"You don't talk about my car that way!"
Sooo, what's new?
Oh, hey. I bought a new car!
It's an '06 Dodge Stratus. My car was made within the last decade, y'all. Wacky!
In the past, my car price range was limited by whatever I happen to have in my checking account. My previous car, Wesley, a '96 Pontiac Grand Am, was $900 (including new brakes) and my car before that, Season Four Giles, an '88 Ford Tempo, was $500. Both required upkeep, but as is quite often the case, Giles was a far more durable ride than Wesley. In fact, my sister's boyfriend still drives Giles. I bought Giles in July '03, Wesley in June '10, and the new car (currently unnamed) in April '12.
Anyway, my IRL BFF Cheryl had been looking for a new car. Her "old" car was an '03 Ford Taurus, which was still newer than anything my family has ever owned, heh. She ended up with a cherry red '10 Dodge Charger, for, much like the car, she is demure and understated, really. :P
I was shocked at that, mostly because we work at the same place. She then told me her monthly payment was insanely low, around $200. She'd put a lot down, but still. I was like, "Holy crap, I could do that!" Right around the same time, I'd gotten an oil change on Wesley and was told I have a A) coolant leak, B) power steering fluid leak, and C) oil leak. I knew about the latter two, but not the coolant leak. The quote they gave me was $900 for the worst case scenario to fix that one.
After hearing that I checked my credit score out of curiosity. I wasn't expecting much. I only have one CC, I've had it less than a year, and no student loans or anything like that. I was pleasantly surprised by the result, so with confidence I went to her dealer's website and looked around. Found 3 I wanted to look at, but I was pretty sure this was The One. I still test drove the others, but they sent me home with the Stratus for the Easter weekend to bring to my mechanic. I basically drove it to anyone I knew who knew about cars: my daddy, my mechanic, Cheryl's brother, my coworker who's a little car-crazy and had been giving me advice, and checked out KBB and multiple car review sites. All were positive.
93K miles on it, out the door was $7300(!!!), and I qualified for a 3% interest rate. I couldn't come up with a reason not to buy it. My monthly payment is $140. That's about what I pay for cable/internets/phone/TiVo.
So, hi. New car. I love it. I'm getting better mileage, I'm not worried about taking long trips, I haven't had to top off any fluids, and other than taking a nail in a tire the first week (which I got repaired for free), it's been problem-free. And also it's BLUE.
The only negative is that after Wesley's car stereo got borrowed forever I got an upgrade to one with an aux port so I could plug in my iPod. My new car has the factory stereo, which includes satellite, but no aux input. *sniffle* My life is rough.
Oh, hey. I bought a new car!
It's an '06 Dodge Stratus. My car was made within the last decade, y'all. Wacky!
Click to viewIn the past, my car price range was limited by whatever I happen to have in my checking account. My previous car, Wesley, a '96 Pontiac Grand Am, was $900 (including new brakes) and my car before that, Season Four Giles, an '88 Ford Tempo, was $500. Both required upkeep, but as is quite often the case, Giles was a far more durable ride than Wesley. In fact, my sister's boyfriend still drives Giles. I bought Giles in July '03, Wesley in June '10, and the new car (currently unnamed) in April '12.
Anyway, my IRL BFF Cheryl had been looking for a new car. Her "old" car was an '03 Ford Taurus, which was still newer than anything my family has ever owned, heh. She ended up with a cherry red '10 Dodge Charger, for, much like the car, she is demure and understated, really. :P
I was shocked at that, mostly because we work at the same place. She then told me her monthly payment was insanely low, around $200. She'd put a lot down, but still. I was like, "Holy crap, I could do that!" Right around the same time, I'd gotten an oil change on Wesley and was told I have a A) coolant leak, B) power steering fluid leak, and C) oil leak. I knew about the latter two, but not the coolant leak. The quote they gave me was $900 for the worst case scenario to fix that one.
After hearing that I checked my credit score out of curiosity. I wasn't expecting much. I only have one CC, I've had it less than a year, and no student loans or anything like that. I was pleasantly surprised by the result, so with confidence I went to her dealer's website and looked around. Found 3 I wanted to look at, but I was pretty sure this was The One. I still test drove the others, but they sent me home with the Stratus for the Easter weekend to bring to my mechanic. I basically drove it to anyone I knew who knew about cars: my daddy, my mechanic, Cheryl's brother, my coworker who's a little car-crazy and had been giving me advice, and checked out KBB and multiple car review sites. All were positive.
93K miles on it, out the door was $7300(!!!), and I qualified for a 3% interest rate. I couldn't come up with a reason not to buy it. My monthly payment is $140. That's about what I pay for cable/internets/phone/TiVo.
So, hi. New car. I love it. I'm getting better mileage, I'm not worried about taking long trips, I haven't had to top off any fluids, and other than taking a nail in a tire the first week (which I got repaired for free), it's been problem-free. And also it's BLUE.
The only negative is that after Wesley's car stereo got borrowed forever I got an upgrade to one with an aux port so I could plug in my iPod. My new car has the factory stereo, which includes satellite, but no aux input. *sniffle* My life is rough.