Cars

We have long considered the possibility of getting a second car. Until now, I just couldn't do it. Although it would greatly help us on Sundays - it would have sat unused the other 6 days of the week. I couldn't justify the cost of insuring and maintaining it, and philosophically believe that (for the sake of the planet) we should all have as few cars as possible.

Then Rebekah got her license.

We had planned on getting a new car for me this year (our last Pilot was a total lemon!) I was pretty sure that I didn't want her to drive the new one, and aside from that - I use mine ALL DAY LONG! If we got an older car for her to use, then she could use it through the week for seminary, school and her activities and Rick could use it on Sundays - preventing me from often having to find rides home from church for myself and the 4 kids - or him dropping us off, going to speak in another ward and then coming back for us late. A second car would also help on Saturdays when the kids had different sporting events at the same time in different locations. It was time.

A few days after Bek got her license I stopped at the used car dealership. I quickly realized that most of the cars they had for sale were lease turn ins - only 2 years old and more than I had wanted to spend. However, they did have a 1997 Honda Accord with very low miles (46,000.) The salesman told me that it had been owned by an older gentleman who lived locally and had not driven it much. I jotted down the VIN number, told him I'd be back then headed home to run a car fax on it. The carfax was clean and confirmed what the dealer had said. I thought about it and did a little research and decided it was a good idea.

Two days later I also had an independent mechanic look at it and he gave it the OK, so (after some drama - car salesmen really are liars) we bought it! In addition to low miles, the inside is pristine. The outside has some wear - you can tell it's probably been parked outside for it's life - but nothing too bad. We may get it re-painted  ... we're waiting to see the kind of treatment it gets from Rebekah. We don't want to paint it and then have her scratch, ding or crash it the next day! It also has a sunroof and a CD player - so it's fun enough for her, without being too cool. I believe for her own growth and development she needs to drive an older car and contribute to the privilege of using one!

Bek loves it and it has been really nice for her to have her own source of transportation. It gives her a little more independence, and it frees me up too. We have rules. We are currently not letting her drive with anyone else in the car. On occasion I have let her take Emily to the church on Wednesday nights, but I really want her to get a lot more driving experience (alone) before she adds the distraction of friends. We are paying her insurance (which increased 150% when we added Bek) in trade for 3 nights a month of babysitting. We pay her gas for school, seminary, church activities, etc. but she has to pay for her own gas to go babysitting, or to social events.

So far, it's working out great.

The same day I paid for & picked up the little car, I ordered & put a deposit on our new Pilot. A 2011 Touring Edition.
It came in a week later - the right external color, but a very light gray on the inside instead of black. The salesman did the "hard sell" on me to get me to take the one they had - but I told him I'd wait for the color I really wanted. (I have 4 kids and we're getting a puppy. Light gray is not a good color for me!) He told me that it might be two months before he could get the right color. I said no problem, I'd wait. He was a little incredulous. Have we really come to the point in our society that delayed gratification is that rare? We are spending a fortune on this car, and I am planning on driving it for the next 5 - 8 years. Why would I not be willing to wait a mere 2 months to get exactly what I wanted??? Well, after I said that he got the right one in in 6 days (like I said - liars).

I am in love with it. So many nice features - some big improvements over the older Pilot. Only 2 things I don't like. First, the doors lock as soon as you get in. A pain when I'm dropping a kid somewhere and blocking traffic and they need to jump out. They try the door - it's locked - I have to push the button to unlock it .... small, but annoying. The other is that the headlights are always on. This might be a feature that can be turned off. I just need to get around to reading the owners manual to find out.

So, it's happy days over at our place. We're feeling pretty blessed!