The same model, courtesy of a Google search
You know what they say…the best laid plans of mice and men…
But circumstances forced our hand. Our old car had its registration paid up till March, which I was loath to give up, but was a lot less than what it would have cost to get it up to warrantable standard – and we didn’t want to go through the expense and hassle of getting the damn thing fixed, especially since we were planning for a possible replacement so soon. This really was the tipping point – know when to cut your losses. Urgency arrived in the form of a cop who pulled T over on his way to work one morning for not having any rear lights, and warned him that the next time he wouldn’t get away with it.
We’d had a few cars on our watchlist but in the end we only ended up seeing and test driving one. Result? We basically have the same car – a Familia – but in a five door wagon not a three door hatch, and nearly a decade younger. Guys, we’re talking 1998 – at only 12 years old it is by far the newest car we’ve ever owned! It’s also the most solid – that’s something you can definitely feel about it.
You know what else this means (especially in a wagon)? Yay road trips! (This solves the question of whether we’ll drive or rent a campervan when we do the South Island). And I’ll be able to help ease the driving load. (Ironically, I’d finally come around to the idea of getting a manual – better odds of gearbox not crapping out, and finally learning to drive manual in a decent car – but it wasn’t to be.)
Actually, I’m not so sure about those long trips; BF has already filled up the boot with a sound system (sigh) which means even groceries go in the backseat. Careful shopping plus his work discount meant we got a lot of bang for our buck; still, it was difficult for me to bite my tongue. $600 on car audio???!!! But it’s his money and if that’s what he gets pleasure out of, fine.
And the main thing is, we came in under the $5000 budget, sounds excluded, even after buying and getting an alarm and immobiliser installed.
The one spanner in the works: insurance. Apparently this model/year is a high theft risk. And that sets the stage for the next post: the insurance dilemma…
I’m jealous. I want to own my car outright! I truly believe cars are the most sinister financial investment ever.
I don’t think I’ve owned a car that was more than 12 years old. I tend to start getting nervous once they hit 10. I do put loads of miles on though. Usually by the time a car is 10, it has about 160,000 miles on it.
It looks brand new. Hard to believe it’s that old and that cheap.
Jordan and I are currently looking at buying a Ford Escape, new – but we expect that it will last us at least 10 years, if not more. Hopefully the meeting at the dealership tonight goes well.
Glad you got a car you like, even if you didn’t exactly want to buy one yet! And it looks like you got a great deal! Yay! 🙂
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