Okay, so I haven’t posted anything new in forever… But I bought a new car. Nothing that I had been considering, but I’ve had it a week now and I couldn’t be happier.
I am the proud owner of a 2007 Saturn Ion. Bought all on my own. AHHHH!!!!!
I also changed my insurance to Flo… It’s been a week of being slapped in the face with the fact that I’m an adult… Crazy.
So. I’ve been talking about buying a new car since…. Nearly two years ago, and really thought I would buy one last summer. I ended up not getting one before this winter because I figured that my car (my lovely 1998 Ford Escort that was my Daddy’s but I bought it when I started going to school) could make it through another winter. Well it has, though not completely un-harmed because I was in an accident and my bumper was cracked a little (though I got a nice chunk of change for it and you can hardly tell). But… I think the odds of it making it through next winter without some major issues are not very good.
Now I’m talking and thinking about buying a car, again. I’ve been seduced by all the pretty cars and considered getting a Dodge Neon, Mazda Miata (someday, just not while I live in the mid-west, but still….someday), I love the look of the Pontiac Sunfire… But after some research and lots of surfing I narrowed my sites on 3 cars. Here are the contenders (in no particular order). For the sake of this post I’ll be comparing the 2005 models of all these cars though I’m open to models +/- a couple of years in either direction.
I will fully admit that my favorite car by far is the Beetle. I will also admit that the main reason is because it’s cute. But, the full size spare is nice as well… The only thing I’m really worried about is the cost of repairs since it is a VW they’re bound to be expensive (which wouldn’t be such a problem with either of the other cars). Most of the other things to take into consideration are pretty close between all three cars… They all have decent fuel economy and are safe cars (which is why they are my top 3 picks). The Ford Focus doesn’t have the ABS, but neither does my current car and I’ve been driving 6 years without it.
When it comes down to it, the car I get out of these three will probably be the one that I can find at the lowest price, with the least amount of milage and in a color I like (blue, red, yellow, green or orange are the top picks). I like the look of all these cars, and yes, that is the first thing I think about (sorry Dad).
I’ll probably start looking seriously at the end of March, once the worst of the snow is pretty much behind us and it won’t be so terrible to go out in the elements. I’m also considering getting a manual (oooh scary) since I’ve always wanted to learn how to drive one, but then I will probably need to take an extra day off of work so that I can have a long weekend to re-learn how to drive…
I’ll keep you posted. 
