New Wheels!

I know myself well enough that I recognize some of my weaknesses. One of those weaknesses would be, "Don't look at stuff I can't afford, or don't plan on buying, because I will buy it." It usually starts with me researching it to the point that I know the molecular structure of the smallest piece on the item. Then, I find out how to arrange the money to make it work, and then I buy it.

For those of you know us, you know that we drive a red Grand Prix. We have had the car for quite a while. For all of our children's lives. It has been a fantastic car, but if there is one thing you can't prevent on most anything, it is age. Our car is getting old. And its starting to let us know about it.

It used to be a speedy machine. But it has gotten older, and we baby it like crazy trying to make it last. Sometimes the transmission will whine at you while your driving. It sounds like a remote control car driving away from you. You can't have the A/C on when your sitting still, or the motor gets too hot.

It's not like this just happened either, over the last few years we have noticed them getting worse. But, the car was paid off, and neither Natalie or me wanted another car payment. So we endured and have babied the car every step of the way. And everytime I drove the car, I got more and more worried about how long it would last. I definitly didn't want it quitting on Natalie and the kids, and having them stranded. I got that nagging feeling that we would have to buy a car soon.

Well one night I was patrolling, and driving by a car dealership. I saw a car there that I had never seen before. It was beautiful and I had to stop and look.

Well as you can tell I didn't follow my rules. Of course the car that I was looking at was georgeous. And the price tag made my wallet cry out in pain. I knew that we wouldn't own one of those cars until they had been driven for 5 years or more. Well of course I didn't just get back in my patrol car, I walked through the lot and checked out what they had. I didn't go home and tell Natalie about my new dream car. When I mention things like this, she gets worried. Why? Because of my rule. My wife knows me better than I do. And she knows that if I have started looking, there is a more likely than not chance that we are getting it.

Of course I went back and looked at my dream car. I even took a few of my co-workers to check it out. Well about 2 weeks passed and I came home from a long day of work. Natalie and I chatted about how our days went. Then she suprises me. She says, "You know what, I kind of get the feeling like its time to buy a car." I was shocked. I confessed that I had been looking at cars for the past few weeks.

We decided that if we were both feeling like it was time to get a new car, then we should look into it. As much as we didn't want a new car payment, we weren't going to start ignoring our feelings after all of our life experiences.

I went to work researching. What a tiresome process. It took me almost a week to narrow down the choices. I looked at so may kinds of cars. I was so exhausted by the time we decided. I drove a few cars, and took Natalie to the best choices.

After an exhausting night of test drives we made our choice. We slept on our choice, and went and bought it the next day.

And this is what we chose!

Apparently we love Pontiac, because, this is our (new to us!) 2007 Pontiac Torrent. We absolutely love it. Not a mini-van, tons of cargo space in the back, powerful motor (not a 4 cylinder motor like some of the wussy cars I test drove), and all wheel drive for the winter! Plus it's super safe with 5 star crash ratings for front and side, and a 4 star rollover rating.

Here is the front view, and...........

For all the avid readers of my blog, you will know what I am talking about. But, this baby will hold a new barbecue grill, without having to open the box and disassemble pieces in a rainy parking lot surrounded by dirtbags.

So, if you see this strange car pull into your driveway, don't run, it's just us.