I have wanted an SUV for some time but I was determined to get a BMW sedan next. Then Mason happened. He changed everything of course. So my thoughts went back to an SUV. Now the Accord (aka Bessie ) has been and still is a great car. It's an 09 with 70k miles and paid for. But I wanted something safer for Mason to ride in and easier to put a car seat in and out of. The Accord had two major issues: 1) The sun beams directly in his eyes every day coming home from work. I can't quite get a sun shade for the back window. 2) And most importantly, his car seat didn't stay upright when making a turn. The back seat has a slight hump in the middle (I prefer him in the middle in case someone T'bones us) which causes his car seat to lean to the side every time we take a turn. So I drove with one hand on the wheel and one in the backseat holding his car seat.
So the search began for an SUV. It was exhausting! There are so many good looking, high tech, and safe vehicles out there. It was very hard to narrow down. Doug and I spent sooo many hours building them online, checking safety ratings, and price shopping. It literally made me see cross eyed. I had a list of stuff it had to have. Nav, cold weather package (heated seats, heated side mirrors, and windshield wiper de-icer), AWD with all weather tires, backup camera, no hump in the backseat, and safety features like blind spot warning.
I think I owe my coworkers a big apology for obsessing over the cars and talking their ears off about it. This decision literally consumed me. I thought about it non stop. Driving anywhere was torture because all I did was compare cars I saw. I was a mad woman. I was in no hurry to get a new car but I had to decide soon for everyone's sanity.
I finally narrowed it down to three cars. They all had exactly what i wanted and passed the carseat test. The Subaru Forrester, the Nissan Rogue, and the Acura RDX. The Acura was my favorite but we couldn't find what I wanted within the price I was willing to pay. It will be my next car unless something else comes along. The Rogue and Forrester were almost the exact same on paper (yeah my pro con Excel document was used). Nissan was able to get me a brand new 2015 (nothing that I cared about was added to the 2016 and the car itself, inside and out didn't change at all) for a really good price so we said yes.
We had the price and car before we got to the dealership. I wouldn't have went on a Saturday with two really good games coming home if that wasn't the case. So we left the house thinking two hours max. Three and a half hours later we were home. My brain was drained. I should have went in pre approved but I have never had issues with getting a good rate. We got an good rate but it changed three times. I was so upset about that. How do you get approved for one rate and then end up with a higher one? Their finance people messed up big. But I couldn't let that keep me from the great price we were getting the car for. So lesson learned and refinancing in the very near future!
I really like the new SUV. It will be hard not driving Bessie. I used the Civic Memaw and Pops got me to get the Accord. I wanted to keep the trade in going so that her gift kept on giving but one car payment versus two was the more financially smart plan. So Doug is selling his Civic and will be driving Bessie. I guess I could swap him and drive her from time to time.
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