The car my dad gave me when he died has finally died.
(we always called it dad's last laugh, as he was always trying to talk us into taking or buying it when he was alive, and we never wanted it, and alas, we ended up with it anyway...)
It's in the driveway completely dead. It got a short circuit in the interior lights that drained the battery. The mechanics say it would take days to find the source and then they'd have to disassembled the dash and interior to fix it. For this car, a piece of crap that has required thousands of dollars in repairs AND almost killed hubby when the brakes suddenly went out on the interstate, the repair makes no sense.
We planned to buy a new car this year and well, the time has come. Actually, the time is Thursday night at 7 p.m. We test drove a few cars and decided the Honda Fit was the best one for us. I was surprised. We looked at bigger and more expensive cars, but the Fit actually had the same amount of interior space and still a decent sized trunk, so it won.
We solicited internet bids on the model/configuration/ color we wanted from five local dealers. I highly recommend this to anyone. The bids for the exact same care varied by about $1000 from low to high. Clearly, we are going with the low.
I'm happy to have a dependable car, and my first NEW car ever. At age 35, this is the first time I will have a car note. (of about $191 a month)We qualified for the Honda 0.9 percent financing, so it makes sense to finance and pay off early than to take the money out of savings. I think I'll be paying about $66 a year in interest.
It's kind of exciting. But mostly, I'm just happy we got a very inexpensive car, AND a safe car for me and the kids to drive.
I'm waiting for the tow truck to take dad's car to the junk yard. They are paying me $236 for it, which is pretty good, considering. Sure beats another repair bill. I admit I did sit in the car last night and have a cry, since it is one of my last physical connections to dad, who ironically died two years to the exact day this car gave out.
Buying my first new car
August 3rd, 2010 at 07:23 pm
August 3rd, 2010 at 08:22 pm 1280866973
How did you go about soliciting internet bids?
August 3rd, 2010 at 08:52 pm 1280868742
August 3rd, 2010 at 08:58 pm 1280869090
August 3rd, 2010 at 09:56 pm 1280872600
August 4th, 2010 at 12:07 am 1280880449
August 4th, 2010 at 04:24 am 1280895875
Enjoy the new ride!
August 4th, 2010 at 03:29 pm 1280935767
We both thought it was pretty funny. The car served it's purpose. It got us and the kids around town and allowed us to delay car payments for two years. That was a nice gift.
August 15th, 2010 at 04:52 pm 1281891179