New old car

One thing of many I will miss about Oregon is the lack of sales tax. Another thing I will miss is attendants filling up your gas tank, but that's a different story. I know you end up paying elsewhere, but avoiding that tax when you make a purchase feels like you are saving money. When the price tag says $0.99, it really is $0.99.

For this reason, we decided it would be wise for us to purchase a car before we left to save at least $1,000. We will also need more seating when we add to our family, so we figured now was a good time to do it. Plus, SUVs aren't exactly flying off the lots these days, so now seems to be the time to buy.

T has been looking lately, but time was running out, so this past weekend we went on a serious search. After one fruitless stop, we found a promising car at the second lot. It was a 2006 Ford Explorer. We strapped the boys in the back alongside the car salesman and took it for a test drive.

Later that evening, the car was ours. T had to do a lot of the obnoxious back and forth with the salesman and the finance guy, but we traded in our Honda CR-V and ended up actually lowering our monthly payments slightly.

We love the new (used) car. There is just something exciting about a new vehicle. Q thinks it is a truck and likes the extra step to climb into it and how it makes a beeping sound when you back up if you get too close to something.

So now we have one decent car and my car from college. I got my little red Pontiac two-door 11 years ago. It has served us well, but we are both anxious to get rid of it. T would like something a little more professional-looking when he drives to work rather than the car I had as a sorority girl. That will have to wait, since we do not want to take on another car payment. In the meantime, I'm just glad I get the nice new (used) car most of the time.

--MM