So, naturally, we bought a new car

In light of the previous post, that might seem crazy. Buying a new car I mean. Believe me, we think so too. We did not wake up yesterday intending to buy a new car. The thought never crossed our minds. BBBB had the day off and was taking in our 2000 Civic for it's 90,000 mile maintenance (it had around 92,300 on it).

This was going to be a $400 maintenance...we knew that going in. Thus why we hadn't done it yet. Turns out the car needed $500 in repairs to keep it functional, and more like a total of $800 in repairs to get it back into good shape...leaving us with a bill for the day of $1200. So I suggested TH march back to the dealer, ask them what we could get for the trade and if we could get the 2000 paid off (we still owed $2700 - we had purchased it used) and then get a new car for the same payment as the 2000 was ($245/month) then we'd take it. I was in and out of class all day, so he was mostly on his own.

He talked to the dealer, and looked at the Hyundai's next door for good measure. The short story is that we got a Blue (love it!) 2009 Civic for $300/month. Not quite as good as I'd been hoping, and initially I said nope. Not good enough. In the end we decided it was.

They gave us enough for the trade to pay off the balance owed. They didn't charge us for the maintenance or repairs (obviously). They threw in window tinting on the new car. And in the long-run, we think, *we hope*, it will have been the better financial choice.

It was definitely a weird day though. The whole experience was just stressful. The last time we bought a car, the last two times we bought a car, it had been exciting. And fun. And still a little stressful. This time was all stress. We really didn't know which was the better option. But as these weren't the first expensive repairs the car had incurred, and certainly wouldn't have been the last we thought we made the right choice. Plus we drive at least 60 miles roundtrip every day. That's a far enough distance we really do need a fuel-efficient and reliable vehicle. That's how we feel anyway.

So, we have a really nice, brand spanking new car. And we've firmly established ourselves as a Honda Civic Family. (we've now owned 3 separate Honda Civics together) I miss our little '00 - it was a stick and fun to drive, but "New Blue" is a pretty, pretty car. And I'm sure I'll learn to love it too.