Our New Ride

Last week, my wife's 1997 Pontiac Grand Am was in the shop, and the issues with it were so bad, that we ended up just getting rid of it. We had actually accumulated quite a bill for the repair, but the shop just took the car off our hands and we didn't owe anything else. That did, of course, leave us with a gaping hole in transportation. So on Saturday, we went car shopping.

We went to four different dealerships and test drove 4 different cars (a 2000 Grand Prix, a 2004 Dodge Neon, a 2005 Ford Focus, and a 2004 Chevrolet Aveo) before test driving and ultimately purchasing a 2004 Dodge Stratus (our new-to-us car is pictured). We went a little over what we were planning on spending, but I think it was a good deal for a good car with low mileage (35,000). There were a couple small things they were going to do to it, most notably being the removal of the tinting on the windows. We didn't know if there would be any issues with it being too dark, legally, so we just decided to have them remove it (since they offered to do it at no additional charge). We've gone a couple days with only one car, but we'll be picking up the Stratus tonight after work.

At dealerships, we did see 2 Dodge Vipers and one Prowler (previously my favorite car, since replaced by the Aston Martin Vanquish). The Vipers and Prowler were around six or seven times our automotive budget.

My 2000 Chevy Cavalier is still running, but I don't know how long I'm going to keep it. Just last week it hit 198,000 miles. I know I want to drive it to 200,000 (and get a picture of that number), but then I almost would like to replace it sometime in the fall. It's starting and running rougher, and I have worries of taking it through another Minnesota winter. But we'll see.

When I do go shopping, I believe I'm going to be a bit pickier as to what kind of car I'll get. I'll probably look up cars online (mostly on Carsoup) and then have a list of cars and dealerships I'd like to visit. But who knows. I have a certain amount of hope that I can find a decent Mustang, Camaro, Firebird, or Eclipse in our price range. If not, I'll look at some other cars I like, like a Grand Prix. I would really like another two door car, at least something like a Cobalt or even another Cavalier. Part of me also wouldn't mind a pickup. (All these linked cars are ones I might put on my list to go test drive. That linked Grand Prix is actually the exact car we test drove on Saturday.)