Catch the Vibe!

After a few months of researching and test-driving different cars, I decided to buy a car yesterday afternoon. My old car, a 95 Geo Prizm, owed me nothing. It was my first car when I started teaching, it lasted a million trips between Poughkeepsie and Long Island, across country, out to CA and brought home my first child. It really held up admirably. Over the last year, it was showing its age, especially with peeling paint and steering wheel play. With all the traveling I do for school now and most importantly, the precious passengers I carry every single day, I really wanted a better car.

I test-drove a bunch of cars, but I was limited by my budget. Michael, budgeting guru, helped me figure out some different ways to calculate how much I could afford. That naturally subtracted all new cars, with the exception of maybe a Yugo. I knew that I couldn't afford to have less space, so I looked at small SUV's. All of which were nice and roomy, but again, I wasn't finding a great model in my price range. My friend Cindy has the Toyota Matrix, which is a sporty little car. They were out of my price range too, so I just kept my eyes open and waited.

Finally, Howard (the dealer) found a 2003 Pontiac Vibe that was black. It drove nicely, with a nice higher seat, okay trunk space-but the seats fold flat and the backseat seemed roomy enough. But, I didn't want a black car in Phoenix and I wasn't too crazy about it. He then found a Kia Sportage, which was a beautiful-looking car with some bad Consumer Reports ratings and reviews. I did notice he had a blue Pontiac Vibe on the lot and asked to see that instead.

It obviously drove the same as the first Vibe, but lower mileage, one year newer and a better color. The price was in a good range and although I stretched the payment a bit longer, I found I could fit it in the budget. Thomas and I looked up the Carfax report and Kelley Blue Book and all seemed fine. Consumer Reports rated it better than the 2003 and most reviews were good, some wanted a peppier engine, but it seemed fine for my needs. I decided to go back and see what the numbers would be. And I ended up taking it home.

When I got home, Thomas had taken the boys to the park. After I told him something was in the garage, he said, "You BOUGHT a car??" He said that a few more times and then we went to check it out. He liked the roof racks (apparently very important) and the hatchback part. We even discussed if it would be better on road trips and how we could pack stuff. The trunk space isn't much more than a regular car, but you can fill it up higher. Honestly, when I thought about it, I don't think I really truly need all the trunk space, even in a small SUV.

Ian liked the color-"it's very blue!"- and the two boys proceeded to climb inside and play a bit.
It was too dark for pictures, so we came out this morning for pictures. Ian took several photos on his camera and Thomas finally got me to let go of the camera myself so I could be in the picture. (I did not want to be in the photo but it is my car, so I let him)

Thomas has plans for the roof racks-putting our bikes on top. Ian just wants to beep the horn.

Off to do some more painting before the boys come back. That is for another post.