoes (The shoes to the Sunshine Garden outfit or the Pretty party outfit are two examples) she won't fit. The tennis shoes fit fine, just any thick-soled shoe doesn't. Pros: 1. The sideview mirrors are rubber and flexible so they won't break when knocked 2. This is just a cool car, it drives, it's so cool! 3. The cup holder allows for you to hold a drink which, if you're a big collector like me, you may not have touched any of your doll food in a while. There are also certain features of other cars from AG, such as Julie's VW Bug, that I missed and wish had been included: 1. A trunk 2. A radio 3. The ability to turn the headlights on/off However, all of these sacrifices are worth it to have a car that actually drives! I can't wait to see what cars AG comes out with in the future. |
