Last Wednesday we took our car to get checked out just to make sure that it would get us out there-nothing fancy. The repair guy told us that ultimately we would need about $800 total to get it to be able to reliably get us out there. Under normal circumstances, $800 isn't too bad in car repairs (that was including a labor estimate) but seeing as our car was 10 years old, with over 200,000 miles..it was time to look for something else. Nick and I both knew that it would just be a matter of time before it completely died on us, plus we would rather not dip that much into our savings before heading out there, particularly not knowing when we'll get jobs. So we prayed about it, and both felt that we should look for a new car.
We stopped in a few places, and found nothing in our price range, and then on our way home, I said, "Hey let's check out Key Auto Center up in Somersworth, I've never been in there"
When we told the dealer what we were looking for, he nodded his head, and said, "Well, I have this great 2008 Kia over here with less than 8 ,000 miles" We were both shocked, particularly since we wanted something with around $150 a month for a car payment. We must have asked him about 5 times, "are you sure this is in our price range?" We test drove it, and I loved it right away. It takes Nick awhile to warm up to something new. (He's not a big fan of change) His biggest complaint when we were test driving it was, "I don't like how the steering wheel feels on my hands" -Don't worry, he loves it now that he's had a chance to warm up to it :) Long story short, we were able to purchase the car with only putting down $100, which allows us to have more in our savings for moving out there, and for the next few months until we find jobs, and the car payments are about $180 a month. So it all works out beautifully! We are thrilled and now are even more excited for our big move.
And of course Nick's parents tell us after the fact that they had an impression a month or so ago that our car wasn't going to make it out there. About a month or so ago they offered to buy us a van, but we declined because at the time we didn't feel like it was a need, and we really don't like the idea of other people making such large purchases for is. We were so afraid that they would be upset when they found out that we went and bought a car anyways-instead it was just the opposite, they were thrilled!
Here's some pictures of what the Rondo looks like-I just grabbed them from online, but ours is the same color and everything so you get the idea! I like to think of it as a mini-mini van :)
