As much as I loved my little Mustang, getting Cooper in and out of it was becoming QUITE a chore. I was getting increasingly worried how my back was going to survive, and especially worried about what would happen if he could no longer use his baby car seat because of weight but still hadn't reached the 1 year mark and would have to sit backwards in the convertible car seat which would be installed and not taken in and out like the baby car seat. So......I started researching and trying to figure out if I could have another car what it is exactly I would want. And I fell in love with the Chevy Equinox. I had previously thought about a Ford Escape, but it wasn't anything super special. The Equinox is in another world of its own even though it is also a small SUV. However, the room inside with the moving back seat is incredible and there is still tons of back/trunk space even when the seat is fully back. For all the gadgets and gizmos I could possibly want, the price was amazing, and I was hooked.
Of course, I figured since I had done a red carpet lease on my Mustang, I would not only be stuck in my lease until January 2008, but I would also be screwed out of all the money I had paid toward it because by that time and with the extra mileage I now put on a car since we moved to our house, my car wouldn't be worth much more than the remaining amount when the lease was up and I had the option to trade it in/buy it. But I thought it wouldn't hurt to at least find out and off I went on Monday afternoon to the Chevy dealership my father-in-law uses to buy trucks for the company and where he also was thinking of purchasing a truck and whose dealership they bought my mother-in-law's Tahoe and my brother-in-law's H3. At least there was history and not me stumbling into the greedy eyes of a random car salesman. Since right now (due to the short distance I drove it the past two years up until February when I only drove it a few weeks to work before going on maternity leave for 3 months) there wasn't very much mileage for a car that was two years old and I had luckily kept it in nearly perfect condition, I was able to get an AMAZING amount for my car compared to what I owe which allowed for a down payment. I also received several incentives from Chevy since they are trying to clear the 2006 models before the 2007 models head in. All that said, I ended up being able to work a deal where our car payments for the new car are practically the same as they currently are (which was already a low amount compared to the typical car payment). Plus I could take the next 1.5 years paying payments to a car that I will now OWN after a few more years rather than spending 1.5 years paying into my mustang only to turn around and have to spend another few years paying a different car. It was the perfect time and the perfect deal, and I went to pick up my new car this afternoon.
It still feels like a dream or that I'm driving a rental car or someone else's car around. But I love it!!! It is dark silver, has light grey leather interior, a sunroof, XM radio, OnStar, and all kinds of other cool gadgets and sweet things to make my driving experience so much better. And this time I feel really good about my purchase because I know this is a car that I can drive for the next ten years if need be. I am so happy and I can't wait to drive it around more this weekend! :) It's kind of sad because Austin had tickets to the Cowboys game tonight so he only briefly got to see it (he wasn't with me on Monday either when I test drove it because he left work later and then went by to pick up Cooper). But I'm sure we'll enjoy trying it out this weekend!
I'll try to take some pictures this weekend and post them. Yippee! I'm definitely feeling like one lucky little ducky! And my parents will finally be happy when they come in a few weeks because I can actually pick them up and drive them around in MY car! :) Hope you all have a great weekend, and enjoy your day off on Monday!
