It's Time to Buy a New Car

Photo: automobiles.honda.com/pilot

I get attached to my cars. Driving is something I like to do, and it's even better if I can do it with one of
my kids. The Boy has an extracurricular activity every week. Lately it's been kickboxing. Driving to his lesson and back home gives me a chance to catch up with him and see how he is doing with school and life in general.

Driving with The Oppressed is also fun but for different reasons. The Oppressed likes to share her music with me. Sometimes, this includes music from anime television series. Anime is huge with all of my children. All of them like to watch it.

The cars we drive are important to Wife and me. They get us to and from work. I take my car to go food shopping and other errands that we need to do. Like other families, we need to watch our budget. Having a car is expensive. In addition to the monthly payments, you also need to fill it with gas, change the oil, the wipers, the tires. It's a great feeling when I make the last payment and the title comes in the mail. Every month of me holding on to the car is a month I don't need to make a car payment and I can put that money in the bank.

Our Minivan, the Old Car

Our last car, a 2019 minivan wasn't doing that great. The transmission was a little suspect. One of the sliding doors wouldn't open or close, and the trunk didn't always open. Of course, these are inconveniences, but they were inconveniences I was willing to live with. After all, the van was paid for, and I was willing to live with these small problems.

Wife wasn't so sure about this. The van had lived a good life and she was ready for a new car. Our van had over 100,000 miles on it. This was important because for me to get a new car, our current one must be paid off and it has to have at least 100,000 miles if we are going to trade it in. Both of these milestones had been achieved and the family felt it was time for a new car. Lovie referred to the van as a coffin because people were stuck inside due to the malfunctioning doors. Wife couldn't get rid of the car fast enough once we hit the milage milestone.

Looking at New Cars

The time had come, and I went to the dealership to see what they had in stock for us to look at. I was dreading this, but not because it meant getting rid of my van. Everyone who has bought a car has at least one story of a pushy, overly eager salesman who has a fantastic deal for you. These people talk fast, slick, and like to act like they're your best friend. Wife and I have met these people before, and the memories of people who were a little less than forthcoming regarding our purchase still give us hesitation when we need to discuss buying a new car.

I was greeted by a gentleman who probably didn't need as much coffee as he was drinking.

I walked into the dealership with the love, thoughts, and prayers of my family, and the hopes and dreams of a new car that all of us would enjoy riding inside. I was greeted by an excited, eager gentleman who probably didn't need as much coffee as he was drinking. He walked me to his table and we talked numbers. I told him about the van and I was looking to trade it in, putting it toward the purchase of the new car. He did a credit check and called me a "Rock Star". We went back and forth on what packages were being offered with the car, the down payment. It took a little while, but we got it done. Soon, Wife and I were driving away in a new Honda Pilot.

Wife has driven the new car a couple of times and she likes it. I like the car, although I was disappointed when I found out the new car doesn't have a CD player. Wife explained to me not a lot of cars have CD players today. It's all digital. That's fine. I've embraced digital, but I still like to listen to a CD from time to time for a lot of reasons. I'll get into those reasons later, maybe in another post.

Our New Car

We arrived home with our new car. The Miracles of Christ were thrilled when we pulled into the driveway. Lovie told us how happy she was that we have a car she can feel safe in. Like the last car, this car has new bells and whistles that I could live without. Wife is the early adopter of the family. She was somewhat intrigued by some of the features of this car. The Boy loved the speedometer and GPS display on the windshield. It looks a little like what Michael Knight was looking at in the "Knight Rider" reboot.

The view from the driver's side.

Heated seats were the favorite option of the old car for The Oppressed. She called the heated seats "booty hydration" and it was an integral part of riding in the car. She was excited when I told her the back seats were heated, but that wasn't the best part. The best part for her was this car cooling seats. Heated seats in the winter, cooling seats in the summer. She was overjoyed when she heard of this feature.

Our new car has only been with us for less than a week. I drive it to work. The engine is quiet like the car Wife drives. The new car drives well. Everyone seems to be happy with the purchase. I'm looking forward to the trips we'll take in this car. Road trips are something we do every year. One, maybe two of our children may learn to drive in this car. I really wanted to hold on to our van for a little longer but the auto gods weren't exactly cooperating with us. I had fun driving the old car and I loved the places we drove to in it as a family. I'll tell you more about the fun times in the old car later.