So We Bought a Car...

My sweet little 2002 Cavalier

I have been saving money ever since I got money for birthdays and Christmases. Ryan and I are both the type of people that once it's in savings, it stays there for a VERY long time...until it gets used for something big! I was lucky (and blessed) to be essentially given cars ever since I've been driving. Granted, the first car I drove was a taupe Plymouth Voyager van, I was lucky to NOT have to pay for it. After my grandparents passed away, they willed me their tiny Chevy Cavalier. I was so thankful for that car...it meant I no longer had to drive a minivan! It was also free! The Lord provided for me in the car department, even though they were not the most glamorous, nor did they have any "fancy" features. 108k miles later and after saving for forever, I finally looked at my savings account and made a mighty fine sales pitch to Ryan that a new car was in our near future.

For two introverts like Ryan and I, car buying is essentially the equivalent to getting all of your teeth pulled. Some people, namely my mother, love to wheel and deal and to make demands for this and that. We on the other hand, are terrible at it and dread it like the plague. I hated knowing that it was going to be a war as soon as you stepped foot onto the dealership. A war where knew we had a significant disadvantage and the wrong personality for.

Excuse the awkward stance, but I was excited!

It wasn't a pretty process. We got let down a few times, we felt disrespected sometimes, we felt completely taken advantage of sometimes, and we even got ugly with each other. Hello first major marital dispute! Needless to say, I'm overwhelmed with joy that we don't have to do this for years. After about 3 weeks of looking, we knew exactly what we wanted, how much we were willing to pay for it, and who we didn't want to buy it from. When they say that it becomes a game of emotions, it's really true. We didn't want to buy it from one dealership strictly because we didn't want to give commission to the manager on our deal.

Last night, we drove all the way out to a Pohanka Honda dealership in Fredericksburg and were in and out in 2 hours and drove our brand new 2012 CRV home! We loved the quick experience we had, they cleaned/detailed the car before we even got there, and we felt really good about the people that earned our commission. Praise Jesus for power windows and cruise control...oh and a sunroof ;)