Our New Car!

So as was mentioned in my last post, on our way to have an ultra-sound, etc., we made it up the hill to our appointment when the check engine light came on. Last year it came on like 4 different times and each of the repairs was quite expensive. We finally resolved last year that if this happened one more time, we were getting rid of the car.

On the way home from the ultra-sound, we prayed that we would make it home and agreed that we would start looking to get a car as soon as we were home. Erick had to go finish up a few hours at work so we agreed that he would look at what was available and come up with some leads for us to follow. My chore was to find out what the insurance cost of a new car would be and to work on the funding.

We had been looking for the past three months at cars that were in our price range and types of cars that we wanted to drive. We had found a 2009 Toyota Camry that was $13,495 and had 30,000 miles on it and I had really liked what I was seeing on it so I figured we would get it. But when I talked to Erick about what cars we wanted to look at in case we couldn't get it, he had mentioned the Ford Fusion. Those who know my family know that we have never been really big fans of Ford (Fix Or Repair Daily). When I called our insurance company and told them we wanted to find out what our insurance would cost with a Camry or Fusion, the difference for both cars was $5.00 more. I was flabbergasted!!!

My next task was to secure our loan for the car. I applied online to America First Credit Union and in 10 minutes was speaking to a Loan Officer that was going to be leaving in 45 minutes for the weekend. Once I firmed up all the information she needed, we had the loan and just needed to go get the car.

Erick brought home a print out of pictures of cars in our interest and price range and we decided to check out the Fusion first because it was the closest. We went to Ed Kenley Ford here in Layton and showed them the picture of the car Erick had found online at KSL.com/cars. They were advertising a 2010 Ford Fusion with 33,000 miles on it for $14,495. Erick had done his homework and found that on JD Powers, it rated higher than the Camry in all areas and so he was interested to test drive it and see if it was everything it was cracked up to be. We both took a test drive while the other took care of Ryker and in three hours we had a new car.

Our car is so wonderful. My old car had so many problems, it was like driving around a resurrected piece of metal from the junk-yard. We were missing the visor on the passenger side windshield, there were fumes coming into the car every time we started it, and it looked like someone had shaved all of the paint off. I had owned the car for 11 years this year and it had only 97,000 miles on it, but it looked like it was 20 years old. It was jerky when it was driven, and there was nothing smooth about the drive. I have to admit, it did it's job in getting me through college while I was single and getting me around to what I needed on a budget. However with our family needs being what they were and the fact that we have plugged close to $8,000 in repairs last year on it, it needed to go!

The new car drives smooth, gets good gas mileage, it came with tinted windows in the back, so we didn't have to worry about Ryker getting sunned out, we have cruise control, a CD/Radio console and we get SIRIUS radio for free, the trunk space is huge, and there a lot of fun little perks like media control on the steering wheel and anti-skid for the tires in snow. The car was a rental and was in good shape and clean. By the time we had put our money down, used what they would give us for the trade in, and adding taxes and licensing, we ended up below what we had anticipated. It has been such a blessing to have it and traveling is so nice now. We haven't traveled much in the last two years because my car kept having problems, now we can go wherever we want to go.

I know that the Lord knew we needed some help because the car was an answer to prayers and the financing was a miracle!!! The fact that in 5 hours we had secured financing, changed our insurance and bought the car, we were so blessed. It also came on a day when I needed something positive. Here is a picture of our car (minus the sun roof). Yes, we bought a white car, which wasn't Erick's first love, but it works!