This week we said goodbye to an old friend of our family. She's been with us for 12 years. She helped us get to Baptist for the birth of both our boys, has been on countless vacations and weekend getaways with us, not to mention the day to day stuff.
On Monday, we took our 200,000 mile 1996 Ford Taurus to CarMax. The check engine light came on a few months ago and never went off. We've known for the past few years that we were driving on borrowed time. Jim dropped it off and when the mechanic called, it was the catalytic converter among other things and was going to be over $2000 to fix.
We've been without a car payment for a long time and it was a difficult decision but we felt it was time for another car. So off to Carmax we went because we don't buy new cars and we didn't want a huge payment. We settled on one. Our salesman said the only thing he did not like about the new to us car we chose was that if lots of miles were put on it, it would not hold its resale value. Ok buddy, we're trading in a 1996 200,000 mile Ford Taurus. Do you think we're concerned with resale value?? :)
What trade in money did our Ford Taurus bring us? Well, factoring in that it cannot be driven because it will not pass emissions testing without the above mentioned repairs, Carmax cut us a check for a whopping $250!!! Is that not hilarious!
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6 comments:
Oh Susan! Our Honda is in the same boat. I am praying it passes emissions when I take it in a couple of weeks. The check engine light was on, it tried to break down on me and then it was fixed for $20 and a new radiator cap.
Can't wait to see the new to you car though! :)
So, what did ya get? :)
I started to get sad seeing the title of your post while the rest of it was loading. I thought someone had passed! Or maybe your cat or something.
Do you have a name for the new black beauty?
You may have never heard of it because we hadn't until we went looking. Its a Suzuki XL-7. Its what they call a crossover- which I think is a cross between a van and an SUV. It was very affordable and had that extra room we were looking for without the extra cost. :)
Saundra- how funny- we may call it Black Beauty. :) Although I'm certain in this testosterone filled family, there's a superhero/Star Wars name it will get assigned- maybe Darth Vader!
It is hard to give up your old car friend. There are always memories made in the car, especially ours since we practically live in it! We have a 1990 Mitsubishi Monterro with over 200,000 miles and still going. Brett drives it now and everybody around knows that SUV. We have several names for it. Old Blue, The Cheetah Chaser (looks like a safari truck) and The Popemobile.
Girl, I hear you about the no car payment for years, we love the no car payments!! We don't buy new cars either, Matt had to buy a new used one for work and we are working at paying that off so no more car payments!! I also love the post about you running after the school bus, what a great mom!!!
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