Jan 28, 2010

Driving Me Crazy

I've been surviving, barely, with just one car. I know many families learn to exist with one car, and we were able to during each of Mike's internships (NM & AK) and in Butte after we sold his truck to prepare for our move here. However, those places had marvelous bus systems. For some reason, the transit system here in Houston is lacking. That means that either Mike takes the car and I'm stranded or I wake up at 6 am and drive Mike through rush-hour traffic to work, and then pick him up in rush-hour traffic. On those days we use twice as much gas, and I get half as much sleep. We've had a plan to get me a car by the time Baby James is here (June), but out of desperation I shifted our time-frame, and tomorrow we are going test-driving! YAY! I made sure to get our financing in order before we even started looking at cars. No sense in getting unrealistic expectations and then being stuck with a good, but not-what-I-wanted, car. We are really blessed that our credit union is willing to give us a loan, even in this economy. I'm sure it helps that Mike has an awesome job, and we have an awesome track record for paying bills on time. As I look at cars online, I'm still trying not to get my hopes set on any one car - I did that with the Mitsu and when it had problems, it just crushed my love for the Lancer. Really, as long as it has 3 rows of seating, relatively good gas mileage, and low miles, I'll be thrilled. I'm a little worried about how our time at the dealership will go - when we bought the Mitsu we were at the dealership for 8 HOURS while they figured out our financing and what-not. This time around, I hope it's fast since Lily will be looking for a nap around noon. I'd hate to have to walk away from a great deal not knowing if it will still be there in two hours. But I'm willing to do it this time!

***UPDATE***
We got the car of my dreams! Meet Hybie, my 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid. She seats 7 - isn't she a beauty?

***2ND UPDATE***
After the great deal we got on Hybie ($7K below blue book), Mike went back to the dealership (and the same salesman) and traded in the Mitsu for his first (and probably ONLY) luxury car; 2006 Acura TL. Man, he's spoiled ;) He got a great deal as well, at $6K below blue book.

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