AuburnChick's Adventures

I was going to write a post about my family’s Christmas happenings, but then an unexpected thing happened.

My car died.

Again.

The Mr. and Rooster were out shopping, and I was taking it easy at home, comfy in my sweats, when I received a phone call from Rooster.

They were stranded.  The car would not start.

This happened a couple of weeks ago, and it spent a few days in a friend’s shop.

This car has had gremlins for a year and a half or more.  To say we were tired of its unpredictability would be an understatement.

Still, my heart was broken.

Not because I loved the car.

I loved not having car payments for the last four or more years.

Sigh.

I picked up the guys from the mall, and we headed home, where I donned an outfit suitable for car shopping.

The frown was real.

Upset, I was.

The Mr. and I drove Rooster’s car, dropping him off at work.

We didn’t even know where to start.  All I knew was that I wanted an SUV because I’m short and need to sit higher.

Because we live in Podunk, USA, our options were somewhat limited.

We drove to the Mazda dealership first and test-drove a CX-5.

Honestly, I wasn’t impressed.  The one we tried out was watered down.  It rode very smoothly, but it just didn’t feel right, if you know what I mean.

Still, we asked important questions like, “How much will this cost me a month?”  That sort of thing.

I was nauseous the entire time the Mr. talked.  He does most of our car talking, you see…especially when we start discussing numbers.

I frantically texted my family, asking them to pray.

We wound up leaving without a new car and headed to stop #2, the Buick dealership.

They had lovely cars, but they didn’t have booklets to give out and instructed us to look everything up online.

Personally, I think that was a dumb move on their part.

We left.

Onward to stop #3…the Toyota place.

As we began inspecting the SUVs on display, I began to feel my heart grow lighter.

Then, we spotted this…

It was a 2015 RAV4 and had a gorgeous interior…

Of course, the technology grabbed my attention right away…

My nearly nine year old Ford didn’t have that…nor did it have a moon roof…

The salesman was a very nice, no-pressure kind of guy…young and easy going.  He showed me how to let let the back seats down, how to recline them (yes, the back seats actually recline!!), and how to set up a couple of other things.

I turned to the Mr. and told him I was starting to feel happy again and that I wanted to test drive the car.

He agreed, and after signing off on paperwork, we headed down the road.

What a smooth ride!  The interior was big enough that I didn’t feel claustrophobic but small enough for my petite self to handle.

The Mr. and I switched seats halfway through so he could get a feel for it.

When we drove it back, the haggling began.

So did my texting as I asked people to pray.

The Mr. and I had prayed before we began shopping, but the more prayers the better!

We finally got the dealership down where we wanted in what was a fairly painless negotiation and then signed our lives away…and least for the next known-to-me-but-not-to-you-number-of-months…and walked out the proud new owners of a new car.

Despite the growing knot in the pit of my stomach, knowing that my days of having a little bit of wiggle room in the old budget were gone, I was excited.

While the Mr. drove Rooster’s car back, I started calling family, using the hands-free, Bluetooth connection that I didn’t have BEFORE this car.

What.

Joy.

You know me and gadgets!

We ran home for a few minutes to feed the dogs, and I couldn’t resist another selfie with the car…

After dinner and a couple of errands, we returned home to find Rooster waiting for us.  After sitting down to do some reading about the car…

…Rooster and I set up the built-in garage door opener (it’s called something fancier, but I’m feeling new-car-stupid right now).

I’m thrilled about the car despite feeling a tad resentful that the choice of WHEN to buy it was taken from me.

I’m thankful, though, that my old car held out for so long and through over 175,000 miles.  Despite not being in love with it…ever…because it replaced the beloved Durango that I gave up when gas prices went through the roof (we were spending over $400 a month on gas just to drive Chicky back and forth to practices several hours away several times a week), I know that it is finally time to say goodbye to what I’ve called the Crap Car.

Oh, and you want to hear something funny?

We didn’t use it as a trade in because IT WOULDN’T START, and thus, we didn’t have it with us.

The Mr. and I went back to the mall to retrieve my hand-held garage door opener and, on a whim, he tried to start it.

It didn’t even sputter, turning over beautifully as if to say, “Neener neener.”

To which the Mr. replied, “I hate this car.”

It’s sitting in front of my house, waiting to be cleaned out, photographed, and put on Craigs List.

Meanwhile, I’m trusting the Lord to help me pay off a few bills quickly so that I can breathe a little easier money-wise with the new baby I brought home yesterday.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: RAV4 |