My daughter will soon be Fifteen

Or the Post known as…Oh, no…we are going to have to buy another vehicle!!

Yes, she is counting the days.  And it doesn’t help me AT ALL that a few of her friends (and daughters of my heart) have already turned 15 and have given her that learner’s license fever.  It is sooo bad that she wants to skip school the morning of her birthday and go get her learners.  I told her this is Dad’s department, not mine.

Of course she is about batty because the chance of him being nearby is almost zilch.  I bet I can get her roomed cleaned with this one!!  With all of this turning 15 talk comes the “I’ll be 16 and what kind of car am I getting?” questions.

Not only am I a mean parent, I am a cheap one too.  So my answer of “Whatever is in the drive way and available that day” apparently is not the desired response.  She was hoping to hear “Avalanche, or a pick up truck, or a Mercedes…”  I’m like “ummmm if anybody gets a cool new(er) ride, it will be ME!!”

 

Apparently I’m also a selfish parent.  Not that our decision is final…Mimi could always win the lottery and buy her a new car.  However, right now, our decision is Mommy will get something new(er) and the Suburban (aka…The Tank #2) will become the teenager car.  Because it is big.  And it doesn’t go race car fast.

My parents did not buy me a new car.  I drove a Volkswagen bug one year older than myself when I turned 16 (1968, no clutch, no air…I still love bugs!).  I also was taken down to Cotton States Insurance office and introduced to Mr. Earl Ford and told to write the man a check for my insurance. 

Oh…that’s right I had a Jay Oh Bee slinging burgers out the drive thru at the old Hardees in Camilla.  I also got two fill ups of gas a month at Brooks Texaco.  And wasn’t no way I could slip a third tank in because them Brooks brothers were way too tight with my Daddy and would narc me out.

After the old bug died I drive a 1972ish olds…it was gigantuan and pewkish green, fondly referred to by my friends as The Tank.  I drove said tank until I graduated from high school.  I didn’t get another car until spring of my freshman year in college, it was a Chevrolet cavalier.  I HATED that car.  I also worked at Wal-Mart and waited tables to make its payments. 

Needless to say upon graduation I was simply dying to buy a car…something with air conditioning, a luxury which I had NEVER had in a car.  And yes people this was in 1992…NO AIR.  As soon as I had been gainfully employed, I went off and bought all by myself a brand spanking new Jeep Cherokee. 

It was shiny and red with four wheel drive.  It had the coldest air I’ve ever had in a vehicle.  I loved my red jeep and drove it until our family simply wouldn’t fit into it anymore.  (aka:  paid for, no payments, maintenance only)  It was an awesome little truck that I drove the sheer living daylights out of.  I said I would never buy another jeep because there is simply no way I could get another one that good.

So what am I looking at?  Well…this will probably be the car that the eldest gets to take off to college.  So I want something as new as possible in my price range…which is cheap as possible.  Free maybe?  I would like something extremely safe.  Since a genuine tank is not possible, I am looking at a range of the smaller Car like SUVs.  Everything from the Chevy Acadia, Fords, the new VW (it’s so cute) to BMW’s and yes the Mercedes.

Cost is a major factor.  I despise car payments.  However paying a lump sum of cash isn’t possible for us.  So I pretty much want something that can be paid off in 3 years.  We are most definitely looking in the “used” category, previously loved, or whatever the dealers are calling it these days. 

Fuel mileage is also a major consideration.  I can’t imagine having a car that gets 25 plus miles to the gallon.  The Suburban is great for hauling a bunch of kids and their stuff…but oh, it kills the pocket book at the gas tank.  I would also like something with a 3^rd row seat that at least the 5 of us can fit in if needed.

Here is the kicker…nobody will go car shopping with me.  I’m really not all that mean to the salesmen.  I just don’t tolerate their BS really well.  And I kind of tell them not to bug me, let me look.  I have a speech that is very polite.

“I am looking to purchase a vehicle in the next 6 months.  I will be buying used.  Please do not suggest new.  I am determining which make/brand/features that I want and researching the price points.  I do not plan to buy a car today.  I realize that the model I am currently perusing will be gone slash sold off the lot in the next 30 minutes.  Good for you!  If you pester me I will leave.  I won’t come back.”

Now, is that really so bad?  I know y’all can’t wait to hear the updates…I will probably really start looking about once a month after Christmas.  I mean…I have a WHOLE year to look, right?

What’s she is getting!! (Unless anyone cares to donate that Avalanche...call me about this time next year!!)