I Got a Car!

The stars aligned folks as I bought a car yesterday. I put my big girls pants on and did all of this on my own. In my last post, Car Purgatory, I detailed how for days all I did was search for cars. Household chores, blogging and self-care were all put on the back burner as I unleased a search that spanned Ohio to California to Florida to New York. I still have car dealers calling, texting and emailing me.

The First Car Choice

My first choice was a 2018 Kia Soul. I researched Consumer Reports and even test drove one. The features were off the charts, especially for such an inexpensive car. A panoramic sunroof, heated seats in both the front and the back, touchscreen and pretty much everything else you could want.

I was even prepared to pay an extra $800 to have an all-electric one transferred to my house from California. When my husband saw that the cargo space had enough room to fit a tissue box though, he urged me to reconsider. I did reconsider when I learned that with this electric car, it only goes so far then you have to plug it in. I had no idea how that would work, especially with out-of-town tournaments.

The Second Car Choice

After additional research, I decided on a Ford Escape. For what I wanted and at my price point ($15,000), every time I found a car with the exact specs, someone would beat me to it. At last, I found one in Noblesville, Indiana. I didn’t care that it was 201 miles away from my home or that I was taking a car with over 300,000 miles to trade in. What could go wrong during the 3-hour drive? Halfway into my journey, I pulled over to fill my tire with air. It had been giving me problems in the past but that’s when I discovered a gigantic screw had pierced the rubber.

‘Fuck it,’ I thought, ‘I’m either going to get there or not.’

I got back in the car and about 30 miles from the dealership, I had a come to Jesus moment with my car.

“Look, you’ve been a great little car,” I said out loud while lovingly patting the dashboard. “I just need you to get me 30 more miles then you can die. Just 30 more.”

And she did, she got me 30 more miles.

My New Ride

I am like a time traveler going into the future, attempting to use technology. I do things like, reach for the key that doesn’t exist or I turn around to back out and to pass cars, not using the back-up camera. If you didn’t read the last post, my car was a 2003 Toyota Corolla that I had purchased in 2002. I had roll-up windows for God’s sake! Every time I get in this car, I find a new feature I didn’t know I had. I literally hit the gold mine with this car. I want to thank Daddy Warbucks who initially owned this and had it completely tricked out. Four years later, it’s mine but for only $15,300. Since I’ve driven a car that could be registered as a historical vehicle, I’m going to take a moment and brag about the features I’ve discovered so far:

• heated front seats
• panoramic sunroof
• back up camera
• 8″ touch screen
• voice command enabled
• cruise control (I don’t like cruise control but I’ll tell you it’s a feature)
• ambient lighting
• touchless trunk opener
• an actual outlet, like the ones you have in your home
• leather seats
• power seats
• blind spot assistance
• cup holders (this was literally the best feature of my last car if that tells you anything)
• memory foam seats
• keyless entry
• remote start 3′ away

And there’s a ton more but I don’t know what they are called or I just haven’t learned about them yet! What sucks is the manual is the size of a dictionary and I don’t want to read it. I want to know everything this car does without having to take the time to read it. And like my phone, I vow to learn everything it can do only to be distracted and never go back to learn.

So what do you guys think? I love her so much and I’ve even named her Ruby!