I Bought a New Car Yesterday

Yep, I had little or no choice. My Taurus has been giving subtle little hints that it might need to retire. That has been the best car I've ever owned and it took me through at least 155,500 miles and many states, great shows, etc. With a little love, the darned thing STILL has another 50,000 miles in it if I were not planning on selling it now. If you know anyone who wants a reliable car for tooling around town, drop me a line!

I'd been waiting til the earliest part of the year to start looking for a car. I REALLY needed to make this gig in Duluth so I could have enough cash at the right time for me to be able to put a decent down payment on something. Yesterday was supposed to be the first of a few days searching. Instead it became the only stop I needed to make.

I ended up getting a Chevy Aveo. My older brother, the car guru, gave me a list of excellent cars to look for in my search, should I be unable to find a good price on another Taurus or my dream car, the Ford Escape (Hybrid preferred, but not necessary). High on the list of go-to cars was the Aveo.

This is a 2004 model (the inaugural year of the car) but it is still brand new. They had two left on the lot of the 2004's and they were priced to go bye-bye in a hurry. With all the fun stuff it has, this one lists for $12, 085 but was priced at $9,995, basically the manufacturer's price for a base model. Toss my $2,000 down payment and with 20% of the car paid for, financing was a snap, even for a lousy-credit-having-mutha fookah like me.

Smaller car than I'm used to, but the darned thing is just massive on the inside. It is like being in a TARDIS, for you sci-fi nuts. The trunk easily holds all of my gear with room to spare and there's plenty of leg room, passenger space, etc.

EXCELLENT gas mileage, which is extremely important to me since G-Dub has declared war on low oil prices, and a kick-ass CD player with MP3 playback. NICE!

One thing that threw me at first, it has a stick shift. I haven't owned a manual transmission car since I was 18. I drove one once for about 10 miles maybe 10 years ago or more, but otherwise I haven't driven a stick in a LONG time. I'd been toying with the idea of getting one for a bit because they're a lot of fun to drive. Actually getting behind the wheel of one again...funny, scary, and most enjoyable!

It is a cute car, not a MANLY car. This is no statement of masculine prowess and strength by any means. In fact it has a stubby little nose and the antennae in right in the middle of the roof at an angle. I say the car looks like it has a Mohawk. However, everyone who sees it can't stop using words like "cool" or "cute" and since it also got the wifely approval I'm happy on all fronts!

Even though it was not the car I initially was hoping for, everything just made so much sense with this one. It felt like my car from the first moment I saw it and was reinforced immediately after a test drive.

I'll post a pic of it soon. It is sleek, black, quick, and some time within the next 5 years it will all be mine!