I GOT A NEW CAR!
My first car was a 2000 something baby blue Toyota Matrix. My parents were wonderful enough to purchase it for me, and while it was “mine”, it was still technically my parents, and they kind of had rules over it.
When my mom got her new vehicle, they asked me if I wanted her old one. It was a 2005 charcoal Nissan Xterra. I LOVED it. It was big. I loved the way it looked. I loved the way it drove. It was my baby.
I had it for about 5 or 6 years. And then it got too expensive to repair. I was in North Carolina at the time of it’s inspection back in Maine. My dad sent me a picture saying “say goodbye”…I was heart broken. I truly loved that vehicle, and I was sad to see it go. However, I was excited at the prospect of getting a new vehicle now that mine had gone. But such was not the case.
My dad traded my Xterra in for a new car for my mom. Once again, I got my mom’s old vehicle. This was a 2011 black Nissan Xterra- so I wasn’t super upset, but I also wasn’t exactly happy. My parents told me it was time for “no more handouts” and I either needed to buy this car from my parents or look for a new vehicle. I didn’t think I was in a good enough financial spot to do that right then, and my dad had offered me an amazing deal that would have been silly to pass up- plus the fact that my payments would go to him, through him, every month made it super easy and simple- no interest, no middle man, no punishment if I had missed a payment (which I never did anyway). It was the “safe bet” and being over 1,000 miles away, I needed the safe bet.
I had that Xterra for a year. I had recently started bugging my dad about when I could look in to trading in the Xterra. I was getting annoyed with it. I drive a lot, and that thing is a GAS HOG. It’s big and I felt safe, and I loved that feeling, but it just wasn’t “me”. I had never been able to be in charge of my “own car”. I never got to pick out what I want, what best suited me and my lifestyle. I was VERY blessed and fortunate to have parents who supported me so much through my life in regards to vehicles (and life/finances in general) but I had worked SO hard to have good credit, a nice chunk in my savings (and my fun savings). I was ready.
I had been looking at Subarus for a while. My boyfriend has an Outback and I really like it, but it wasn’t totally MY style. I started keeping my eyes peeled for Subaru on the road. I saw quite a few that I liked- and they all ended up being Foresters. I did a little more looking in to it, and I fell in love with the newest model- which just happened to have the same look as a few of the previous years. I knew I didn’t want a brand new one- I could never afford it. I searched the used Subarus at our local dealership- the dealership that my dad has bought almost every single one of his vehicles from. And then I found it- the perfect Forester. 2015, Satin Pearl White, automatic. I fell in love with it just by reading about it. I texted my dad a picture of it, and the price was intriguing enough for him to agree that we could talk about it.
The next day was a Monday. It was the last Monday before the end of the school year. I was in my classroom when I got the notice that we would be going home early due to the heat. I was shocked- this had never happened before- not even when I was in elementary school! I texted my dad joking about how silly the early release was and ended up asking if he wanted to “go look at that car ;)”. To my surprise he was available and said yes! I met him at the dealership, and I fell even more in love with it. It was absolutely perfect, and I had to do my best to control my excitement- my dad is a master at getting the best and most fair deal, and I needed to trust him and his somewhat stoic demeanor. I followed along, paying attention to him and his questions and trying to learn a thing or two.
After test driving it, going over it top to bottom, back to front, and figuring out what else I wanted added to it, and looking over 3 or 4 different deals they tried to make us, we made one final one. It included a little higher trade in price (my Xterrra was in excellent shape), cross bars for my paddle board, all weather floor mats, and nice wiper blades. They tried to switch it up on me and offer me the same vehicle with higher milage, but my dad told me before we went in to stick to the final deal and not budge on anything, so I said “that’s not what I’m looking for, so I’m sorry but I guess it’s just not the right time”.
A couple of minutes later he came back with the exact deal we had asked for, and the car was MINE.
A 2015 Satin Pearl White Subaru Forester with only 28500 miles on it was going to be mine after only a few signatures. I was beyond happy….and now I can officially say I am a Subaru owner and I am totally and completely in love with it. 🙂
You can find me in the clouds... 